Dave LipeEDWARDSVILLE – Edwardsville High School boys and girls tennis coach Dave Lipe has had many achievements through his coaching career, and will be recognized in the city where he grew up and started playing tennis.

Lipe, who’s won 800 career dual meets as Tigers’ head coach, was named to the Granite City Sports Hall of Fame on July 1 and will be inducted as part of the Class of 2019 in a ceremony on Nov. 8 at the Granite City High School Performing Arts Center.

Get The Latest News!

Don't miss our top stories and need-to-know news everyday in your inbox.

Lipe joins hockey player Mike Jaros, football player and track athlete Stan Stajduhar, the 1991 Warrior girls soccer team that finished fourth in the IHSA state tournament, boxer Ryan “Dangerous” Davis, the 1979 Granite City North baseball team that made the IHSA Elite Eight, soccer player Bill Hency, soccer player Jared Embeck, currently the head coach of three-time NCAA College Cup champions Akron University, longtime basketball statistician Jimmy Moske, Granite City North high wrestler and former GCHS coach Allen Kirgan, former girls soccer goalie Stephanie Kult-Boyer, wrestler John Venne, Granite City North track star Mike Baker, boys soccer goalie Tim Henson, baseball player Mike Robertson, the 1995 undefeated GCHS wrestling team, track and cross-country runner Rich Skirball, the 1970 GCHS baseball team that played in the IHSA Elite Eight, and wrestler George Kirgan. Other members of the Class of 2019 will be announced in the coming days.

Lipe is very proud of his selection to the Granite City Hall of Fame.

“It’s been a very exciting recognition for me, personally,” Lipe said in a recent interview. “I was shocked when I was told I was nominated. I was even more shocked when I was told that they accepted me, and I’m very grateful to be recognized. I’m very honored. I’ve enjoyed being entered into the Hall of Fame, accepted into the Hall of Fame because it’s given me a chance to think back of all the people that have helped me. I’ve reached out to many people and thanked them personally for all their effort. The other part that’s been fun for me, for lack of a better word, is other people’s reaction to it, how people have responded to it, people who have reached out to me and congratulated me. That’s been a lot of fun to see how other people have responded, people who I didn’t think would care have cared more than I thought. So that’s been good, that’s been a very positive thing for me.”

When asked who were the biggest influences on his career, Lipe didn’t hesitate to credit North coach John Van Buskirk and the late long-time tennis coach at GCHS, Dick Harmon.

“That’s an easy question; some type of questions are tough,” Lipe said, “but John Van Buskirk was my number one influence. He worked with me, and spent time with me, and helped me, and got frustrated with me for years before high school even, and then throughout my high school years. And then, also, coach Harmon my senior year was the coach for only my senior year after they consolidated. And one of the real regrets that I have is that I didn’t get to play for coach Van Buskirk my senior season. That was out of my control, but what made that experience more tolerable was that I got to play for a great coach and a great man in coach Harmon. So I would put those two gentlemen at the top of the list. Obviously, the number of years that coach Van Buskirk and his wife both spent with me to help me develop on the court, so in the terms of my coaches and my teachers at Granite North and Granite City High School, coach Van Buskirk is number one at the top of that list, and I’ll always be indebted to coach Van Buskirk for all the things that he taught me about life and about tennis. I wouldn’t be where I am today without his tutelage for sure.”

Article continues after sponsor message

Today as a successful coach himself, Lipe draws upon the experience and lessons taught by Van Buskirk in his own coaching style.

“I draw upon the experience that I gained from my coaches daily,” Lipe said. “The experience that I got playing for coach Van Buskirk, the experience that I got playing for coach Harmon, the experience of playing for Bob (Meyers, the SIUE tennis coach) and Larry Gerber at Principia, having those coaches and having that experience of playing for them is something that helps me as a tennis coach every single day. I think every coach, to some degree, is a product of the coaches for whom he played, assuming that he played the sport he’s coaching. And I’m influenced by the coaches who coach sports other than tennis for whom I played. I had a good soccer coach in college who helped shape my coaching career, and he’s the number one factor in who I am as a coach and who I am as a person.”

As Lipe looks ahead to the induction ceremony, Lipe is happy about one thing.

“Well, I’m excited that I don’t have to make a speech,” Lipe said with a smile. “They show some kind of video. I don’t know what to expect that night; I’m not that far yet. I’m looking forward to seeing all the other inductees, honestly. I’m excited.”

And Lipe is very honored to be a part of the Hall with other Granite City athletic heroes of the past as well.

“To be mentioned in the same Hall of Fame with some of the people that are already in there – I don’t know,” Lipe said. “I don’t personally feel like I’m on a level of some of the greatness that they achieved, so I’m pretty honored, very honored to be mentioned in the same Hall of recognition. So I’m appreciative and humbled by it, and like I said, it’s been fun. I’ve enjoyed how other people have responded to it as well.

“I’d like to thank Chris Mitchell and Raffi Karribian,” Lipe also said. “I think those were the two forces behind my nomination, so I thought that those two guys thought enough of me to nominate me is something quite special, and I’ll always be indebted to those two guys as well.”

More like this:

6 days ago - Domask's Triple-Double Leads No. 3 Illinois To First-Round Win Over Morehead State

Feb 28, 2024 - Dave Lipe: Edwardsville's Tennis Titan Inducted Into Coaches Hall of Fame

Feb 20, 2024 - Emotions Run High As Lady Redbirds Beat O'Fallon In Sectional Semifinal, Avenging Last Season's Loss

Jan 11, 2024 - Alton Snaps Nine-Game Losing Streak To Edwardsville – Elliot’s Late Game Heroics Sees Redbirds Win In OT

Nov 19, 2023 - Alton's Lone Senior Alyssa Lewis Commits To Play College Basketball In Italy - Is An Auto Butler Car Wash Athlete Of The Month For The Redbirds

 

Send your news tips to news@edglentoday.com or on twitter @EdGlenTodayNews

Print Version