Salina Central boys head tennis coach John Huseman has been challenged with joining his parenting and coaching roles with his son sophomore Jonny Huseman. 

“It is awesome because he pushes me harder,” Jonny Huseman said. “Rather than me just having a normal coach, I can get pushed harder than the other guys, because I can take it.”

John Huseman said that he is impressed with his son so far this season.

“Jonny has made amazing progress this season,” John Huseman said. “He’s only played tennis for one year and his hard work and dedication is paying off.”

Junior Liam Deniau-Young said having a teammate’s dad as a coach doesn’t bother him.  

“I don’t think Coach Huseman shows favoritism to Jonny,” Deniau-Young said. “I think he is very fair, and any placement that Johnny receives is something he deserves for how hard he has worked.”

While Deniau-Young said it doesn’t affect him, sophomore Ryddyk Smith said it can be difficult to have his friend’s dad as a coach. 

“It is weird for me because it is my friend’s dad, and my pastor,” Smith said of John Huseman, the pastor at The Ark Church. 

John Huseman said that even though he is involved with many things, he tries his best to be in the moment.

“I work really hard to be 100 percent present in whatever I’m doing,” John Huseman said. “So if I’m coaching, all my focus is on coaching.”

Jonny Huseman said things would be different if he didn’t have his dad as his coach. 

“I don’t think that I would strive as hard as I do,” he said. “He pushes me harder than a normal coach would, and he understands me better. He also understands my pros and cons more than a normal coach would.”

John Huseman said that his goal for his players is for them to progress everyday.

“Our main goal is to get better every day and give our very best effort,” Coach Huseman said. “We would love to advance as many players as possible to the state tournament, especially this year because the state tournament is being held in Salina.”

Jonny Huseman said that the team has already progressed from the first meet where they placed second.

“We all have a lot more experience now, and we kind of get our nerves out from the first meet,” Jonny Huseman said. “We all know what it takes to be successful, so we are all getting our building black to get up to where we want to be.”

Jonny Huseman said that his coach looks for the positive even when they fail. 

“Coach always tells us to fail forward,” he said. “Which means if you are going to lose then you need to lose doing the right thing,”