WICHITA – At one end of the Dave Hawley Tennis Complex late Wednesday afternoon, Wichita Collegiate boys coach Simon Norman orchestrated the workout of his two state-qualifying doubles teams, filling the idle time between volleys with instruction and encouragement.
 
At the other end of an adjacent row of courts, a private lesson transpired with a man hitting soft shots from a basket of tennis balls to a middle school girl as she worked on the fundamentals of a forehand.
 
It was a snapshot of the “retirement” of legendary Spartans coach Dave Hawley.
 
“I have some free time now,” said Hawley, who stepped down from Collegiate’s high school boys and girls programs two years ago after 42 seasons. “Normally, I never do these at this time. This is sacred varsity time and there are usually like 30 kids out here.”
 
But this is state tournament week, an annual pilgrimage Hawley and his teams dominated like no other in Kansas high school sports history. When Hawley handed off Collegiate’s program to Norman after the 2023 boys tennis season, he did so after winning 59 state team championships – 33 girls and 26 boys – in 76 opportunities.

 
Fitting, then, that as the Spartan boys launched a bid for their 28^th state title Friday morning in the Class 3-2-1A state tournament at Topeka’s Kossover Tennis Center, Hawley was inducted into the Kansas State High School Activities Association Hall of Fame as one of five Class of 2025 members.
 
Desiring more time to follow his grandkids’ athletic and activity pursuits with his wife, Sally, the 72-year-old Hawley announced in November 2022 that the following spring would be his last at the high school level. He stayed on at Collegiate as a seventh-grade U.S. history teacher and middle school tennis coach, and is completing his 48^th year at the school.
 
“He has obviously been such a good role model for years here,” said Norman, a native of New Zealand who came to Wichita State to play tennis in the early-1980s and coached Wichita Independent to six girls state titles and two boys titles in 22 seasons prior to joining Hawley as an assistant for the 2022-23 school year. “Then there’s the program that he built and the respect that he has from other coaches.
 
“He’s got incredible respect in every division. And then when you’ve got 70 state titles or whatever, that’s not easy to do. It’s not that easy to do when you’re turning players over every three or four years. For him to do it that many times, just huge respect.”
 
The numbers are usually daunting when it comes to Hawley. In addition to the 59 state team titles, Collegiate produced 82 singles and doubles state champions in boys and girls tennis under Hawley’s watch. The list includes Hawley’s sons, Zach, who won doubles titles with different partners in 1996 and 1997, and Ben, part of three championship duos from 2001-03.
 
Hawley’s daughter, Meagan, also competed for the Spartans.
 
“The funny thing is I’m less impressed by myself than I’ve ever been,” Hawley said. “Hopefully, I never came across like that. But I realize, first of all, that the Good Lord put me in a spot that was perfect for me.”
 
Friday not only marked Hawley’s hall of fame induction, it was he and Sally’s 50^th wedding anniversary. The couple got married the same week Hawley graduated from Harding University in Arkansas after playing collegiate tennis there and prior to that at York College in his Nebraska hometown.
 
Hawley didn’t originally envision himself as a coach. But the first job he landed was teaching and coaching boys basketball in the tiny south central Nebraska town of Campbell.
 
Looking to get closer to Sally’s hometown of Buhler, Hawley interviewed for history teaching and boys tennis coaching positions at Collegiate in 1977. His assessment of the interview wasn’t positive.
 
“Sally came and picked me up, and I said, ‘Sally, take a look back at this place, because this is the last time you’ll ever see it,’” he said.
 
Instead, Hawley got the job, setting the stage for one of Kansas’ most prolific high school coaching careers.
 
Hawley started out with the boys program, adding girls coaching duties a few years into his tenure. Collegiate joined KSHSAA in 1984 and the organization began awarding team championships for girls in the fall of 1985 and boys the following spring.
 
