Kai Fong is the most successful tennis coach in the history of Lewis-Clark State College and the Warriors have benefited from a quarter-century of his leadership and guidance.
Entering his 25th season at the helm, Fong restarted the women’s program in 1989 after it had been a club sport for three years, and then took over the men’s program the following year. 
 

His credentials are impressive. He’s led the men’s team to 21 appearances at the NAIA national tournament while the women have qualified 18 times. The men’s team has won 13 regional titles, including seven straight during 2000-06, while the women’s team won 10 consecutive regional titles from 1997-2006. The NAIA changed the national qualifying format in 2007 and no regional tournament was held. 
 

He has been named the NAIA Region I Coach of the Year honors four times (1990, ’92, ’95, and 2001), and was the 2006 Wilson ITA NAIA Coach of the Year. 
 

The list goes on. Fong has made 11 trips to the ITA National Small College Championships and had a women’s doubles team win the NAIA portion in 2002.
 

Despite filling much of his regular season schedules with trips to play NCAA Division I opponents, Fong has a career record of 275-242 with the women’s program and a 287-222 mark on the men’s side. 
 

He has coached 21 NAIA All-American (13 women and eight men), 31 NAIA Academic All-Americans (21 women and 11 men), 10 NAIA All-Academic Teams (six women and four men), six ITA/NAIA Arthur Ashe Jr. Award winners (four men and two women, two ITA/NAIA Player to Watch Award winners (both women), and one ITA/NAIA Senior Player of the Year (1 woman).  
 

Fong attended the New Mexico Military Institute for a semester in 1979 and then transferred to Arizona Western College in Yuma to play soccer. He then transferred to the University of Idaho in 1980 and was an ITA Scholar-Athlete in 1982, and received the UI Alumni Award for Outstanding Senior in PE in 1983. He graduated that year with a Bachelor of Science degree in Secondary Physical Education, and earned his Master’s degree in Sports and Recreation Management at UI in 1985. 
 

Fong then worked as a tennis teaching professional at John Gardiner’s Tennis Ranch in Carmel Valley, Calif., for a year before serving as a physical education instructor at the Institute Technology of Malaysia in Shah Alam, Malaysia, the following year. In 1987, he went back to being a tennis teaching professional at the Rain Tree Club of Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia, and then became head tennis coach and the facility manager of the LCSC Indoor Tennis Center in 1988. 

He has been active in tennis organizations and serving in a variety of roles at LCSC. 
 

In 2004, Fong received the USTA/ITA National Campus Recreation Award. He is serving on the ITA Small College Operating Committee and the NAIA Tennis Coaches Association, holding the Vice President position this year and will be the President in 2008. He has served at the NAIA Region I Tennis Chairperson since 1998, has been a regional ranker for the NAIA polls since 2000, and served on the NAIA National Awards Committee during 1998-2004. 
 

At LCSC, Fong received the President’s Award for Excellence in Diversity and Cross Cultural Understanding in 2002, and also received the LCSC International Club’s Enlightenment Award that same year. 
 

Fong and his wife Judy have two daughters, Mei and Kim.
 

More Facts about Fong:  

Head Tennis Coach                  1988-current     Lewis-Clark State College, Lewiston, Idaho
Indoor Tennis Facility Manager  1988-current     Lewis-Clark State College, Lewiston, Idaho
 

Tennis Teaching Professional    1987
Rain Tree Club of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Physical Education Instructor               1986
Institute Technology of Malaysia, Shah Alam, Malaysia

Tennis Teaching Professional     1985
John Gardiner’s Tennis Ranch, Carmel Valley, California 
                    

EDUCATION 

M.Sc. Sports and Recreation Management University of Idaho  Moscow, Idaho     1985
B.Sc. Secondary Physical Education University of Idaho         Moscow, Idaho     1983 
 

OTHER RECOGNITION,
AWARDS &
RELATED EXPERIENCES

- USTA/ITA National Campus Recreation Award Recipient (2004)
- ITA Small College Operating Committee Member (2006, 2007)
- NAIA Tennis Coaches Association Office Holder (Sec 2006, VP 2007, Pres 2008)
- NAIA Region 1 Tennis Chairperson (1998-2008)
- NAIA Regional/National Ranker (2000-2008)
- NAIA National Awards Committee Member (1998-2004)
- NAIA/ITA Regional Small College Championships Tournament Director (1996-2005)
- USTA Sports Science Level 2 Certificate Holder for all three exams (2002)
- USTA Competitive Training Center Workshop Participant in Key Biscayne, Fl (2002) 
- USTA Pacific Northwest Competition Training Center Coach (2002)
- USTA Pacific Northwest Junior Fed Cup coach for U/18 girls (2001)
- USTA Pacific Northwest Men’s 35’sTeam Captain for USTA Intersectionals (1996, 97)
- USTA Tennis Teacher’s Conference participant (1991& 1992)
- USTA Clinician (1990 – current)
- USTA Pacific Northwest 35’s Singles #2 ranking (1995)
- USTA Pacific Northwest Open Doubles #2 ranking (1992)
- U of Idaho Graduate Assistant in Campus Recreation/Intramurals (1983-85)
- U of Idaho Teaching Assistant in PE department – tennis and racquetball (1983-85)
- U of Idaho Alumni Award for Outstanding Senior in PE (1983)
- U of Idaho ITA Scholar-Athlete (1982)
- Fazzari’s Tennis Tournament Director (1990-current)
- LCSC President’s Award for Excellence in Diversity and Cross Cultural Understanding       (2002)
- LCSC International Club Enlightenment Award (2002)
- Malaysian National Grasscourt Singles Champion (1979)
- Malaysian National Hard Court Tennis Singles Champion (1985)
- South East Asian Games participant representing Malaysia in Bangkok, Thailand (1985)

2012 coaches