Radanovic steps down as Hun boys’ tennis head coach

After 17 seasons, activities position is a new opportunity

By: Justin Feil
For 17 years, Dana Radanovic spent every spring afternoon working into dusk with the small group at Hun known as the boys’ tennis team.
"When I went to Hun, I knew I wanted to coach," said Radanovic, a Hun Middle School mathematics teacher. "That’s part of the reason I went into teaching. I’ve worked with a lot of nice kids."
It figures that the only reason that Radanovic has decided that the just-completed 17th season was her final one was that she has the chance to work with even bigger groups of nice Hun students. She will remain a coach with the middle school field hockey team in the fall, but her spring afternoons and evenings will be free to work on planning student activities.
"I took on some more responsibilities besides teaching," said Radanovic, who just finished her first year as Director of Student Activities. "A lot of it is in the springtime. I was thinking about (retiring from coaching tennis), and I kind of like the direction of those duties. It’s a lot of trip planning and working out all the details. You really need your afternoons to do it. Something had to give. I decided to give up tennis.
"I wanted to go out with a good group of kids, and I certainly was able to do that. It’s definitely really nice to go out with a good group of kids."
While the Raiders finished with a 6-7 overall record, and were fifth in the Prep A tournament, Radanovic was most happy about the progress of the doubles teams, sort of her personal project area during her tenure.
"At the varsity level, pretty much all the kids have the skills, but the one thing they need to work on is strategy," she said. "I was lucky. I had a lot of talented singles players and they knew exactly what to do, even though we would talk about strategy a little.
"We had to work a lot with doubles on strategy, but they always better. This year, my first doubles went 10-1 and my second doubles went 9-2. The fact that we came that far is something."
Radanovic has seen her teams enjoy plenty of success over the years. In 1994, the Raiders captured the Prep A championship.
"I’ve worked with a lot of great kids, but that group definitely ranks up there," Radanovic said of the team that also gave her the best shot she had at winning a Mercer County Tournament championship. "Adam Epstein, Chris Kingston, Matt Shaine, Rich Russo, Carl Spalding, Justin Stein and Steve Hurwitz, they were a good group.
"Being able to work with Chris Kingston as a player and then as a coach (this season), most coaches don’t have that opportunity. He seems to have the same kind of work ethic as a coach that he had as a player. I recommended him."
Radanovic can remember her own tennis roots. She moved quickly from player to coach to teacher to finally teacher and coach.
"One of my first jobs ever, I worked for the Pennsbury Recreation Department teaching tennis to adults," she recalled. "It was a little awkward for a 14-year-old to teach adults. That expanded into working with kids. I worked with kids for probably 10 years, and at the same time I started a tennis program at the Brookside Swim Club in Yardley. I have always enjoyed teaching tennis."
Coaching a sport, as compared to teaching it, took some time to get used to, but before long Radanovic had her own system and was helping to mold strong teams at Hun. In addition to tennis and field hockey, she also coached the middle school boys’ basketball team for five years.
"Coaching in high school is a lot different from coaching a summer program," she said. "You have to establish tryout procedures, work within the framework of a schedule and learn the area teams. That takes a little time."
And, unfortunately for her tennis coaching career, time is what ultimately will take her away from the courts in hopes of helping more Hun students.
"I’m going to stick with my middle school commitment because it doesn’t interfere as much as tennis," said Radanovic, whose husband Steve was a successful swim coach at West Windsor-Plainsboro High before retiring five years ago. "I put a lot of time into it. You figure that practice is everyday from 3:30 to 5:30 but kids always want to stay later to play, especially when it’s nice out. Then, in matches, tennis doesn’t have a time limit. You tend to put a lot more time into it than it looks. And with the schools we’re playing, you tend to travel more. I got home a lot of times at 9 o’clock."
For 17 seasons, there were late spring nights for Dana Radanovic. As she steps away, the boys from the Hun tennis team are grateful for every minute she gave them.