Libby Boys Tennis skipper named Coach of the Year

Tennis Coach Kyle Hannah is the man behind one of the recent historical moments in Libby. Last month, his team won the first ever boys tennis championship for Libby High School and also claimed the second-place trophy as the girls tennis assistant coach. On top of these victories, Coach Hannah also won the state-wide Special Sports Coach of the Year award. 

Hannah stressed that the award was not a product of his coaching alone, but the product of great athletes, assistant coach Terry Oedewaldt, volunteer coach Dave Nelson, and the community support.

“The season went awesome,” he said. “All the kids brought into the game a team concept. These kids are some of the most marvelous and well behaved kids, just top-notch.”

The Athletic Director Nick Rewerts said Hannah was a star coach for the Libby squad.

“He does a heck of a job to get 34 kids, for a town this size,” Rewerts said. “To be the first ever coach to bring home a team championship for Libby is really quite amazing.”

Rewerts said the team at large contributed to the state title run that helped earn Hannah the Coach of the Year honor.

“Usually when a team makes it to the championship, there’s three or four kids that are really great, but each of these kids put in an equal amount of effort and really hung in there as a team,” he said.

Behind the tennis team’s effort is another team effort. Hannah and Rewerts also attributed the great season to the wonderful off-season coaching from Terry Oedewaldt, and the volunteer coach, Dave Nelson, whom they stressed were critical in the team’s success.

“We really rely heavily on volunteer coaches and it’s really great that the community comes out to volunteer,” Rewerts said. Many of the Libby High School teams have volunteer coaches that help out.

Out of the 12 games, the boys won 10 and the girls won 8. The team took first in Class B Boys, and second in Class B Girls. Kaylene Hudson took second place in singles. Erik Lauer and Braydan Thom took first in doubles. 

Reporter Bethany Rolfson may be reached at 293-4124 or by email at Reporter@TheWesternNews.com.