Ann Valentine
Admired for her impeccable
standards of sportsmanship, Ann Valentine (b. 1932) coached the Brigham Young University women's tennis team for three
decades while leading a national effort to advance intercollegiate
competition for women. Valentine joined the BYU faculty in 1965
as an instructor and rose to the rank of professor in 1989, also
serving as assistant and later associate director of women's
athletics. Playing an increasingly challenging schedule, her
teams won 15 conference championships, earned 12 Top 10 national
rankings, and captured 31 individual All-America citations.
Valentine's many "firsts" include her successful campaign,
with Anne Pittman of Arizona State, for team championships at
the women's national collegiate tournament. She created the first
national indoor round-robin team competition - now an ITA Grand
Slam event. Devoting countless hours to directing tournaments,
conducting clinics, and chairing committees, Valentine received
the ITA Rolex Meritorious Service Award in 1996, a year after
being named the Wilson/ITA National Division I Coach of the Year. |
| "Dare to
think big," Valentine would tell her students. "Remember
that success and greatness are a process of climbing."" |
| Slippery Rock
College, 1954: Learning tennis by shagging balls on the sole
court in Sykesville, Pa., Valentine (standing, center) played
No. 1 singles and doubles on her college team. |
| Orphaned at age
9, Ann (center right) - the second youngest of ten children -
was raised by her siblings. The Valentine family is pictured
here in 1956, celebrating brother Sam's (at far left) All-America
football honors |
| The 1978-79 BYU
Cougars, one of Valentine's twelve national Top 10 teams. At
the time of her retirement in 1995, Valentine was the second
winningest Division I coach ever, with a 427-175 record |
| BYU Hall of Fame
induction, 1999: "You will forever hold a special place
in our hearts," wrote a former student. |
|