58 Years of Impact: Longtime Sioux City coach Larry Mason earns President's Award

When Larry Mason was 10 years old, he walked into the gym at Sioux City Central High School with his father and witnessed a raucous crowd at a high school basketball playoff game. It was at this point that Mason decided he wanted to be a coach.

He’s glad he did. In the midst of a 58-year coaching career, Mason recently received the 2026 USTA Iowa President’s Award. It was presented, ironically, by Jack Wardell, USTA Iowa president and one of Mason’s former players.

“Jack was a good, solid player,” Mason said. “Like a lot of high school players, we had to work on the mental side of things, getting him to relax and concentrate more. But he was always very energetic, willing to work very hard. He was very coachable.

“One of my favorite things about my career in tennis is all the young people that I’ve worked with who have gone on into coaching.”

Mason’s father was a Methodist minister. He told the youngster that, especially in a small town like Sioux City, a high school coach could have more influence than anyone else in town. Rev. Billy Graham agreed with that sentiment, famously stating “a coach will impact more people in one year than the average person will in an entire lifetime.”

Coaching the Person

Mason knew coaching was a profession that would make his parents proud of him. So, shortly after graduating from high school, he started coaching tennis.

After attending and playing tennis in a strong career at Morningside University in Sioux City, Mason found work as a substitute teacher and took over the coaching position at his alma mater.

While he enjoyed the excitement of competition, it didn’t take Mason long to figure out coaching involved a lot more than matchday activities.

Just like a pastor — who works a lot more than Sunday mornings — Mason found out there is a lot of prep work in coaching. The payoff is match day.

For Mason, there’s joy in helping dedicated individuals improve their athletic skills. But there is even more joy in helping them channel that skill and improve the mental side of their game.

“Because of the long-term effects of learning to be a good mental player, you can see that making more of a difference in their lives outside of tennis,” Mason said. “Many times, you’re helping them grow up.

“Besides coaching tennis, I also coached high school basketball for 35 years. And I taught history and political science. I think that’s one of the things that makes life interesting: the variety of people you work with and what they need from you. You try and supply those needs.”

“A few years ago, we were able to rebuild the tennis courts next to Morningside,” he said. “They’re known as the Mason Family Tennis Complex because of donations from my family and other people. Then four years ago, a number of my former players added a plaque to it about me.

“Sometimes I will say to a freshman, ‘Go outside the court and look at my tombstone. And it’ll tell you a little bit about my background.’

“I don’t know whether that impresses any of them. But I’m sure they wonder what kind of a guy they’ve gotten involved with.”

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