This fall, husband and wife duo Jon and Angie Goorhouse have stepped up to coach Calvin’s tennis team to fill the gap left by former head coach John Ross, who retired earlier this fall after 21 seasons.
The Goorhouses, both of whom also maintain other full-time jobs, have experience working with Calvin’s tennis team. Jon has been an assistant coach at Calvin for 12 years prior to this season and Angie has been an assistant coach for the previous four seasons.
While they are both listed as co-head coaches for both the men’s and women’s teams, they try to split up the duties. According to Jon, Angie does more with the girls, and he does more with the guys. However, they felt it was still important for them to be listed for both teams.
“We wanted two people leading it so if one of us couldn’t be here, there’s still a lead coach that people can look up to,” Jon said.
The coaches both maintain full time jobs outside of coaching, which makes for a busy schedule that might end in missing a practice here and there. Angie is an office manager for an excavating company, while Jon, a Calvin engineering graduate, holds a full time job at Gentex.
Being a married coaching duo, the two find plenty of time at home to discuss practices and strategies. The pair, of course, know one another well and get along with each other, making for good chemistry at practice.
“Since we get along in marriage, we get along on a lot of decision making, but also if we disagree, we understand why we disagree,” Jon told Chimes.
The jump from assistant to head coaches has also been a jump in both duties and hours for the two. As assistant coaches, they were expected to appear at two to three practices and most matches, according to the Goorhouses. Now, the two try to attend practice all five weekdays and be there every Saturday for matches. The two have also been tasked with the “clerical work” that they did not have to handle previously.
A desire to help keep the team’s momentum going motivated the couple to step up after former head coach Ross retired. Last season, the men’s team claimed a share of the regular season conference title for the first time since 2013; they also had their most wins in a season since 2018. The women’s team won 17 games – the most for the program since 2010.
“We wanted them to have a fall season. They had a great year last so we didn’t want them to lose what they had,” said Jon.
The two coaches are hoping to build off of that success. So far, they are both happy with how the teams have performed this season.
“At the Hope tournament, they all did fantastic. So I couldn’t ask for more than that. I think they all represented each other and the school very, very well,” said Jon.
The men’s team finished with four first-place finishes at the two-day event.
The Knights finish their fall schedule with an alumni match on Saturday, Sept. 28 before preparing for their spring season.
