Dick Gould
Encyclopedia
Dick Gould is an American Tennis
Coach. He was the Men's Tennis Coach at Stanford University
for 38 years from 1966–2004. His Stanford men's tennis teams won 17 NCAA Men's Tennis Championship
s, and 50 of his players won All-American honors. He was named the ITA
-Wilson
"Coach of the Decade" both for the 1980s and the 1990s.
in 1937. He attended Ventura High School
where he was the Student Body President and the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the Tennis Team. He also won the Ventura County Singles and Doubles Championships in 1955.
After graduating from Ventura High School, Gould enrolled at Stanford University, where he won three varsity letter
s in tennis and won the tennis team's leadership award. He graduated from Stanford University with a Bachelor's Degree in 1959, and earned a Master's Degree from Stanford in 1960.
Gould began his coaching career at Mountain View High School
in Mountain View, California
, where he was Tennis Coach and Assistant Football Coach from 1961–1962. From 1963–1966, he was the Tennis Coach at Foothill Junior College
in Los Altos, California
, where his first champion player was Horst Ritter, who won the State Junior College Singles Championship in 1963. His teams won consecutive State Junior College Championships in 1964 and 1965. He was also the tennis professional at the Fremont Hills Country Club in Los Altos Hills from 1960–1966.
During Gould's tenure as head coach at Stanford, 50 of his players were selected as All-Americans. Nine of his Stanford players, including John McEnroe
, Gene Mayer
, Alex Mayer, Roscoe Tanner
and Tim Mayotte
, have gone on to be ranked among the top 15 in ATP world singles rankings. He has also coached 14 players who have reached top 10 in ATP world doubles rankings, including No. 1 ranked doubles players, McEnroe, Jim Grabb
, Jonathan Stark
, Alex O'Brien
, Jared Palmer
, and Bob and Mike Bryan
.
Stanford's 1998 team coached by Gould is regarded as "perhaps the best college team ever." The 1998 team finished its season with a perfect 28–0 record, lost only two singles matches and one doubles point during the entire season, and won all four of its NCAA matches without losing a point.
Gould's tennis philosophy focused on the serve-and-volley game. However, Gould continued to have success in the 1990s even as the game evolved with powerful, oversized, composite rackets and blasting topspin ground strokes.
Gould is also the author of the tennis instructional book, "Tennis Anyone?", one of the most popular tennis guides ever published.
Gould is also credited with developing the first personal seat license
plan while coaching at Stanford. Seeking financing for a new tennis stadium, Gould in 1986 came up with the idea of selling the rights to seats, a licensing plan under which purchaser's name is engraved in the seat, and the purchaser owns the right to have first choice for tickets for any event held in the stadium.
In 2004, Gould stepped down as the head tennis coach, but he has remained active at Stanford since 2005 as the John L. Hinds Director of Tennis.
-Wilson
"Coach of the Decade," first for the 1980s and subsequently for the 1990s. He has also been named to multiple halls of fame, including the Intercollegiate Tennis Hall of Fame in 2006, the Stanford University Athletic Hall of Fame in 1994, the Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame
in 2006, the San Jose Sports Authority Hall of Fame in 2008, the Ventura County Athletic Hall of Fame in 1990, and the Northern California Tennis Hall of Fame in 1992. The International Tennis Hall of Fame
awarded its Tennis Educational Merit Award to Gould in 1982.
Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
Coach. He was the Men's Tennis Coach at Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
for 38 years from 1966–2004. His Stanford men's tennis teams won 17 NCAA Men's Tennis Championship
NCAA Men's Tennis Championship
The NCAA Men's Tennis Championships are held to crown a team, individual, and doubles champion in American college tennis. The first intercollegiate championship was held in 1883, 23 years before the founding of the NCAA, with Harvard's Joseph Clark taking the singles title...
s, and 50 of his players won All-American honors. He was named the ITA
Intercollegiate Tennis Association
The Intercollegiate Tennis Association is an organization of 1,500 coaches and 15,000 collegiate tennis players, encompassing more than 1,000 college tennis programs...
-Wilson
Wilson Sporting Goods
The Wilson Sporting Goods Company is a sports equipment manufacturer based in Chicago, Illinois, and currently is a foreign subsidiary of the Finnish company Amer Sports....
"Coach of the Decade" both for the 1980s and the 1990s.
