Enloe tennis coach Stephen Spivey builds legacy with 1,000th win

If Stephen Spivey is having trouble with his knee, he visits his former tennis player who happens to be his orthopedic surgeon.

Spivey’s car could be resting at a traffic light, and, in a random meeting, he could be greeted by another athlete he coached in high school.

Few days pass when Spivey doesn’t encounter someone who played for him at Broughton, Apex or now Enloe. It’s been the most meaningful part of more than three decades of coaching high school boys’ and girls’ tennis.

It didn’t take him long to arrive at success at Broughton when he started in the 1990s. Today, he’s built much more: a lasting legacy.

Spivey collected his 1,000th victory Tuesday when Enloe defeated Millbrook 5-4 to clinch the Cap-8 Conference title, his 40th overall league crown.

He became the second known N.C. High School Athletic Association coach to reach 1,000 wins, behind Chapel Hill’s Sherry Norris.

“This is by far the best boys’ tennis team that Enloe’s ever had, in school history,” Spivey said of one of the Eagles’ first winning tennis seasons. “I think we have a pretty good shot of going all the way.”

The Eagles, who are ranked second in the state, have one loss on the year.

Spivey has a record 21 tennis titles in boys’ and girls’ combined, including one in Myrtle Beach, S.C., in 2006.

Broughton, which owns the NCHSAA record for most championship wins with 16, claimed 11 titles under Spivey’s reign. He coached the Broughton girls, who have the second most association championships, to nine, including six straight starting in 1998.

“There’s two things you’ve got to have in coaching,” Spivey said. “Number 1, you’ve got to have a love for your sport. ... The other thing is you gotta be able to motivate. I think I’m really good at motivating players and getting them ready to play.”

Spivey saidyoung tennis players longed to eventually play for him at Broughton. Now, at 63, he hopes to duplicate those aspirations at Enloe, where he is in his third year as coach. He has no intentions of retiring until he can no longer beat his players.

“I want us at Enloe to be like Broughton. In a way, I want people to hate us here at Enloe,” Spivey said with a chuckle.

He continued: “When I was at Broughton, people hated us. The reason people hated us at Broughton is because we went out there and kicked butt. (At Enloe), I think we’re very close. Most of my best players are freshmen and sophomores, so we’ve got a nucleus now and you’ve got to have that.”

Enloe has swept its Broughton matches under Spivey.

Sophomore Ethan Saber and freshman Revanth Bobba won 8-3 in No. 3 doubles to clinch the Millbrook match Tuesday.

Saber, who also won his singles match, was proud to win the conference and be part of Spivey’s 1,000th victory.

“His experience, his coaching – he has made us so much better,” Saber said. “We wouldn’t be doing this without him. It’s great to be part of such a great win in Enloe history.”

Coaching success

Spivey has been playing tennis since he was 14 – nearly half a century.

He played multiple sports in high school in Lee County, but fell for the individual competitiveness of tennis. He can appreciate the thrill of playing one-on-one in a singles match.

“It’s 6-all tiebreaker in the third set – it’s just you,” said Spivey, who still competes every weekend with a group of his childhood friends. “That’s what I like about it. In soccer, you’ve got 10 other guys. In football, you have 21 guys on offense and defense. In tennis, you just go out there and beat people.”

In addition to Spivey’s years of playing and coaching the sport, he also officiates college and tournament tennis. A certified tennis professional since 1991, Spivey was selected to officiate the 2012 NCAA Division III tennis championships in Cary.

He’s been an ACC official for about 24 years, often getting a chance to see some of his former players at the next level.

At tournaments, he can get a preview of upcoming high school players that his team may face.

“I get to see some of the talents in the summer,” Spivey said. “Who in the West is good? That kind of gives me a leg up on everybody because I’ve seen some of the best players, and nobody else has that advantage.”

Spivey cited Green Hope and Greensboro Page, out of the West, as strong contenders this season. Page is one of nine 4A boys’ teams that remains undefeated.

Enloe Athletics Director Patrick Paye said Spivey can influence players and also other coaches.

“You’ve got a lot of young coaches here,” Paye said. “Hopefully it rubs off on them, how to build a program, how to go about your business, how to use a team to get quality athletes.”

Player impact

Spivey said since many of his players compete year-round or in local country clubs, there’s often a misconception that they don’t have to work, which is quite the contrary.

After their loss to Wakefield this season, the Eagles joked about how much they’d have to run. They said they’re required to if they lose a set, so they couldn’t imagine the consequences after losing an entire match.

When Spivey coached Myrtle Beach High to a title, he said the beach was a distraction for good players who he whipped into shape.

With his wealth of knowledge, from playing and coaching and officiating the game to holding a master’s degree in exercise physiology, Spivey said players realize how much he can offer.

“I know the rules up and down. I know how to teach it and how to correct minor things,” Spivey said. “I don’t do a lot of correcting in high school. Not many players come to me with bad grips, but if they have a bad grip, I might change it. Or if they’re at the net and have a bad grip for a net shot, I might change it or I might change their serve a little bit.”

In addition to the mechanics, Spivey tries to instill in his players a team-first attitude and confidence. One of his many championship trophies is on display in his office so they can have tangible evidence of what they can earn.

Sophomore No. 2 Mike Ogundele, who was tasked with taking down Millbrook’s Austin Cobb on Tuesday, said the team put forth tremendous work to reach this season’s success.

“We put in a lot of time, dedication and hard work,” Ogundele said. “Plus, we had such good team chemistry. It’s all because of coach. He helps us with everything. I mean, he’s got 21 state championships, so he knows what he’s doing.”

News &Observer correspondent Randy Jones contributed.

This story was originally published April 21, 2016 at 5:33 PM with the headline "Enloe tennis coach Stephen Spivey builds legacy with 1,000th win."