By John Hartsock

jhartsock@altoonamirror.com

Citing work and family commitments, John Riley has resigned as the head girls tennis coach at Central High School after winning over 100 matches and a District 6 Class 2A team championship during his 16-year tenure.

Riley, 53, was recently hired as a full-time warehouse associate at the Value Drug Company in Duncansville, and cited conflicts with his work schedule as the reason for submitting his resignation as Central’s coach.

“I’ve been looking for a full-time position for a couple of years, and I got one,” Riley said. “I previously had several temp jobs that allowed me to take off and coach the tennis team, but with my new full-time position, starting work from 5 p.m. to 1:30 a.m., I had to do what is best for my family.

“I submitted my resignation as tennis coach in mid to late April after finding out that I would be hired for the full-time warehouse position, and also to give Central ample time to get a new coach and give the new coach ample time for summer preparations for the fall season,” Riley added.

Riley, a 1988 graduate of Central High School who played three seasons of varsity tennis for the school’s boys team that has since been disbanded, had a 117-112 record as coach of the girls program.

His Central teams won eight Mountain League championships, and his 2011 squad won the District 6 Class 2A team championship.

Riley coached a pair of District 6 doubles teams runners-up, Julia Ritchey and Ashlyn Renner last fall, and Maggie Stern and Lauren (Kensinger) Hileman in 2016.

Ritchey, who will be a junior this fall, and Renner, who will be a senior, will return to lead the 2023 squad.

“Julia is probably the most talented player that I have coached,” said Riley, who also played one season of collegiate tennis at Penn State Altoona. “She’s taken tennis lessons since she was very young. She was already a good player when she started playing at the high school level.”

Riley also named Rachel (Smith) Riley, Katelyn (Piper) Matheny, Stern, current Mount Aloysius player Kierra Mountain, and Lindsey Kensinger and her sister, Lauren, as the best singles players in his coaching career.

The intangibles for John Riley were just as important as the most tangible successes.

“The 117 wins were very nice, and the conference championships and district team title were obviously big, but it was also special to see some of the individual improvements made by several of the players,” said Riley, who did not rule out coaching as a volunteer assistant at Central if needed.

“Many of the players that I coached were high Honor Roll students and valedictorians, so they excelled on and off the court, and most importantly, in the classroom,” Riley added.

Riley expressed gratitude to the two athletic directors at Central during his coaching career, Chuck Gojmerac and current athletic director Stacy Kuster. He also thanked several current or former coaches from rival schools — Eric Hovan, Brian Denis, Mike Hample and Randy Irvin — for their valuable input on coaching at the high school level.

Kuster said that Riley made tremendous contributions to the girls program over the past 16 years.

“John is extremely passionate about the sport of tennis, and he definitely made a positive impact on the program,” said Kuster, who said that she will be conducting interviews for the vacant position this week and hopes to have a new coach hired in time for Central’s June 12 school board meeting.

“We’ve got some potential coming up through the program in the near future, and that’s because John has encouraged the girls by going out of his way to offer things like summer camps and private lessons for the players,” Kuster added. “John is definitely a steward of the game.’