乐播传媒

In May, some of the country鈥檚 best men鈥檚 tennis players will converge on the Wallach Tennis Center for the 2008 NCAA Division III Men鈥檚 Tennis Championships.

By staging the event at 乐播传媒, the NCAA has asked the College to r茅p茅tez, s鈥檌l vous pla卯t, a phrase that serves up two ideas. The first is the event鈥檚 quick return to 乐播传媒; it was just here in 2004 and comes back in large part because of the fine job 乐播传媒 did that year. The second is the event鈥檚 local flavor, provided by tournament director and tennis coach Paul Gastonguay 鈥�89, a Lewiston native and former All-America player who returned to his alma mater 13 years ago 鈥� but not before proving his tennis tenacity among the game鈥檚 best.

Like any serious player, men鈥檚 tennis coach Paul Gastonguay 鈥�89 never travels with just one racquet. Photograph by Phyllis Graber Jensen.

In returning to 乐播传媒 in 1996, Gastonguay was coming back to a family whose local ties are racquet-string tight. His father, Jean, is a retired high school French teacher and his mother, Mercedes, is an artist who runs her own teaching studio. Both are big fans of Lewiston鈥檚 No. 1 sport, hockey, cheering on the Maineiacs of the Quebec Junior Hockey League.

Their son Paul, who spoke mostly French until kindergarten, grew up playing all kinds of sports but gravitated to tennis, captivated by his family鈥檚 passion for the sport. His father coached tennis with great success at the high school level, while his uncle Roger was the pro at Central Maine Tennis, off Lisbon Street. In high school, Paul and his brother, Marc, helped lead the Lewiston Blue Devils to a state championship.

鈥淲e were never forced to play but always found ourselves following my dad to the courts because we loved it,鈥� he says.

Then it was on to 乐播传媒, where tennis coach George Wigton encountered this 鈥渟lightly pudgy鈥� freshman. Wigton suggested a weight program, and estimates that Gastonguay put on 鈥減robably 30 pounds of muscle, which just made him a whole different player.鈥� Gastonguay also grew in his coach鈥檚 estimation. 鈥淗e was probably the most diligent, dedicated player I ever coached,鈥� Wigton says.

Gastonguay earned All-America honors, following in the footsteps of 乐播传媒鈥� first All-America player, Bud Schultz 鈥�81. After graduation, Schultz, beginning to wind down his pro career, offered Gastonguay a job as a tennis instructor at Longwood Cricket Club in Brookline, Mass., where Schultz was tennis director. Right away, the elder Bobcat saw that Gastonguay was on the ball. 鈥淣o one ever wants to pick up balls鈥� after practice, says Schultz. 鈥淏ut Paul was the first person I鈥檇 ever seen who would run to pick them up.鈥� He mentored the younger Bobcat, and Gastonguay readily credits Schultz鈥檚 鈥渨orld-class coaching鈥� for lifting his own game 鈥渢o the next level.鈥�

At the time, Schultz was an adviser to Ivan Lendl, then the No. 1鈥搑anked men鈥檚 player in the world. Lendl called one day to ask Schultz if he could come down to Lendl鈥檚 home in Greenwich, Conn., for a few days of workouts. Schultz couldn鈥檛, but suggested the hustling Gastonguay instead. 鈥淚 sent Paul down to Lendl鈥檚 house and he never came back,鈥� laughs Schultz.

Lendl and Gastonguay played their first match shortly after Paul rolled his beat-up Subaru up Lendl鈥檚 gated driveway. He lost, 4-6, 4-6, but won a job as Lendl鈥檚 training partner. Lendl, who once described his greatest talent as the talent to work hard, found in Gastonguay the rare workout partner who could return whatever Lendl sent his way for however long.

