CRAIG SANDVIG

On the court, Sandvig plays chess. Every shot is deliberate. Every movement is intentional. He's a gentle man, but there are four words you never want to hear him say. "What was your plan?" 

In the fall of 1977, Craig Sandvig ran into an old friend at the U.S. Open. 

Craig had come to St. Louis six years earlier for a graduate degree at Washington University. He arrived from Sioux Falls, South Dakota, a five-time state high school champion and top-ranked junior in the USTA Northwestern section. At the University of Iowa he played Big Ten tennis and won the university's top Scholar-Athlete Award across all sports. He spent two summers on the European Pro Circuit. Then he started coaching. Sandvig took over as head coach of the Washington University men's tennis team and joined Sunset Tennis Center as a teacher and co-owner. 

Doug Smith was working as an umpire at the tournament. He and Sandvig had grown up together in South Dakota, crossed paths in junior tennis, and lost touch. Now here they were at the biggest tennis event in the country. Sandvig knew Smith's background in junior player development. He asked if Smith would consider moving to Missouri to help build a premier junior program at Sunset. Smith said yes. He thought it would be temporary. 

It lasted more than four decades. 

Together they produced state champions, nationally ranked juniors, and Division I college players. Their USTA adult teams won at the district, sectional, and national level. The honors followed. USPTA Missouri Valley Pro of the Year. USTA National Recognition Program All-American. Five USTA St. Louis junior tennis awards. 

They'd go anywhere for a game. They stuffed as many juniors into the van as they could and hauled them around the South and the Missouri Valley. They became family. The Summer Tournament Camp, Super Eight sessions, Klunk Bowl, and van trips — all legendary. The winning was almost beside the point. What Craig Sandvig and Doug Smith built at Sunset wasn't a program. It was a tradition. 

"Craig Sandvig is probably the most honest human being I know," Smith said. "A man of the utmost integrity. That's what he brings every day." 

He never forgets a player. Never forgets a face. Never forgets a name. 

"I hope my legacy is the players who were my students," Sandvig said. "The players who enjoyed tennis and continue playing tennis, and when they think of Sunset Tennis Center and Doug Smith and myself, they smile. And maybe they want their kids to play. And their grandchildren." 

It's all worked out according to plan. 

(2016)