Early years
Gould was born in Ventura, CaliforniaVentura, California
Ventura is the county seat of Ventura County, California, United States, incorporated in 1866. The population was 106,433 at the 2010 census, up from 100,916 at the 2000 census. Ventura is accessible via U.S...
in 1937. He attended Ventura High School
Ventura High School
Ventura High School is a secondary school located in Ventura, California. The school was founded in 1889 and is currently a California Distinguished School.-Notable alumni:*Mike Larrabee...
where he was the Student Body President and the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the Tennis Team. He also won the Ventura County Singles and Doubles Championships in 1955.
After graduating from Ventura High School, Gould enrolled at Stanford University, where he won three varsity letter
Varsity letter
A varsity letter is an award earned in the United States for excellence in school activities. A varsity letter signifies that its winner was a qualified varsity team member, awarded after a certain standard was met.- Description :...
s in tennis and won the tennis team's leadership award. He graduated from Stanford University with a Bachelor's Degree in 1959, and earned a Master's Degree from Stanford in 1960.
Gould began his coaching career at Mountain View High School
Mountain View High School (Mountain View, California)
Mountain View High School , one of three Mountain View-Los Altos Union High School District public high schools, is located in at 3535 Truman Avenue, Mountain View, California, 94040. Mountain View High School serves a diverse student body of over 1750 students from the cities of Mountain View, Los...
in Mountain View, California
Mountain View, California
-Downtown:Mountain View has a pedestrian-friendly downtown centered on Castro Street. The downtown area consists of the seven blocks of Castro Street from the Downtown Mountain View Station transit center in the north to the intersection with El Camino Real in the south...
, where he was Tennis Coach and Assistant Football Coach from 1961–1962. From 1963–1966, he was the Tennis Coach at Foothill Junior College
Foothill College
Foothill College is a community college located in Los Altos Hills, California and is part of the Foothill-De Anza Community College District. It was founded on January 15, 1957 by Founding Superintendent and President Dr. Calvin C. Flint.-History:...
in Los Altos, California
Los Altos, California
Los Altos is a city at the southern end of the San Francisco Peninsula, in the San Francisco Bay Area. The city is in Santa Clara County, California, United States. The population was 28,976 according to the 2010 census....
, where his first champion player was Horst Ritter, who won the State Junior College Singles Championship in 1963. His teams won consecutive State Junior College Championships in 1964 and 1965. He was also the tennis professional at the Fremont Hills Country Club in Los Altos Hills from 1960–1966.
Stanford's men's tennis coach
In 1966, Gould was hired as the head tennis coach at Stanford. He continued to serve as Stanford's head tennis coach for 39 years from 1966–2004. At Stanford, Gould's tennis teams won 17 NCAA team championships. His Stanford teams won national champions in 1973, 1974, 1977, 1978, 1980, 1981, 1983, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1992, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, and 2000. They were also NCAA runners-up in 1972, 1976, 1984, and 1994. He is the winningest coach in Stanford men's tennis history with an overall record of 776–148 and a .840 winning percentage.During Gould's tenure as head coach at Stanford, 50 of his players were selected as All-Americans. Nine of his Stanford players, including John McEnroe
John McEnroe
John Patrick McEnroe, Jr. is a former world no. 1 professional tennis player from the United States. During his career, he won seven Grand Slam singles titles , nine Grand Slam men's doubles titles, and one Grand Slam mixed doubles title...
, Gene Mayer
Gene Mayer
Gene Mayer is a former tennis player from the United States who won fourteen singles titles during his career.Mayer was born in Flushing, Queens, New York. He grew up in Wayne, New Jersey, and played tennis at Wayne Valley High School, where he went unbeaten in his two years on the tennis team...
, Alex Mayer, Roscoe Tanner
Roscoe Tanner
Roscoe Tanner is an American former professional tennis player, who turned pro in 1972 and reached a career high world singles ranking of World No...
and Tim Mayotte
Tim Mayotte
Timothy "Tim" Mayotte is a former professional tennis player from the United States.- Career :...
