MAURY GERARD
Roger Carlson
There is a certain pack of past Orange Coast College coaches which
forms the nucleus of the Pirates’ corps that is of legendary status
when one ponders the Bucs and their storied past on the community
college level.
Like Ocean’s 11, each a star in his or her own right, as in Tandy
Gillis and Dick Tucker, or Jack Fullerton and Barbara Bond, or Jane
Hilgendorf and Fred Hokanson, or Laird Hayes and George Mattias, or
Bill Workman and Dave Grant.
Another in that mold is the venerable Maurice “Maury” Gerard, a
tennis coach who put the Pirates on the map, and kept them there for
a long time en route to his selection as a member of the Daily
Pilot’s Sports Hall of Fame, celebrating the millennium.
A captain in the Air Force during World War II, Gerard’s athletics
road began in the San Joaquin Valley where he was somewhat of a
legend even then when he dominated youth tennis for some seven years.
Gerard was the Central California High School singles champion in
1928 and runner-up in singles at the 1928 State Championships.
A native of Charleston, Ill., he would go on to various honors at
Pomona College and was in the education field before finding his way
from Santa Ana JC to OCC in 1957 as a counselor, professor of
psychology and tennis coach, taking over for Ray Rosso in the spring
of 1958.
For the next 18 years he flourished as Coast’s tennis coach,
guiding five teams to conference crowns, capped by the 15-0 1971
state championship team which swept the field, taking the team
championship, the singles crown (Robbie Cunningham) and the doubles
title (Atilio Rosetti and Mike Caro).
“I decided to make the move in order to work for Pete (OCC
President Basil Peterson), a man I truly admired,” Gerard told OCC
administrator Jim Carnett for the school’s 50th anniversary program
in 1998.
He had been Santa Ana’s head coach for 10 years, and for the next
19 years at Coast, he never once lost to Santa Ana. “I’m rather proud
of that,” he told Carnett.
George Mattias, who came onto the tennis scene at Coast a couple
of years after Gerard retired in 1976 (it was mandatory then),
recalls the real strength of Gerard’s game, which was the knowledge
of the game, and the willingness to actively recruit the best he
could find.
Among them were Rosetti of Estancia and Caro of Newport Harbor,
the Cunninghams (Robbie and Lawrie) of Newport Harbor, Glenn Morton
from Estancia and Tim Mang from Corona del Mar.
“You didn’t find many on the JC level with this kind of knowledge,
and a lot of the coaches (on the other side of the net) resented it,”
said Mattias.
“He took great pride in beating them.”
And always, honor was the No. 1 priority.
Some 14 years later he would come back to Coast for a brief stint
as the head coach at the age of 80 with a career college record of
410 wins, 75 losses.
Among Gerard’s outstanding teams were the 16-3 ’63 team, the 12-2
‘60 team, the 12-3 ’64 team and the 11-4 ’66 team.
Mattias, known mostly as a stalwart in the football camp, went on
to a successful career at Coast as the tennis coach and said most of
his techniques were items which he had picked up from Gerard.
“The thing is,” said Mattias, “Maury could pick out weaknesses and
pass them on to his players. He was a player as a collegian, and he
played against some of the best.
“No one knew more about the game.”
Rosetti, who as Coast’s No. 1 player in 1971 when the Pirates
swept to the state championship, recalled Gerard’s presence in
Hoylake, England, where he was playing in a tournament qualifier just
after a run at Wimbledon in ’71.
“Maury told me, and I really considered it in jest, that he was
going to come out to Europe and see how I was doing,” said Rosetti.
“I was in Hoylake and there he was. He had rented a boat on the
Thames.”
Rosetti recalled Gerard’s strength in the knowledge of using court
geometry and score management, as in when to coast and when to turn
it on.
“He understood those things,” said Rosetti. “And he hung out with
us, he was really wonderful to me.”
Maury Gerard, who will be 92 in March, is presently weathering a
storm and would probably welcome a visit. A good contact to set up a
visit or call, is Walli Mattern at (714) 585-7366.
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