By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Former Shawnee Heights state tennis champ and Washburn University standout Chance Joost returned to where it all started Sunday, bringing his William Woods men's and women's tennis teams to Topeka to face his alma mater in a dual match at the Genesis Health Club.
William Woods is an NAIA school of about 800 students located in Fulton, Mo.and Joost is his third season as head coach of the Owls, taking both the men's and women's teams to the NAIA National Tournament last season.
William Woods tennis coach Chance Joost, a native Topekan, talks to one of his players during Sunday's dual against Washburn at the Genesis Health Club. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Washburn, an NCAA Division II power, took a 7-0 win over the Williams Woods women while the Ichabods took a 5-2 win in the men's match.
But Joost said the main objective Sunday was getting his Owls some top-notch early-season competition.
The fact that he got a chance to do that in his home town was a bonus.
"I was super excited to come home and show what my program can do and show my home town what my stamp is, what my program looks like and go compete against the Ichabods,'' Joost said.
After completing his playing career at Washburn, Joost served as a graduate assistant for the Ichabods and said that growing up in a tennis town like Topeka and his time with the Ichabods helped plant the seed to become a college coach.
"I think first of all, I had so many great mentors as coaches growing up and those guys made me who I am,'' Joost said. "On top of that, there was everything I went through with my coach, Dave Alden, at Washburn. His wife had eye cancer and my dad (Mike) actually got diagnosed with cancer during that time, and there were days (Alden) just sat me down on the court and we just talked and I didn't hit a tennis ball.
"It just had a tremendous impact and I really came to my faith in college as well and I just thought to myself, 'What a better way to impact human beings than through sport,' and something I might know a little bit about.''
After his stint at Washburn, Joost served as the head coach at Hesston College and was charged with recruiting two new teams for the 2016-17 season.
Joost then served as the head tennis professional/junior director for Genesis Health Club in Merriam before taking the job at William Woods in Sept., 2019.
Even though Joost is officially in his third season with the Owls, he said this season feels like his first 'real' season after fighting through COVID-19 the past two years.
The 2019-2020 season was cut shot by COVID and the 2020-2021 season was also hampered by the pandemic.
"Even last year we had travel restrictions,'' Joost said. "We weren't allowed to stay overnight, which definitely closes your circle of competition quite a bit, so we didn't play a full schedule. I think we only played two ranked teams last year and this year we're playing 15.
"I really think this year is probably my first real year because we didn't play in the fall last year either.''
With things inching back to normalcy, Joost said he has high hopes for this spring.
"The men's side I have pretty much the same exact team that I had last year,'' he said. "Last year was all freshmen and one junior and one super senior. This year it's all sophomores, one senior and one super senior. On the women's side we're really young but we're really talented, so I think we can grow.
"We're showing some really good progress so I'm excited to see what the season brings. I think we've got top 10 teams on both sides, hopefully.''
Joost said that one of his favorite things about coaching is being able to build close relationships with his players.
"I think no matter where I go in my career it's always going to be about the kids and it's always going to be about trying to have that daily interraction with them,'' Joost said. "I have an open door policy and I have a lot of kids that in between classes they just come in and hang out in the office and talk.
"Being at William Woods it's all centered around the student experience.''
Coaching at a small school allows Joost to be directly involved with every aspect of the Owls' program, which he said suits his personality.
"I definitely have a laid back personality but I definitely like to keep myself busy,'' he said. "I kind of ran my own club in Kansas City and this is very similar except I'm only dealing with kids that want to get better.
"It's a blast, I love it.''
