Topeka High School tennis coach Duane Pomeroy joins nation’s top seniors in Iowa

Later this month, some of the country’s top senior athletes will head to Des Moines, Iowa to compete in the National Senior Games. More than 30 sports will be on the docket for this year’s event, and, yes, tennis is one of them.

Duane Pomeroy, boys’ and girls’ tennis head coach at Topeka High School in Topeka, Kansas, will be competing in the 70-75 tennis event. Pomeroy, a Topeka native, has qualified for the National Senior Games before, but this year is the first one he’s able to attend.

“I was very competitive and often was on the deciding court to qualify for nationals. That was until 2020, when I was afflicted with Guillain-Barre syndrome,” Pomeroy said. “Since then, I have been limited in my ability to compete at my prior level of success.

“The National Senior Games is not a USTA-sanctioned tournament, and while it is competition, I see it as more of a celebration of being able to continue to play as we age.”

Pomeroy noted he most looks forward to participating in the Games’ Parade of Athletes. He still plays tennis regularly—outdoors at Kossover Tennis Center and indoors at his local Genesis club. He’s played in a dozen USTA National Championship tournaments.

But his crowning achievement is coaching the young athletes on the Topeka High School tennis teams, where he also played as a teen.

“This coming year will be my 32nd as head coach,” Pomeroy said. “I didn’t start until I was 42, so I hoped to make it for 20 years and am very fortunate to still be working with so many young adults.”

Pomeroy runs a no-cut program where all are welcome.

“This past school year, we had 45 girls in the fall and 50 boys in the spring play for us,” he said.

Adaptive tennis athletes have also participated on his teams in the past.

“We provided them the opportunity to play for their school,” Pomeroy said.

View additional National Senior Games feature stories from across USTA Missouri Valley by clicking here.