From Colleagues to Competitors: Tennis Coaches Have Unique Relationship

For the ninth consecutive spring season, Livingston boys head tennis coach Elliot Lovi and Millburn boys tennis head coach Bill Wickenheisser will enter into a strange, unique yet uncontroversial situation. They go from coaching with one another during the fall to coaching against one another.

For eight years Wickenheisser has served as the head coach of the Millburn girls junior varsity tennis team during the fall while Lovi serves as the head coach of varsity squad. During the spring, Lovi moves over to Livingston while Wickenheisser coaches the Millburn boys team.

"I guess it's kind of unique. It's not a big deal," Lovi said. "I enjoy coaching with him and I enjoy coaching against him."

With the exception of one year where Livingston went 3-0 against Millburn, Wickenheisser and the Millburn boys have controlled the wins including a sectional championship. This season, with the change in conferences, the two squads could face each other up to five times.

During the girls season, Wickenheisser and Lovi have had unprecedented success in recent years claiming five consecutive county titles, four straight sectional and group championships and two Tournament of Champions victories.

"We've shared some incredibly good moments and some disappointing ones," Lovi said.

The two can often be seen sitting with one another at Millburn basketball games or laughing and joking during tennis tournaments. Despite facing each other on a regular basis for most of the last decade, according to both of them, there is no bragging and no tension. Just light-hearted competition.

"It's not like we're reinventing the wheel here. Tennis has been around for a long time," Wickenheisser said.

If there is a difference in their relationship from the fall to the spring season it would be that they don't discuss too much strategy when the Lancers and Millers are facing off. In other situations, both said that they share information with one another, especially given the amount of tennis experience they've accumulated. Both Wickenheisser and Lovi have likely forgotten more tennis than many will ever know.

"We go back and forth all of the time. I ask him things, he asks me things," Wickenheisser said. "There's still strange things that pop up that we talk to each other about."

Both coaches agreed that they have different coaching styles. Wickenheisser is younger and a little bit more hands on with his group, especially in terms of drilling. You could regularly catch Wickenheisser playing tennis with his players during practice and not doing too shabby against what usually are some of the top players in the state. Lovi sits in the background and said he likes to keep things more simple.

It's hard to argue with either strategy. Wickenheisser has led the boys team to nine consecutive North II Group 3 state sectional championships. Lovi is a member of Millburn's athletic hall of fame, has been coaching for more than 30 years and has seen a lion's share of championships.

Both said they enjoy coaching against one another, because both programs arte perennially good, and they want to play the best-of-the-best.

"Not a lot of schools are willing to play Millburn. But Livingston is one of those teams that will always play us," Wickenheisser said. "I always like to play the best teams."

The first match between the two schools comes on April 9 at Millburn High School.