LARRY LARKIN column

Pat Heidlage and Claremore tennis.

Claremore tennis and Pat Heidlage.

No matter which way you say it, you cannot mention one without thinking about the other. That’s the way it has been for the last 43 years. It has been a perfect volley the whole time and as long as her health allows, the match point is nowhere in sight.

While on the subject of her health, there should be no concern. Her co-workers and students recently helped Pat celebrate her 70th birthday. As the physical education teacher and counselor at Westside Elementary School since 1973, she moves better than most women half her age.

Pat Heidlage is not limited to just one school, however. Her talents as a tennis instructor have ranged from one end of Rogers County to the other. Since 1992, she has coached the Lady Zebras high school team. It would be near impossible to count the number of tennis players who have passed under her guidance.

Call her "Queen of the Court," and the title fits. When doing so, watch out for her backhand, or backspin, or whatever other swing she comes up with. Her modesty will not allow much self-praise. She prefers this type of talk to be pointed toward all her former students.

"I have had the pleasure of being around a lot of wonderful young men and women over the years," Pat said recently during a visit in her office. "We have had a bunch of swell kids."

The feeling is mutual.

"All the students just love her,” said Blake Watson, a trophy-winning senior on this year's Zebras roster. “She is the favorite and perfect P.E. teacher."

"Robert (her husband) and Pat are good friends with my parents and we all go to the same church and go out to eat together,” Blake said. “I started taking lessons from her when I was age 4. She was always there for my matches and continues to give me pointers. Pat is great."

Sarah Gordon, who played on the Lady Zebras teams in the late 1990s, said: "She absolutely has been the best coach I ever had. Pat has a place in every good memory I have about playing tennis."

Now Mrs. Jim Evans, Sarah has a 5-year-old daughter and lives in Arkansas.

"Pat Heidlage is the reason I still play tennis twice a week. She taught me to love the sport. She was always so funny and when we went on trips to play somewhere, she was there to watch over her girls. She taught us about tennis, but she also taught us about life. I'll never forget what she means to me," Sarah said.