Carl Click will take the reins as girls tennis coach

Carl Click has been hired as the new head coach for the girls tennis program at Sisters High School. Click has a wealth of coaching experience under his belt and will bring that knowledge to the girls tennis program.

He has been coaching youth sports since he was in high school and specifically coached both high school girls basketball and girls tennis the past several years.

Click coached little league baseball, soccer, and youth baseball from the time his two kids, Jack (29) and Sarah (27) started to play up until they started high school. Once his kids reached high school, he took a break so he could be a spectator and enjoy watching his kids compete.

Many recognize Carl as a former news reporter/anchor for KGW and KATU. He was with KGW for 22 years, from 1983 to 2005, and then worked for KATU from 2005 to 2014.

After his kids graduated high school, Click started coaching again. He'd work the early morning newscast from 4:30 a.m. to 7 a.m., run home and grab a quick nap and then coach in the afternoon. He accepted a position as the girls assistant tennis coach at Skyview High School in Vancouver, Washington, and coached from the spring of 2008 through the 2015 season. In addition to coaching tennis, he was also the head girls basketball coach at Kingsway Christian for two years (2010 and 2011). In 2012, Click was the head girls basketball coach at Ridgeview High School, also in the Vancouver area.

From 2013-2017, Carl was the head girls basketball coach at Columbia River High School, and was the girls head tennis coach at Columbia River High School 2016 and 2017.

The tennis program at Columbia River was very successful. Click had a huge turnout for the sport, with more than 40 girls in the program both seasons. The team won two league championships, the first in the Greater St. Helens 3A league, a step up in their league, and the second in the Greater St. Helens 2A league. In Washington, schools are given the choice to play up, and Columbia River had the athletes that could compete up when they won the 3A title.

In July, the Clicks moved permanently from Vancouver, Washington, to Black Butte Ranch (BBR). The Clicks have had a family home at BBR since 1990 and Carl and his wife, Jil, have owned the home since 2011. Since then, they've come to Central Oregon as often as they could. Their goal was to retire here, and this past spring, they bit the bullet and made their goal a reality.

"My wife and I have wanted to be here for a long, long time," said Click. "I just had to have the courage to pull the trigger. We both ended our obligations, and sold our house to get here."

Carl contacted Athletic Director Gary Thorson and asked if he needed any help with game management. According to Click, a game manager is basically an on-site manager for an event or game; his work includes making sure procedures are followed, have ticket-takers in place, as well as score-clock operators, and they also mange game officials.

"I've had game management experience and I offered my services to Gary," said Click. "Gary looked at my resume and told me they had an opening for a girls tennis coach, and asked if I'd be interested in applying. After talking with my wife, I decided to apply."

Click was officially hired as the new head coach for the girls tennis program in mid-July. Carl hopes to meet his tennis players this fall, and told The Nugget he will attend and support them in any other sports they are involved in.

Carl hopes to entice players who are involved in soccer and basketball to give tennis a try in the spring, if they aren't involved in another spring sport.

"I've been involved in making really good tennis players out of kids who've never played tennis until they got to high school," said Click. "Soccer players have really good footwork and understand angles, and when you put a racket in their hands, their athleticism helps them become a successful tennis player. The same goes for basketball and volleyball players. The athleticism from these different sports all translates to tennis."

Click loves to coach and is excited about this new adventure and stage in his life. He told The Nugget he's not going anywhere. His first goal as head coach is to create interest in tennis and get lots of girls to turn out and become part of the program.

"High school tennis is for all abilities," said Click. "We want to coach state-caliber players to success, as well as coach new players how to play the game, and to improve. tennis should always be fun, and it's fun to be successful. To have the opportunity to work with the high school kids here is a real blessing."