In Memoriam: Cleveland Gilcrease

This article by Samantha Gonzales was originally published as “Daddy Gil: The Pied Piper of Corpus Christi Tennis” on February 25, 2015

Cleveland Gilcrease, a longtime tennis pro and influential force for tennis in Corpus Christi recently passed away. In honor of his contributions to tennis for underserved youth in his community and in memory of him during this Black History Month, we are re-publishing this article from 2015. 

Visitation for Gilcrease will take place on Thursday, February 16, 2023 from 6:00 p.m.- 8:00 p.m. at Corpus Christi Christian Fellowship, 6602 S. Staples, Corpus Christi, TX, 78413. 

Viewing and Funeral Service to be celebrated on Saturday, February 18, 2023 at St. Paul United Methodist Church, 910 Preston Street, Columbus, Texas, 78934 at 11:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. respectively. Internment will immediately follow at Willing Worker Cemetery in Columbus, Texas.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Tennis Success Cleveland Gilcrease Youth Tennis Scholarship by visiting mytennissuccess.com or contributions may be mailed to Tennis Success, Inc. P.O. Box 71647, Corpus Christi, TX, 78467.

Cleveland Gilcrease always hated the name Columbus Colored High School in the little Texas town of Columbus, the place he was born.

He was raised there unit he was 16 and headed to Prairie View A&M University. After a short time in the military, he started his lifelong journey of teaching and coaching children in Texas. 

“I wanted to get back with tennis around 1978 and from then on, that’s my vehicle for getting kids excellent grades and to various universities,” said coach Gilcrease. 

He began his time playing tennis on gravel courts, and during some of his first jobs in Round Rock and Georgetown, Texas, he helped to develop their tennis programs.  After working for the government for about 14 years, Gilcrease returned to tennis and has been a prominent figure in the Corpus Christi, Texas tennis community ever since. 

Susan Shelby Torrance, the USPTA Head Professional Director of Tennis at Al Kruse Tennis Center, first met Gilcrease over 20 years ago, when he was a junior high coach and used the facility to teach his players. 

“In a very short time, he had a magical way to capture their attention and build passion said Torrance. “He likes to get kids hooked with tennis and then he’d capture their thinking and say ‘let’s go on and let’s go to college and let’s keep our grades up.”

She said that he is very instrumental in teaching kids to better their lives with education. 

Torrance asked him to teach at Al Kruse Tennis Center and for more than 25 years he directed the Free Neighborhood Program that brings free tennis education to underprivileged youth in the area. They learn to play the game in a respectful and emotionally composed manner. 

Marie McNeil, a parent of a child who was mentored by Gilcrease and a board member on Corpus Christi’s Tennis Success, observed the same magic. She admired his teaching style of not yelling or issuing punishment, instead it is a more peaceful environment that allows his players to grow. 

“He teaches and models excellent poise and behavior,” said McNeal.  “He is kind, but firm. He has done more for disadvantaged youth than anyone else. He is a motivator and a tireless champion for providing tennis to our youth.”

Gilcrease frequently drove his students to tournaments where they were scouted. He provided them with equipment when they had none, and stayed a constant positive influence in their lives.  One such student is Arlene Medrano, who first met “Daddy Gil,” 17 years ago when she joined his tennis team at Corpus Christi’s Wynn Seal Academy of Fine Arts. 

“Like many of my teammates, I showed up to practice empty-handed, tennis racquets are expensive,” said Medrano.  “Daddy Gil was already prepared. He had a collection of tennis racquets that were from local tennis centers.”

Medrano said that another way he helped lighten the financial burden to his players and their families was by securing sponsorships for tennis lessons for his most promising players and providing plenty of opportunities for fundraising. She said this was positive outside encouragement to students who are often surrounded with negative home lives. 

“He believed in me even when I did not believe in myself. I can remember having the most outlandish goals and when sharing thoseideas with him, he would encourage me to pursue them,” said Medrano about his support that she said led to a ranking in the top 5 in Girls 14-16 Division and Girls 16-18s.

“I credit Daddy Gil’s skilled training and the fact that he drove me to my tournaments and paid for all of my tournament entries. So I quite literally could not have done it without him,” remembers Medrano. 

This scenario was something not unique to Medrano’s situation, in fact, this high level of financial and transportation support is present throughout Gilcrease’s coaching career. 

Torrance noted that he would find creative ways to get students to compete that would not require going far out of town and that they would play all of the NJTL tournaments to get the kids on the courts and competing and his teams would win.

Although retiring from teaching in 2001, Gilcrease, after about five days out of the classroom, Gilcrease said he misses his students. If you can’t find him at the Al Kruse Tennis Center, you will find him in a Corpus Christi elementary school substitute-teaching a child from first to fourth grade.

His inspiration, work ethic and passion for teaching come from his parents who were not able to finish their schooling. 

“My mother always preached education and she always wanted to be a teacher. That never left my mind and she would say if she couldn’t do it, I could do it. I wanted to be the best teacher I could,” said Gilcrease of his mother. 

Gilcrease lives his life giving back to others and constantly finding ways to give back even more. It’s not the wins that he remembers the most about his students or even state championships, but the small moments that every beginner experiences. 

“My favorite moment actually is seeing the gratification on their faces when they reach the point that they can hit a good forehand ball across the net and a backhand across the net,” said Gilcrease. “I get a thrill from that and it’s not easy for them because some of them haven’t touched a racket before and you see the smile on their face and the gratification.”

In 1993 he was awarded the USTA Texas Lloyd Sessions Educational Merit Award. This award is given to a nominee who exhibits outstanding abilities to build stronger junior tennis at all levels of skill. These abilities have touched the lives of numerous students, players, and even coworkers. 

“I can’t imagine us reaching anywhere near the potential of this place if we hadn’t had someone like him. He’s a wonderful man and I call him the Pied Piper of tennis because he doesn’t ever raise his voice, he uses a lot of positive reinforcements,” said Torrance. “These kids eat it up because they want something to do and he introduces the idea of tennis as something to do for the rest of our lives.”