, have gone on to be ranked among the top 15 in ATP world singles rankings. He has also coached 14 players who have reached top 10 in ATP world doubles rankings, including No. 1 ranked doubles players, McEnroe, Jim Grabb
Jim Grabb
Jim Grabb is a 6' 4" former professional tennis player.Grabb was twice ranked the World No. 1 doubles player, in 1989 and in 1993. A right-handed serve-and-volleyer, Grabb's best singles ranking was World No. 24, a ranking he achieved in February 1990.-College:Grabb is Jewish, and was born in...
, Jonathan Stark
Jonathan Stark
Jonathan Stark is a former professional tennis player from the United States. During his career he won two Grand Slam doubles titles . Stark reached the World No. 1 doubles ranking in 1994.-Early life:Stark was born in Southern Oregon in the city of Medford on April 3, 1971...
, Alex O'Brien
Alex O'Brien
Alex O'Brien is a professional tennis player from the United States, who competed on the ATP Tour. He was the No. 1 doubles player in the world and was ranked as high as 30 in the world in singles .He won his only singles title at New Haven, Connecticut, in 1996...
, Jared Palmer
Jared Palmer
Jared Eiseley Palmer is a professional tennis player who won 28 professional doubles titles and one singles title in his career on the ATP Tour. He also won four double titles on the challenger's circuit...
, and Bob and Mike Bryan
Bob and Mike Bryan
Twin brothers Robert Charles Bryan and Michael Carl Bryan are American professional tennis double players. They have been the World No. 1 doubles player for over 270 weeks and have finished the ATP year-end number 1 doubles team a record 7 times...
.
Stanford's 1998 team coached by Gould is regarded as "perhaps the best college team ever." The 1998 team finished its season with a perfect 28–0 record, lost only two singles matches and one doubles point during the entire season, and won all four of its NCAA matches without losing a point.
Gould's tennis philosophy focused on the serve-and-volley game. However, Gould continued to have success in the 1990s even as the game evolved with powerful, oversized, composite rackets and blasting topspin ground strokes.
Gould is also the author of the tennis instructional book, "Tennis Anyone?", one of the most popular tennis guides ever published.
Gould is also credited with developing the first personal seat license
Personal Seat License
A personal seat license, or PSL, gives the holder the right to buy season tickets for a certain seat in a stadium. This holder can sell the seat license to someone else if they no longer wish to purchase season tickets. However, if the seat license holder chooses not to sell the seat licenses and...
plan while coaching at Stanford. Seeking financing for a new tennis stadium, Gould in 1986 came up with the idea of selling the rights to seats, a licensing plan under which purchaser's name is engraved in the seat, and the purchaser owns the right to have first choice for tickets for any event held in the stadium.
Family and later years
Gould's wife, Anne, was the Women's Tennis Coach at Stanford and led the women's team to an NCAA team championship in 1978 – the first NCAA championship in any women's sport for Stanford. Gould and his wife have five children.In 2004, Gould stepped down as the head tennis coach, but he has remained active at Stanford since 2005 as the John L. Hinds Director of Tennis.
Awards, honors and halls of fame
Gould was twice named the Intercollegiate Tennis AssociationIntercollegiate Tennis Association
The Intercollegiate Tennis Association is an organization of 1,500 coaches and 15,000 collegiate tennis players, encompassing more than 1,000 college tennis programs...
-Wilson
Wilson Sporting Goods
The Wilson Sporting Goods Company is a sports equipment manufacturer based in Chicago, Illinois, and currently is a foreign subsidiary of the Finnish company Amer Sports....
"Coach of the Decade," first for the 1980s and subsequently for the 1990s. He has also been named to multiple halls of fame, including the Intercollegiate Tennis Hall of Fame in 2006, the Stanford University Athletic Hall of Fame in 1994, the Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame
Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame
The Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame honors sports figures who have made a significant impact in the San Francisco Bay Area. The organization is a section 501 non-profit, that was created by the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce in 1979.-Inductees:...
in 2006, the San Jose Sports Authority Hall of Fame in 2008, the Ventura County Athletic Hall of Fame in 1990, and the Northern California Tennis Hall of Fame in 1992. The International Tennis Hall of Fame
International Tennis Hall of Fame
The International Tennis Hall of Fame is located in Newport, Rhode Island, United States. The hall of fame and honors players and contributors to the sport of tennis and includes a museum, grass tennis courts, an indoor tennis facility, and a court tennis facility.-History:The hall of fame and...
awarded its Tennis Educational Merit Award to Gould in 1982.