The Spartans started collecting titles, as well. Laurie (Cusick) Newton won state singles titles in 1984 and 1985. Steve Stokdyk became Collegiate’s first boys champion in 1985.
 
“We made some good runs early on that maybe built my feel for everything,” Hawley said. “I had some great players early on and girls who wanted to be like Laurie Cusick and boys who wanted to be like Steve Stokdyk. Both those kids went on and played college tennis.
 
“And then we founded this summer camp. Little kids came out and you got to know them.”
 
In the process, Hawley became a Pied Piper for a program that has flourished in large numbers.
 
In addition to coaching high-level players, Hawley implemented a no-cut policy that continues with his middle-school players today. It is not unusual for Hawley to recall a player who wasn’t a standout when he reflects on fond memories from his tenure.
 
“One of my seniors two years ago (Allie Prater) started at age 4 and would come to tennis in a cheerleader outfit or a clown suit,” Hawley said. “She loved to come for popsicle day or whatever, and she just stayed with it. She wasn’t top six, but she loved to play and loved to compete, and to me that’s just so great.”
 

 Collegiate hasn’t missed a beat since Hawley stepped down, winning two more 3-2-1A girls titles under Norman to extend a state-record streak to 16 consecutive years. The Spartan boys also entered this weekend’s state tournament as the reigning champion and a strong favorite to repeat with a full complement of singles and doubles qualifiers.
 
Hawley, who admitted to often struggling with the postseason roster decisions he had to make as Collegiate’s longtime coach, has found solace in his new role.
 
“At regionals, I watched a little and we left after the first matches on Friday,” Hawley said. “I watched probably an hour and a half, two hours, and I said – and this will sound weird – ‘I don’t know if I remember enough to do this.’
 
“I listen to Simon, and we’re totally different stylists. I love what he does with them in terms of a lot of the strategy and a lot of thinking about what they’re doing. He’s much more of an X’s and O’s guy than I was. I was more of a motivational speaker. I knew what I was doing, but it was just a different approach. I was like, ‘You can do this. That’s the way to hit it.’ But I’ve found through it all, I don’t miss it.”
 
Still, Hawley has done his part to keep Collegiate tennis rolling.
 
The Spartans had 49 girls in middle school tennis last fall and 35 boys this spring. The numbers yield players with a variety of skill levels, all of whom Hawley attempts to accommodate.
 
“This middle school gig has just been unbelievable,” Hawley said. “It’s been about as much fun as I could have ever imagined. Both times in the fall and spring I had kids who sensed what was going on, and they came and said, ‘Is it too late to join the team?’ I said, ‘No, no, we’re not playing for a state title. We’re playing for progress.’
 
“I’ve had kids who early on said, ‘I don’t want to play matches. I just want to learn how to play.’ I’ll say that’s fine, but you’re going to find that once you start doing this, I’m probably going to try to nudge you into a low-level match. It never fails. They want to play and they want to get better.”
 
Hawley has coached five of Collegiate’s six boys state qualifiers, including a pair of freshmen, Amir Khicha and William Farha, who played for him last season.  The lone senior on the Spartans’ state roster, Carter Drumright, played varsity singles for Hawley before winning a doubles title with his younger brother, Maddox, last spring.
 
“It was definitely special,” Drumright said of playing for Hawley. “I didn’t take it for granted. I knew when I started he only had a few more years left so I wanted to make them memorable for him. I just had so much fun learning from him with all his experience and wisdom and storytelling. It just made the game fun and I loved it.”
 
Hawley has two granddaughters who will start seventh grade at Collegiate next fall, and has committed to another year in the classroom. His ties to Spartan tennis and its middle school program will likely extend beyond that.
 
“The bigger thing to me than titles is just the relationships,” Hawley said. “Kids stopping by and saying hi or dropping you a note or whatever. That to me is way more meaningful.
 
“I’m glad about the titles. It’s all good and fine, but it’s really just about having those relationships and seeing great kids come along.”