An intriguing blend of accusations and suspicions provided a dramatic backdrop to the boys singles final at last weekend’s Unicorn Open in New Braunfels.

Westlake’s Russell Bader knocked off Matt Dooley of New Braunfels 6-3, 6-1 to likely earn the top seed at next month’s Class 5A Region IV tournament, but the match couldn’t meet the commotion surrounding the New Braunfels tennis program and its relationship with the nearby Newcombe Tennis Ranch.

New Braunfels was stripped of two team tennis district championships garnered in 2008 and 2009 after a ruling by the District 26-5A Executive Committee on March 4, and the Unicorns could also lose its two Class 5A state championships won in those same years. The committee ruled to remove the Unicorns’ district titles because of private instruction from a non-school coach during school hours.
An off-campus physical education class authorized by New Braunfels High School throughout the school year at the Newcombe Tennis Ranch was deemed a violation of UIL rules by the DEC.
“Coaching during school hours is supposed to come from a full-time district employee,” San Antonio Reagan principal Bill Boyd, the chairman of the DEC, told the San Antonio Express-News. “I don’t think New Braunfels had an understanding that the rule applied to this off-campus class.”
According to the Express-News, the UIL also could place further sanctions on the school, including stripping its two most recent state team tennis titles. UIL spokeswoman Kim Rogers told the Express-News that any appeals would be reviewed at a state executive committee hearing. No time or date has been set for a hearing.
New Braunfels beat Westlake in the regional finals in both 2008 and 2009, and Chap parents have joined other schools’ parents in complaining about the relationship between the Unicorns’ tennis program and the Newcombe Tennis Ranch.

According to the Express-News, the complaint to the UIL came from outside of the San Antonio area.

“A parent hired a private investigator to come in and spy on New Braunfels,” Boyd told the paper.

New Braunfels and Westlake parents have long had an acrimonious relationship, and some parents of New Braunfels’ players believed that the complaint to the UIL originated from a Westlake parent.

No one from either school had a comment, pending an appeal by New Braunfels on the district ruling.

Such drama didn’t prevent Westlake from finishing third as a team and garnering plenty of wins in the first completed tournament of the spring.

Westlake’s doubles team of Robin Chou and Ryan Meek reached the quarterfinals before being knocked out 6-4, 6-4 by San Antonio Churchill’s Angel Alvarez and Jordan Mayer.

Chap Andie Ingram reached the quarterfinals before falling to defending state champion Lilly Kimball of New Braunfels. Teammate Jay Henton advanced to the quarterfinals in the boys singles bracket before a loss to Brandon Davis of New Braunfels.

Westlake’s mixed doubles team of Nemo Niess and Sydney Young also reached the quarterfinals before falling 6-2, 7-5 to San Antonio Reagan’s team of Chelsea Horan and Nick Isbell.

The loss by the two Chap freshmen didn’t faze Westlake coach Kim Riley, who liked her young team’s moxie.

“Those freshman are just getting warmed up,” she said. “There’s more to come from them, for sure.”