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Coasters: Andy Stewart

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Richard Dunn

CORONA DEL MAR - With a better understanding of what it takes to

coach girls team tennis, second-year Corona del Mar High Coach Andy

Stewart will try to become a kinder, gentler coach in 2000.

After his first stint ever as head coach of a team, the 29-year-old

Stewart, a former men’s satellite circuit player, grew up quickly.

Case in point:

The opening round of the CIF Southern Section Division I team tennis

playoffs is a good time for the usually solid Sea Kings to rest a top

player or two. At least that was the old agenda.

“I didn’t know who was good and who wasn’t good,” said Stewart, whose

Sea Kings destroyed their first playoff opponent last year, wild-card

entry Victor Valley, 18-0. “Maybe we should’ve had a few girls take the

first round off. But, now, I understand better.”

Even though Corona del Mar won the Pacific Coast League championship

with a 10-0 record and reached the CIF Division I semifinals -- losing to

top-seeded Peninsula, 13-5 -- Stewart had his awkward moments on the

sidelines in 1999.

“Last year was a little stressful, at least in the first round of

league,” Stewart said. “I was just getting to know the girls and how they

play, and I didn’t know at first how to set them up in doubles.”

Stewart, an instructor at Hank Lloyd’s Costa Mesa Tennis Center since

1998, was handed a talented but young team last year after replacing Tim

Mang, who coached Corona del Mar’s girls for four years and compiled an

overall record of 73-12, which included guiding the Sea Kings to a

mythical national title in ’97.

So Stewart had big tennis shoes to fill.

“For me, it’s fun to work with the girls,” Stewart said. “But I think

the pressure to win can be too much for these girls who are 13- or

14-year-olds. I don’t want to put so much pressure on them to win,

because they might break down.

“(Girls) are different than boys. If it’s a guy, you can kind of yell

at the kid a little more. With girls, you’ve got to watch your emotions a

little more. You don’t want to jump on them too much.”

In addition to making a run deep into the playoffs -- CdM reached at

least the semifinals for the fourth time in five years -- Stewart’s first

team finished 16-6.

“Oh, it’ll be a whole lot easier (in 2000), because I know the girls

and I know the other teams a little better, too,” said Stewart, whose

squad this year will include returning standouts Anne Yelsey, Kim Singer,

Brittany Holland and Leslie Damion, while Brittany Reitz has transferred

from Santa Margarita and will be a junior in the fall.

“We should be able to beat Peninsula this year,” Stewart added.

Stewart, who grew up in Huntington Beach and recently bought a house

near Main Street in Huntington Beach, competed on the men’s satellite and

challenger tours from 1994 to ‘97, following a fine career at Fresno

State and Huntington Beach High (circa 1989).

At the 1997 Australian Open, Stewart was knocked out in a qualifying

round by young Australian Lleyton Hewitt, who is currently in the top 10

on the Association of Tennis Professionals Tour.

Stewart once reached the semifinals of a satellite stop in Japan, and,

in doubles, advanced to the Chinese Open finals one year.

Prior to landing at CdM, Stewart worked with Yelsey and other top

juniors at the Costa Mesa Tennis Center, a public facility that features

a team of high-profile tennis instructors, including Phil Dent and Syd

Ball.

“I had never coached a team,” Stewart said. “But I had some experience

teaching girls at that age.

“I don’t feel too much (pressure) in terms of winning and losing ...

(the top players) are going to win their matches. Of course, you always

want to do your best. For me, it’s fun to work with the girls. If you’re

good, you can get scholarships, and we’re going to be very good (this

fall as a team). We’re definitely hoping to win.”

Last year, Corona del Mar standout Nadia Vaughan signed with Southern

Methodist University, following a long list of former Sea Kings to earn

tennis scholarships.

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