Look who’s coaching the Pirates

Bryce Alderton

If the players on the Orange Coast College men’s tennis team need any

history lessons about the school they are playing for, first-year

head coach Mike Mayne would be a good place to turn.

Mayne, 57, who has coached both baseball and football at OCC, took

the program’s reins at the end of last school year as administrators

were ready to drop the program due to lingering effects on the

school’s finances caused by the state’s budget deficit.

“They were losing adjunct coaches (walk-ons) and so someone had to

come coach the tennis team. So I told them I would to it,” said

Mayne, who coached football at Coast for 11 seasons and baseball for

16 years and is still a physical education teacher at the school. “It

is not right for the school to drop programs. I got into it and am

enjoying it. The kids are fun to work with and are great people.

There is some talent here.”

Mayne, who has coached tennis classes at OCC, but none at the

competitive level, inherits all newcomers. Coast’s three best players

a year ago, including former Costa Mesa High product Spencer Solomon

and Mike Fulminante, are redshirting this year.

Leading the group is freshman Mike Manus (Woodbridge) while Colin

Duncan and Mike Hoevel, both Newport Harbor products, are not far

behind.

Duncan transferred from Long Beach State while Hoevel graduated

from Yale in 2001, but is taking 12 units at Coast this semester to

prepare for a teaching position in Shanghai, China. He taught English

literature in Hong Kong for two years and is fluent in Chinese and

French.

“[Hoevel] might be our best player,” Mayne said.

Scott Fielder, a three-year letterman from Cypress, had knee

surgery in the fall and is steadily rounding into playing shape.

Isaac Bailey and Riley Collins have also seen action early on

while Mayne expects freshmen Richard Nguyen (Long Beach Poly) and

Gerald Panichkul, originally from Thailand, to be a part of the

rotation.

Manus and Duncan, along with Hoevel and Bailey, have spent time

together in doubles, but Mayne said he is still experimenting with

the combinations.

“Of Manus, Duncan, Hoevel and Fielder, the only one who played

last year was Fielder,” Mayne said. “Duncan and Manus were a year out

of high school while Hoevel was six years out of high school. It will

take a little time, but they are all fairly talented.”

When asked if the team set any goals, Mayne quickly responded,

“just show up healthy and compete.”

Mayne admitted he will be learning on the job this year, but

doesn’t feel his inexperience at the collegiate level will be a

hindrance.

The Pirates are 0-2 heading into their nonconference match against

host Los Angeles Pierce at 2 p.m. today.

“When I went from baseball to football, I learned from the

players. I am learning more than they are,” he said. “It is like

anything else. You have to have talent in order to be really good and

we are OK there. I might be at a competitive disadvantage as a coach,

but it isn’t a total disadvantage. Coaching is coaching. The bottom

line is motivating people, I don’t care what sport it is. You have to

motivate them to be as good as they can be and I can do that. I have

been doing that my whole life.”