Spending 27 years at the same institution in any capacity is quite an accomplishment. To do it as a coach and maintain success throughout is downright impressive.
ASU women’s tennis coach Sheila McInerney has dedicated her coaching career to building the tennis program into one of the nation’s top competitors for almost three decades. Under her leadership, the team has appeared at the NCAA championships in each of the last 23 years.
The State Press caught up with McInerney recently to see what’s keeping her in maroon and gold.
State Press: Since this is your 27th season with the Sun Devils, what has kept you at ASU all these years?
Coach McInerney: I think the work environment here is fantastic. I think it’s a nice environment to wake up and go to work in everyday – the area, the weather and the [Pac-10] Conference. It’s a tough place to beat.
SP: You’ve been to the NCAA championships the last 23 consecutive years. What’s been your secret to success?
SM: If you love what you do and you work hard, good things happen. I love my job. I’ve been involved in tennis since I was ten years old, almost every day of my life. It’s a sport I love, and I’m at a great school with great kids and a good environment.
SP: You say you started playing when you were 10, how did you first get involved in the sport?
SM: Public courts right across the street from where I lived in upstate New York. I started playing and have been playing and coaching ever since.
SP: What has been the best moment of your coaching career?
SM: It’s funny because big wins stand out, but it really is the student athletes you come across. I stay in good contact with them all. We all have a good time reminiscing. You think it always comes back to the big wins and tough losses, but they remember when I got mad at them or where we went to dinner. I think the biggest thing is the relationships you have with your student athletes. Knock on wood, those last a lot longer than the four years that they’re here.
SP: When did you know that coaching was something that you really wanted to do?
SM: All through my playing career, even in college. I played at USC with some really good teams. We won three national titles in four years. I always really loved the team aspect of college tennis. I think I really had a great experience in college and you want to be able to give back to other kids.
SP: What was the highlight of your time on the court as a player?
SM: Probably playing in the U.S. Open. I played Billy Jean King years ago. That was a long time ago, but that was probably the highlight of my playing career.
SP: What is the hardest aspect of being a coach?
SM: [Hesitates, then laughs.] Probably the competition. Everybody gets better every year; all the teams. It’d be nice if you got better, and everybody got worse, but everyone gets better all the time. We have a saying: “If you don’t get better, you get worse.” You can’t sit back and rest at anytime. You’ve always got to keep working.
SP: Does the pressure to get better each year increase since you have been so successful?
SM: Well, I think that’s something that’s self-imposed. We’re very process-oriented and I think that’s important. It’s the most important thing in coaching or in anything you do – to be process-oriented. In athletics, it’s more than the wins and losses. You stay the course, you recruit the right kids and good things will happen.
SP: What keeps you excited about coaching? What makes you keep coming back year after year?
SM: I think it’s really important to realize, while you get older and you’ve been there 27 years, these kids are only here four years and you’ve got to realize that you give them the best four years they can have. You take pride in what you do and make sure it’s a good experience for the kids.
SP: What are you most excited about for the upcoming season?
SM: I think to continue to see the kids get better. To me that’s always the most important thing. The daily one-on-one working individually with the kids is probably the most important thing.
Reach the reporter at nklauss@asu.edu
