Bob O’connell, long time member of the John P. Kelly Division AOH,
Lucas
County, Ohio was honored on November 11, 2006 for his years
of service as the
Tennis Coach at Ottawa Hills High School. More than
one hundred friends,
family members, past players and students were on
hand as the tennis courts
were named in his honor, with the unveiling of a
bronze plaque, attached to a
large rock, at the edge of the courts. Following
the ceremony, Bob was given
proclamations from Ottawa Hills Village Council and the Ottawa Hills School
Board. Bob O’Connell coached at Ottawa Hills High School from 1967 until
1989. He was revered as a great coach and teacher. John Buckey, one of
Bob’s former players said “ He could be tough, but no tougher than he had to
be. He could never hide how much he cared about us.” Prior to his
twenty-one years coaching at Ottawa Hills, Bob coached tennis for seven years
at
Rogers High School in Toledo.
He taught Social
Studies at OHHS from 1966 to 1987. Bob coached
the 1970
Ottawa Hills team to the state championship.
He was inducted into the Ohio
High School Tennis
Coaches Hall of Fame in 1991. Bob served as the Ohio
High
School Tennis Coaches Association’s president
for
many years. He started
an Annual Spring
Invitation
Tournament at Ottawa Hills, and operated
numerous
summer
clinics.
His overall record was 469 wins
versus 159 losses.
A nice tribute to a wonderful man!! Congratulations Bob!!
