Brothers in Arms

Last week was a big one for the Park Hill Boys Tennis Team as they clinched another consecutive suburban conference championship by defeating Truman 8-1. They followed it up by hosting the Sixth Annual Brandon McPherson Memorial Tournament along with their Third Annual Tennis Block Party over the weekend. The week itself tells you about the strength of the Trojan tennis program, but also represents the vision of two brothers, Ryan and Tim Kalis, and their passion for the sport.

Ryan came to the district fifteen years ago as a middle school math teacher and assistant tennis coach under then head coach Kathy Loepp.

“The girls were already going the right direction under Kathy,” Ryan said. “As far as the guys, we knew we weren’t competitive. You could have called us the local ‘door mat’ at the time.”

When Loepp stepped aside, Kalis took over as head coach for both the girls and boys. The first couple years were rough for the boys as they went 5-9, 6-8, and 8-6 in those seasons, but things started coming together around the time younger brother Tim joined Ryan eight years ago. Natives of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, they’re separated by five years, but have similar stories. Both went to Northern Iowa to play college tennis and both became math teachers.

“I’ve just kind of followed in his footsteps. I came down on a whim to visit one year and got an interview for an opening at Park Hill and we ended up in the same building,” Tim said.

Tim became an assistant under his older brother and they began putting together their idea of an ideal tennis program. Especially on the boy’s side, they knew there just weren’t enough kids on the team.

“First was numbers; we ended the season with 11 guys that year. So we started doing camps in the summer and tennis in middle schools with intramurals which got kids excited. If you have enthusiasm, kids see it and they want to share it,” Ryan said.

With that vision in mind, they became two of local tennis’ biggest advocates. From those 11 players they grew their boys program to 16, then 21, and currently have over 40 players. Success on the court has taken care of itself as the boys have gone 119-48 over the past twelve years under Ryan. Tim’s also seen success as the girls head coach over the past five years with both winning multiple conference and district titles.

“This is our eighth year coaching as a tandem. Ryan started out as both head boys and girls coach. Five years ago he stepped aside as girls coach and allowed me to take over,” Tim said.

Ryan and Tim were big supporters of starting the Brandon McPherson Tournament six years ago as a way to remember their former player. Three years later, Tim started the Block Party as a way to encourage kids to get involved in the game of tennis with food, prizes, and games.

“Tim has done a great job with this. It really helps because people are excited to come to a free event and you’ve got little kids running around who might think ‘I want to play tennis for Park Hill one day,” Ryan said.

As far as their thoughts on coaching together, the two brothers say they’re having a blast.

“Since we know each other so well, it’s almost as if we can read each other when we’re coaching the kids and one of us can pick up what the other left off,” Ryan said.

It’s easy for them to talk about their favorite part of coaching.

“I think the greatest thing for me as a coach is seeing a kid as a freshman or even as a seventh grader in my math class, as they grow into a man or woman, improve each and every season and watching them achieve their goals,” Tim said.

“We have great kids, great values. I think we have one of the highest team GPA’s at Park Hill, if not the highest. We’re building character, integrity, more than a tennis player, but someone who can be successful in society,” Ryan replied.

One thing you’ll hear for sure when talking with either Kalis is their thankfulness for your interest and support of their kids.