Steele family shares passion for tennis

For Rod Steele and his family, the tennis score is love-all.

A teacher at North Pines Middle School and the assistant boys tennis coach at University High School, Steele’s love affair with tennis did not start until he went away to college.

Today, however, Steele and his wife, Char, are avid players while son Josh and daughter Jessica play for the U-Hi varsity. Josh has been the Titans’ No. 1 singles player for almost his entire four seasons on the varsity.

“Tennis is a big part of our lives together,” Rod Steele said. “Even before Josh and Jess developed a passion for the game, we’d all go out and hit balls together.”

“That was always something we could look forward to doing as a family,” Josh said. “That was always something fun we could do together.”

A high school wrestler, Steele’s roommate at the University of Washington was the top tennis player from his high school.

“He was a very good player, and he wanted someone to hit balls with,” Rod explained. “He took me out and taught me the strokes – he was a very good teacher. He’s now a teaching pro in the Seattle area.”

For the Steele children, Steele said, each came to the game on their own.

“Josh was really into basketball at first,” Rod said. “He played AAU basketball and was on a team that won their age division at Hoopfest.

“But about that time, he came to me and said, ‘Dad, basketball just isn’t working for me.’”

The problem wasn’t a matter of talent.

“My problem was height,” Josh said. “I’ve never been that tall. I tried soccer for a while, but that got old.”

Baseball was another option.

“Josh is left-handed, and he could hit really well – he has really good hand-eye coordination,” his father said. “But the problem was that teams like to have a first-baseman who’s a bigger target than 5-6.

“It came down to problem solving. With his hand-eye coordination, he decided to take another look at tennis, and he discovered a passion for the game.”

Josh Steele played No. 1 singles at Horizon Middle School and began to play club tennis through the U.S. Tennis Association.

Steele plays four mornings a week, starting at 6 a.m., in a program with Eastern Washington University tennis coach Patrick Dreves and many of the top players in the Greater Spokane League.

“Tennis has given Josh a focus, and it’s given him discipline,” Rod said. “He has his tennis, and he’s a member of National Honor Society and he knows he has a partial academic scholarship to any school he wants to go to.

“Beyond that, he’s developed his own workout schedule to get himself in the best possible shape. To give you an example, Tuesday night, after he played a tough tennis match (a 6-3, 6-1 victory over Mt. Spokane’s Jon Assmus), he still took himself to the club to ride the stationary bike for 35 or 40 minutes.”

Josh Steele played in a National USTA tournament in Alabama earlier this spring. He will study athletic training at the University of Idaho in the fall and plans to walk-on with the men’s tennis team once it settles on a new head coach.

Jessica Steele also went the way of team sports first, playing volleyball and running cross country. As a freshman member of the Titans’ girls tennis team, her passion for the game has blossomed as well.

“Jess has decided she wants to play USTA tennis, too,” Rod Steele said. “And she’s been invited to join the morning program Josh has been in next year, too.”

With two children on the school’s varsity, Rod and Char Steele find themselves torn.

“It’s tough because the boys play at one school and the girls at the other when we play league matches,” Rod Steele said. “I would love to watch Jess’ matches, but since I’m a coach for the boys, I really can’t.

“So I’m here with the boys to watch Josh play, and Char usually goes to watch Jess play, and we talk on our cell phones to keep up to date.”

“Well, Mom watches the first part of my sister’s matches at least,” Josh laughed. “Then she tries to get back across town to catch the last part of my match.”

With Josh graduating, Rod Steele admits to an urge to change over and become an assistant coach for the girls team.

“That’s tempting,” he said. “But the girls coach, Julene Osborn, and her assistant coach have been together for a while and they have a great relationship. I wouldn’t want to disrupt that.

“Besides, we have a first-year coach for the boys team – Jessica Walters – and we’ve really had a lot of fun working with the guys. I’ll probably stick here.”