鈥淚 actually worried about him burning out too quickly,鈥� recalls Lendl. 鈥淧aul was great for practicing because he would try anything and always go full out. What you need is someone who goes after every shot and tries to make every shot, no matter what the score 鈥� even if you鈥檙e beating him pretty handily.鈥�

Says Gastonguay, 鈥淚 knew that Ivan was thankful that I would work as hard as he did and never give up.鈥�

Besides serving as a training partner, Gastonguay also worked at Lendl鈥檚 tennis center in Bedford, N.Y., in the early 鈥�90s. In effect, he got an advanced degree in all things tennis, the teachers being Lendl, other pros who came and went, and Lendl鈥檚 primary coach, the legendary Tony Roche. 鈥淧aul learned from the best in terms of how to train for tennis,鈥� says Schultz. Especially from working with Lendl, 鈥淧aul learned everything from fitness to technique. Everything from A to Z.鈥�

Gastonguay was also working on his own professional game, and one hard lesson was the load of money it takes to fund a startup career. Chasing balls was one thing, but chasing money was another. 鈥淚 was close,鈥� Gastonguay says, 鈥渂ut it just wasn鈥檛 going to happen with my financial situation.鈥� Encouraged by the retiring Wigton to seek the 乐播传媒 coaching job, Gastonguay returned to 乐播传媒 in 1996. In recent years, he鈥檚 also been raising two daughters with his wife, Leslie.

Coaching success has included various coach of the year honors; seven straight (2000鈥�06) team appearances in the NCAA Championships; and Will Boe-Wiegaard 鈥�06 winning 乐播传媒鈥� first-ever NCAA singles title in 2006. This year, he鈥檚 got some exceptional young players, including Amrit Rupasinghe 鈥�10, Sri Lanka鈥檚 national singles champion, and Ben Stein 鈥�09 of Pelham, N.Y., who鈥檚 advanced from a modest junior ranking to the top 25 in Division III.

鈥淧aul has done nothing short of a miraculous job in recruiting players and also developing good athletes, like Ben, into excellent tennis players,鈥� Schultz says.

In 2006, Gastonguay was inducted into the Auburn-Lewiston Sports Hall of Fame. Flattered to be chosen, Gastonguay was nevertheless confused, accustomed as he was to reading about his 乐播传媒 elders, like former athletics director Bob Hatch or Dave Harkins 鈥�53, being inducted.

鈥淚 wanted to make sure they realized I hadn鈥檛 retired or anything,鈥� he said. 鈥淚鈥檓 a long way from done here.鈥�

Sports Notes

TOURNAMENT 101 As he did when the NCAA Division III Men鈥檚 Tennis Championships came to town in 2004, head coach and tournament director Paul Gastonguay 鈥�89 will enlist the help of 乐播传媒 students, who鈥檒l do everything from training local middle-school students to be ball boys/girls to making sure umpires鈥� chairs are moved as the sun shifts. And as in 2004, this year鈥檚 group will get Short Term credit under 鈥淧rofessor鈥� Gastonguay, who organizes the student help into an academic independent study in tournament management. 鈥淭hey鈥檒l write a daily journal to account for how things went that day and what improvements they鈥檒l need to make,鈥� says Gastonguay, who鈥檒l also expect a final paper.

WOODEN RACQUET Tennis player Mallika Raghavan 鈥�08 (right)聽of Chappaqua, N.Y., was one of 14 national semifinalists for The Coach Wooden Citizenship Cup, an award recognizing outstanding role models among professional and collegiate athletes. Raghavan studied in Thailand during fall 2006 and drew on that experience last winter to help coordinate an East Coast tour by two Thai organic rice farmers (鈥淎 Fair Trade,鈥� Summer 2007). But that鈥檚 just one of her many projects. 鈥淪he is the ultimate example of an athlete who shares her talents and abilities to help others,鈥� said Gastonguay. A four-year letterwinner and team co-captain, Raghavan 鈥渄eveloped parts of her game that allowed her to become an aggressive, all-court player,鈥� he added.

TOP TO BOTTOM The Slovenski Indoor Track at Merrill is getting a new Mondo Super X Performance surface, similar to the outdoor track. The surface reflects light very well, so the facility will seem much brighter (also helping will be 139 new lights that use half the power but offer twice the luminescence). Men鈥檚 track coach Al Fereshetian notes that 鈥渢he current track is very fast, but that鈥檚 because it鈥檚 so hard. This one will be equally as fast, but much more forgiving.鈥�

MAYORALTY鈥橲 BACK? We noticed a different kind of 乐播传媒 mayoralty at recent indoor dual meet with Colby. Serving as meet officials were (above) Lewiston mayor Laurent Gilbert and Auburn mayor John Jenkins 鈥�74.聽Also聽in attendance was South Portland mayor Jim Soule, father of hurdler Emily Soule 鈥�11.