Grateful, Honored and Filled with Love
For James F. Phipps, tennis and coaching were not part of the plan. In his youth, Phipps dreamed of playing baseball. After college, Wall Street was his vision.
Plans change.
“No one in my neighborhood played tennis,” Phipps explained. “I just wanted to play baseball, but my mom said that if I didn’t try tennis I couldn't play baseball.”
While his mom’s demand first brought him to tears, ultimately it led him to the sport that would give him a new outlook and purpose in his life.
Tennis arrived at the West Oak Lane Boys Club in Philadelphia (and thus, to Phipps) by way of the Pepsi-Cola Mobile Tennis Program. An initiative once run by Althea Gibson, the program consisted of traveling vans equipped with portable nets, racquets, and other equipment going to different social organizations across the country.
After playing tennis for the first time and knowing his cousin had success with the sport, Phipps felt his initial attitude toward tennis shift. He was all in.
“There was just something about tennis on that first day. I felt like I could do it,” Phipps said. “I guess I was just looking for something. Something I could be good at, and I found it in tennis. It gave me an identity.”
Phipps put the dream of baseball glory behind him and began playing tennis regularly. He trained with Bill Johnson, Middle States’ coaching legend and pioneer, who Phipps credits for giving him the opportunity to succeed and become a good citizen of the world through tennis. It’s a philosophy Phipps adopted throughout his playing days and continues to demonstrate in his coaching life.
Ever since that day when he tearfully and reluctantly stepped onto the tennis court, Phipps hasn’t been able to stay away from the 78-foot rectangle for long. Illness, however, kept him away the longest.
While competing and coaching for Millersville University, Phipps was diagnosed with Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura. The rare autoimmune disorder was attacking his spleen and platelets and he became very sick. He was admitted to the hospital, and doctors gave him a poor outlook.
But Phipps says he felt an energy, and with family crying over his bed, he knew he wanted to live his life doing the things he wanted to do. Tennis once again became that thing.
Phipps fell back on his coaching skills — honed as early as 12 years old when he would trade lessons for math tutoring — and began teaching lessons as he healed back at Millersville. He strung racquets, taught lessons, helped coach the team and studied the ins and outs of tennis.
His tennis knowledge and coaching reputation quickly turned into a career. He coached numerous USTA Middle States Zonal teams, became the head men’s coach at Franklin and Marshall, and for the last 26 years he has been teaching physical education and coaching tennis at Lancaster Country Day School.
Along the way Phipps acquired many accolades, including the Dick Green Community Service Award and USTA district awards such as Teaching Professional of the Year. Most recently, he will be inducted into the Black Tennis Hall of Fame, class of 2024.
“I found that tennis, and finding myself through tennis, actually helped me in my life,” he said. “I could have very easily gone the wrong way, done the wrong thing for the wrong reasons. Tennis always gave me something I enjoyed working towards. It gave me an identity. It gave me something that I could feel connected to.”
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