pers Coach David Elliottwelcomed his 42nd year teaching at Harding in 2010, making him the longest-tenured coach in the university's history. Elliott began his career in the kinesiology department in the fall of 1969 and continued to coach both the men's and women's tennis teams in addition to his teaching job all the way tot he present. So what was it that gave Elliott the lifelong dedication to coaching and teaching his students over the decades? "I have a strong interest in young people, and sports in particular," Elliott said. "I liked it as a major in college, so I decided that's what I wanted to do." While teaching and coaching could often be tied together, Elliott found doing both could be a challenge at times. once nee "I think it helps you stay younger," Elliott said. "You stay in contact with kids; you have to if you're going to be effective. Being around kids in a coaching situation helps you relate even better in a classroom." Karina Swindle, former Harding tennis player and current assistant coach, said she had learned many lessons from Elliott and was thankful for the numerous opportunities he gave her as a foreign student from Brazil. "He taught me that it doesn't matter what mood you are in, when you get out on the tennis court, you do your best," Swindle said. According to Elliott, one ofthe best parts of his job at Harding was the people he worked with and the Christian attitudes of other faculty members. "Sometimes it's difficult, but I try to give each equal importance," Elliott said. "I never want to shirk my classes in any way, even though the demands of the season sometimes make it difficult to be at every class, but we make every effort to be there." Professor of Kinesiology and head tennis coach David Elliott listens to students' opinio\,s of the training practice on Nov. 4. Elliott b~lieved in recruiting the best possible person on¢ player Furthermore, Elliott believed that he could find- in that order. Caleb Rummel "Coming to a place like Harding, where everybody has a very similar philosophy about life in general," Elliott said. "It just makes it great. You know, we're close down here as a department, as a coaching staff. And I've got great kids to work with, and we try to recruit coaching has helped in his classroom teaching abilities by keeping him close to his students. He appreciated the lessons he had learned and continued to learn from both teaching and coaching. great kids; that's our number one priority. If you do that part correctly, then the coaching part is much, much easier." Corrie Morfin kinesiology/exercise science 183 ~
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