A lot of players have passed through John Frye’s tennis program at Union Pines in his 30 years at the school.

During the Frye years, the tennis program at the school has performed on a high level on a consistent basis. Frye, who coaches both the boys and girls teams, has produced state championship teams, and individual players who have competed with the best the state has to offer.

Nine former players for the boys team have gone on to play at four-year colleges and seven girls have competed at the next level.

Two of the best were his children – Jane Frye Hart and Jay Frye.

Now, his daughter Jane, in her capacity as tennis coach at New Century Middle School, has started exposing some players to the Frye system before they reach the high school located between Vass and Carthage.

And for John Frye that is a good thing.

"The skill level of the players coming to Union Pines has jumped up significantly," John Frye said recently. "The best thing going is the middle school program. The players get to play a lot, have a chance to compete and make a smooth transition to a higher level of play."

Hart has been the tennis coach at New Century ever since the school opened up two years ago. In that two years, the school has not lost a match, going 11-0 in its first year of competition and 8-0 last year under her tutelage.

Three players from Hart’s first year at the school – Keith Criscoe, Matt Evans and Brandon Bureau – are now playing for her father at Union Pines. Criscoe was the number three player for a Union Pines team that cruised into the state dual team semifinals last season before being stopped by eventual champion Western Alamance.

"Most of what I’ve learned about tennis I learned from my father," Hart said. "I use his drills in practice sessions."

It was a family affair when it came to Hart learning her tennis skills and her decision to eventually become a coach and teacher. Her mother Brenda also played a big part in Hart’s development.

"My mother, Brenda Frye, coached me in middle school," Hart said. "She also used to take me to the tennis matches at Union Pines and I would learn a lot by watching."

Brenda Frye, like her husband and daughter, was a coach and teacher. She patrolled the halls, courts and fields of Vass-Lakeview School for over 20 years before retiring in 1992.

"Brenda did a tremendous job there," John Frye said. "She coached about everything they had in her 20 years. She did a lot for Union Pines’ programs by developing athletes.

"She sent Bobby Purvis (Union Pines girls’ basketball coach) a lot of basketball players and she sent a lot of tennis players too."

One of the best players Brenda Frye worked with was Bobby Ivey. The left-handed Ivey played number one for the Union Pines team that won the sectional title in 1982.

John Frye recalled that other members of that team, the team that set Union Pines on the tennis map, included Eric Harbour, who went on to play for N.C. State, Tim Doby, Mark Rice, Scott Thomas and Craig Blide.

"That was our first and only Sectional championship," Frye said. "There was no class division at that time. All teams combined to play. That was what made that championship so special. We took on the bigger schools with solid tennis programs, like Scotland County and Terry Sanford, and won.

"It was our first really big breakthrough. One reason it was so big was that we hosted the event and there were throngs of kids out there. Teachers would let the students in the PE classes come out and watch. It was a chance for them to see tennis on a high level and to see tennis as a major sport."

The next time Union Pines reached the heights of high school tennis was a three-year run during the early 1990s. In 1991 and 1993, the school claimed the state dual team 2-A title. One of the mainstays of that team was Jay Frye. He combined with Daniel Buchan to win the 1993 individual doubles championship. He also finished his career as the leading winner in the history of Union Pines boys tennis with a record of 190-27.

Hart was no slouch when it came to competing in high school athletics either. She is the leading winner for the girls with a 141-17 career record. Hart reached the state individual singles final in her senior year before losing to Susan Sanders of Salisbury, a girl that had knocked her out of the states the previous two years.

While at Union Pines, from where she graduated in 1988, Hart also was a skilled basketball player. She went to Elon College where she played basketball for two years before injuring a knee, and tennis for all four years she was at the school.

Hart graduated from Elon and returned to Moore County where she taught and coached tennis at North Moore for one year, before moving over to Pinecrest where she coached and taught for three years. When New Century opened she took on physical education teaching duties and directing the tennis program at the school.

She credits her parents with her desire to get into coaching and teaching.

"I always saw how much fun they had," Hart said. "I saw their enjoyment and I knew I wanted to stay involved in athletics and teaching. Athletics always helped me a lot as a person."

For John Frye, who teaches biology at Union Pines, that is the key to working with students and athletes.

"I don’t see being a tennis player as separate from being a student," Fyre said. "I see the worth of the child. I see worth, value and potential in all the children I work with. In the classroom, you give a child vision and opportunity. Tennis is an extension of classroom teaching.

"Tennis is a classroom as well. I have lesson plans for both the classroom and tennis. In the classroom, you try to help a child look beyond himself, to enlarge their world. In tennis, you are also trying to develop a better person. As much as you work on strokes and footwork, you also work on attitude. The former doesn’t grow without the latter growing."

Frye’s teaching and commitment to children doesn’t stop with Union Pines. For the last 32 years he has taught Sunday school at Carthage First Baptist Church.

One of the big things in working with children is parental support, Frye said. Frye believes a big part of the success of the tennis program at Union Pines comes from the involvement of the parents.

"I enjoy working with parents as well as the children," Frye said. "Parental support has been overwhelming. Any success we’ve had has been because parents support the program."

And now Frye has his daughter supporting the program with her heading the tennis program at New Century, a feeder school for Union Pines.

"Jane is a huge part of the future for the tennis program at Union Pines," Frye said. "With her ability to work with the younger players, and with her strong background in tennis, it really helps promote tennis."

As for Frye’s future, he said he doesn’t know when he’s going to stop coaching and teaching. Hart’s future holds a baby. She is pregnant and has a due date of late October.

But Hart won’t miss next year’s tennis season at the middle school. She said she would be back at the school in time for tennis. When she returns, she’ll have her own child to observe her love of coaching and teaching.

Just like her parents did.