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2010-11 Head Coach Kai Fong
Kai Fong is the most
successful tennis coach in the history of
Lewis-Clark State College. Entering his 23rd
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 20 appearances at the NAIA
national tournament while the women have qualified 17 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
had 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 265-216 with the women’s program and a
266-203 mark on the men’s side.
He has coached
18 NAIA All-American (10 women and eight men), 26 NAIA Academic
All-Americans (18 women and nine 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, who is a junior on the LCSC tennis team,
and Kim, who is a freshman on the Warrior volleyball team.
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
Team/Player/Coaching
Achievements and Awards
- 10 consecutive women’s regional team championship titles
(1997-2006)
- 11 men’s regional team championship titles (90, 92, 95, 99, 00,
01, 02, 03, 04, 05, 06)
- 17 trips to the NAIA Men’s National Tournament since 1989
- 14 trips to the NAIA Women’s National Tournament since 1989
- 18 NAIA All-Americans (10 men and 8 women)
- 15 NAIA Academic All-Americans (10 women and 5 men)
- 10 NAIA All-Academic Teams (6 women, 4 men)
- 3 ITA/NAIA Arthur Ashe Jr. Award (2 men 1 woman)
- 2 ITA/NAIA Player to Watch Award (2 women)
- 1 ITA/NAIA Senior Player of the Year (1 woman)
- 11 trips to the ITA National Small College Championships
(1994-2003, 2005)
- 4 NAIA Region 1 Coach of the Year Awards (1990, 1992, 1995, 2001)
- ITA National Small College NAIA Women’s Doubles Champion (2002)
- 234-164 men’s regular season cumulative record (1990-2007)
- 237-182 women’s regular season cumulative record (1989-2007)
- Wilson/ITA NAIA Women’s Coach of the Year
(2006)
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)
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