Hello Tennis Buddies Kids & Parents!

This season was filled with many great memories for everyone! However, one event stands out most in my mind; the retirement of my good friend, Lawrence Hampton.

I have had the privilege of knowing Coach Lawrence Hampton for over 8 years. He coached my daughter when we were first introduced to Tennis Buddies back in 2002 and continued coaching her for many years thereafter.

We will all miss Coach Hampton both on and off the courts.

We will all miss you Coach Lawrence! Thank you for your service and commitment to Tennis Buddies!

Your Friend,
Patrick Gomulka
Director of Tennis Buddies

Lawrence Hampton was born in 1958 in St. Paul Minnesota. In 1968 the family moved to Pine Bluff Arkansas. He attended Pine Bluff High School were he was a member of four state high school track championship teams.

Upon graduation from high school in 1976, Lawrence attended Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville (SIUE). He was Vice President of the Black Student Association (BSA), member of the University’s Student Senate, chairman of the Senate’ s Personnel Committee, editor of BSA’s newspaper supplement, member of the University’s Presidential Search Committee, member of the University’s Vice Presidential Search Committee, and member of the University’s Budget and Finance Committee.

While attending SIUE, Lawrence met and wed his college sweetheart, Joyce Chambers-Hampton. To this union, were born two children, Timetra and Auvria. Upon graduation from SIUE the couple moved to little Rock Arkansas. During the Arkansas years, Lawrence was an Insurance Agent with the Equitable Life, John Hancock and Greenwood Insurance Agencies. He also worked with the Montgomery Ward Company as a manager in their telemarketing operation and later as a commissioned sales representative. In January 1988 Lawrence, was appointed to serve on the Little Rock Unified School District School Board. He resigned that position in June of that year to move to San Bernardino, California.

Lawrence is currently the Executive Director of the Provisional Accelerated Learning (PAL) Center, a non-profit corporation that provides educational and employment services to residents of San Bernardino and surrounding communities. The 50 employee firm services about 600 students annually. He attends St. Mark Missionary Baptist Church were he has served as Superintendent of Sunday School, Director of the Youth Department and currently as Chairman of the Board of Deacons.

One of his great passions in life is coaching tennis. In the fall of 1991 Lawrence began coaching with the Tennis Buddies program. He spent 18 years coaching both skills and singles. He currently serves as the President of the Tennis Patrons Association, the parent organization of Tennis Buddies.

Tennis Buddies has opened other coaching opportunities. In 2002 he became the tennis coach at Cajon High School. During his tenure the girls program has won six consecutive San Andreas League Titles (60-0), seven CIF playoff appearances, five times to the CIF round of 16, and one quarter final appearances. With the Boys he has the only boys SAL tennis title in the schools history and one round of 16 CIF appearances. He is also involved in USTA Team Tennis and works with a host of private students.

In January 2010, Lawrence begins his duties as the Assistant Women’s Tennis Coach at Cal State San Bernardino. Lawrence is forever grateful to Joanne Wolff, George Cerny, and the Tennis Buddies program which allowed him to fulfill a lifelong desire to coach.

We will all miss you Coach Lawrence! Thank you for your service and commitment to Tennis Buddies!

Your Friend,
Patrick Gomulka
Director of Tennis Buddies

This entry was posted on Sunday, January 3rd, 2010 at 10:09 am and is filed under Admin. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.