New coach has plan to build a contender

For a man whose previous head-coaching experience came at tiny Charleston Southern University and the even tinier Lees-McRae College in Banner Elk, N.C., new IU head men’s tennis coach Randy Bloemendaal is thinking big.\n“I envision having Indiana attracting the best players,” he said. “I envision winning the national championship.”\nBloemendaal was promoted to head coach May 29, after spending two years as an assistant under Ken Hydinger. Since taking the reigns of the program, he’s been working 15-hour days and making recruiting trips to Indianapolis, North Carolina, Florida, Michigan and Montreal.\nHe has seen more of his office than his wife and sons Blake and Evan, and he is racking up a hefty phone bill. In fact, in his first two weeks as head coach, Bloemendaal said he spent 4,500 minutes on his cell phone. \nWhile the sight of a book called “Coaching Tennis” lying among scattered papers on his office floor might suggest inexperience and disorganization, the coach who won eight conference titles at Lees-McRae – five with the men’s team and three with the women’s team – already has a national reputation. \nChuck Kriese, Clemson University head coach and author of the aforementioned book, called Bloemendaal “one of the finest young coaches in the country” in an e-mail interview. \n“Indiana University could not have hired a better person for the job as men’s tennis coach there,” Kriese said. “He has won wherever he has coached, and I surely believe that Indiana University tennis will soon be in the top tier of all collegiate programs as well.”\nBeginning with his 1995 return to Lees-McRae, his alma mater, Bloemendaal said all his past coaching experience was invaluable and it has helped him reach the position he holds today.\n“As a coach, you work to get yourself in a situation where you can compete for Big Ten championships and national championships,” he said. “This institution is one (where) you can do that at.”\nThe Hoosiers last won a Big Ten title in 1964, so becoming a contender among the likes of powerhouses Illinois and Ohio State is easier said \nthan done.\n“We’re going to have to change the environment,” Bloemendaal said. “That’s an obstacle in front of us, and that’s something we’re going to take on day by day, but I have a plan of how we’re going to attack that.”\nBloemendaal said the team will aim to work harder than anyone in the Big Ten, from numerous individual workouts to rigorous, sometimes “mentally challenging” morning conditioning. But there is one thing Bloemendaal believes will really better the team – and it is not directly tennis or fitness-related. \nWhile tennis is an individual sport and most players’ junior careers were almost solely concentrated on their own games, Bloemendaal is looking to bring the players together on and off the court.\n“I want to create a team. I don’t want everyone for himself,” Bloemendaal said. “I think that’s something that will lead to winning national championships.”\nIf Bloemendaal wants the team and individuals to consistently be national title contenders, he is on the right track with a deep and “potentially strong” lineup. \n“I think the x-factor is how to bring these guys as a group, as a team,” \nBloemendaal said.\nSenior Dara McLoughlin said he was “really excited” about Bloemendaal’s promotion to coach. \nMcLoughlin and fellow senior Thomas Richter are among the top returning players on this year’s squad. In addition to playing together at No. 1 doubles last season, Richter finished the year at No. 1 singles and McLoughlin at No. 3 singles. \nSophomores Lachlan Ferguson, a former No. 1 singles and doubles junior player from Australia, and Phillip Eilers, a former Top 10 junior player in Germany, also will play key roles for the Hoosiers. \n“They’re going to be impact players, singles and doubles,” Bloemendaal said. “They’re the \ncomplete package.”\nOther returning players include junior Peter Antons and senior Mike McCarthy, who is still recovering from shoulder surgery.\nEl Salvadorian Santiago Gruter, Jai Yoon from New York and Ben Zuckerberg from Woodbridge, Conn., are new to the team. Currently not on the roster, but also likely to join the team is Eric Lim, a transfer from Mississippi State, Bloemendaal said.\nAlthough the lineup is uncertain for the spring duel-match season, Bloemendaal and new assistant Scott Linn know who the top four or five players are. But there will be some heavy competition at the bottom of the lineup to grab the last one or \ntwo positions.\nWhile Bloemendaal has set the standards high, the players realize the benefits that will come with his tough practice schedule. \n“I think he’s going to push us really hard,” Richter said. “I think that will help us to get better.”\nRichter ended last season at No. 88 in the Fila Collegiate Tennis Rankings, and the fall tournament schedule will be a good test and a chance for him and his teammates to boost their rankings. \nNotre Dame will host the Tom Fallon Invitational Sept. 28-30. The All-American Pre-Qualifier in Tulsa, Okla., begins Sept. 29, with the Qualifier and Main Draw \nfollowing after. \nIn October, Louisville is hosting a three-day tournament, while the ITA Midwest Regional will take place October 18-22 at Minnesota. The Hoosiers will cap off their fall slate with the Big Ten Singles Championships in November in Ann Arbor, Mich. \nAs the season approaches, Bloemendaal will continue to run up his cell phone bill and be out on the recruiting trail representing the cream and crimson. Although 15-hour days can be draining and stressful, it is all part of the first-year coach’s plan to bring championship tennis to Bloomington.