Syracuse, N.Y. — When Philip Rudolph took over as coach of the Fayetteville-Manlius girls tennis team in 1984, he thought it would last a few years.
Fast forward to 2020, Rudolph retired from F-M after 37 years of teaching social studies. But he was still coaching girls tennis.
Following the conclusion of the 2025 season and 40-plus years of coaching girls tennis, Rudolph knew it was time. In early November, Rudolph stepped down from his position.
“Everyone’s got to retire at some point,” Rudolph said. “I don’t know how many coaches have stayed in the same position for more than four (decades), or how many people have in any field. It’s been a long, long run. It got longer and longer, but (this year) it just felt like it was the right time. Sometimes, you never know exactly when the perfect time is, but I think it’s a good time.”
Rudolph, who graduated from F-M in 1978, played for the Hornets while in high school. While he doesn’t consider himself much of a tennis player, he credits former coach Ron Fuller for teaching him how to be a leader.
“Coach Fuller is someone who I’ve appreciated more after the fact than during my playing days, which I think is true for a lot of coaches,” Rudolph said. “He set the example of being classy, calm and poised, which I really appreciate. I wasn’t a great tennis player. I hadn’t had really had any instruction or anything, but (Fuller) welcomed me and my friends into the tennis program. I think what Ron did is important for boys and girls tennis. He was instrumental not just in building the boys program, but in building F-M as a tennis community.”
Rudolph graduated from Cornell University in 1982. During his time there, he tried out for the men’s tennis team.
Much like his playing days at F-M, he was surprised he gave tennis another shot, this time at a different level.
“I don’t know why I had the idea that I could travel with the team,” Rudolph said. “I did try out for the team one day and it didn’t take me long to realize the level was so far above where I wanted to be. I was not even anywhere high up on the high school team. I saw that in like probably 10 minutes of trying out (with Cornell). I remember the coach at the time had me sort of play a few games with someone on the team. I played a couple games, was on clay and I was moving side to side, falling, basic slipping and moving around. I just went up to the coach afterward and ‘Thank you for letting me come out.’”
Once he was done at Cornell, Rudolph made his way back to F-M to teach. Coaching soon followed suit.
“Teaching was the main thing, that was my career,” Rudolph said. “I went into teaching and I did figure that since I played tennis for the team there, I figured coaching tennis made sense. I felt like you get to know kids in different ways when you coach, which complements the classroom experience and makes you a stronger teacher. In my view, when you are involved in other things it doesn’t necessarily have to be athletics. It could be other things. When kids see you involved in other things, I think makes for richer relationships and just makes the whole experience better. I initially thought that since I played on the boys team, I would coach them, but then the girls job opened up and I just took it.”
Through his 40 years at the helm of F-M girls tennis, there’s been 32 Section III team tournaments. Rudolph has led the Hornets to 30 of those titles.
The Hornets also had more than a handful of individual singles and doubles champions under Rudolph’s tenure.
“I’ve appreciated the chance to watch kids grow, not just as tennis players, but through my time in the program,” he added. “You have kids come in and maybe they want to play tennis. Then as they stay in the program, by the time they graduated seniors, they not only have developed as players, but they’ve really developed as teammates and leaders. To watch that growth is great. I appreciate just the relationship with the players and their families.”
Rudolph has coached basketball and lacrosse in the past. He still plans to continue coaching JV boys tennis in the spring.
When August rolls around next year, it’ll be first time in four decades that he won’t prepare for the upcoming girls tennis season.
As Rudolph sat and reminisced about the girls tennis program, of all things he’ll miss, practice stuck out to him the most.
“I’m just going to miss the day-to-day, but I’m one who really likes practice in all the sports I’ve coached,” Rudolph said. “I enjoy the just the day-to-day of watching the kids develop. I’m going to miss watching kids just socialize and interact with each other. For us, a big thing was to design the program around getting kids to interact positively with each other the best we can. I’ve been very blessed because we’ve had good players, we’ve had just tremendous families who have just been fun to interact with and been very supportive. I’ll miss the competition to a degree, but honestly, I’m glad not to have the stress of the winning and losing part.”
No matter who F-M chooses to replace Rudolph, he knows the program will be in good hands.
“I think the program’s in really good shape,” he said. “I think the transition will be smooth, so I wanted to retire when things were nice and solid.”