In late June, coach Paull decided to quit. First, he informed the head of school and the athletic director. By the time the school year started, most people knew about it. What was lost when the resignation was relayed was why he did so. In November, I received a message he sent to Najih. I also had an interview with him. The text he sent to Najih explains that being a coach is an all-consuming job, and it’s even harder coaching for four months, because of both the boys’ and girls’ seasons. At the age of 59, he felt as though he could no longer give the emotional energy to be the best head coach he could be. He says that he looks forward to WT’s future, as WT has a lot of tennis talent.
Our interview discusses a much broader range of topics, as I already knew why he retired. He explains that the head coach has 3 responsibilities. The first is to host a fair and comprehensive in – house competition at the beginning of the season to determine the lineup. The second is to manage personalities on the team such that everyone hopefully has a positive experience being part of the team. The third is to coach the team such that it achieves its potential. These 3 responsibilities are all-consuming for both the girls’ and boys’ seasons, and they conflicted with his independent coaching lessons. He says, “A championship caliber team deserves the best coach possible, and I wasn’t sure I could do that moving forward.”
In the interview, he said that he became head coach only because of the death of our previous coach, Joe Camillo. As the assistant coach, Coach Paull knew him well, and he described him as “legendary”. When he became head coach, he did not know how long. He had no experience as a boy’s head coach. He coached over the course of 3 seasons. He knows the new coach personally. He is satisfied with the choice of a new coach, and he wanted as many people to know that he left so that there would be the most opportunity to reach a capable coach.
Coach Paull had a long career, a career that he plans to continue, just at a more manageable scale. From 1996 to 2012, he was the head coach for the girls’ tennis team at Oakland Catholic. He was younger then, a fact which he cites in his message. He retired from Oakland Catholic because he was a math teacher at University School, and could no longer leave early to coach. He was also a math teacher for 30 years, though he is no longer one. He will continue to run lessons and clinics, as well as work at children’s summer camps. When he had to become head coach for WT, he had no experience as a boys’ head coach. Halfway through the 2024 girls’ season, the school also asked him to be their head coach as well, and so his workload was further increased.
It was a difficult decision for Coach Paull to make. He would never consider quitting tennis coaching entirely. Coach Paull didn’t quit for any one cause, rather it was all three responsibilities that required him to retire. He liked every player on the team as a person and also knew their parents well. He feels very fortunate to have coached for three seasons. It will be a memorable part of his life. The most important thing he will remember is that throughout the course of his three seasons at WT, he never observed any acts of unkindness.
