February 27, 2007
Release courtesy of Larry Happel, Central College sports information director

PELLA, IOWA . . . Bryan Mours (MOHRS) has been named men’s and women’s tennis coach at Central College.

Mours will assume his duties this summer after completing his fifth season as the Pella High School boys’ tennis coach. He previously served as head boys’ tennis coach at Dike-New Hartford High School in 2000.

He replaces highly successful Central coach Doug Stursma, who resigned late last fall after 13 seasons as men’s coach and 14 years as women’s coach. Greg Gilmore is serving as Central’s interim head men’s coach this spring.

Mours played for two seasons at the University of Northern Iowa and is a UNI graduate. He is an experienced tennis instructor, teaching at several private clubs including the Bull’s Eye Country Club in Wisconsin Rapids, Wis. where he was the head tennis professional for four years. He took over as tournament director for the USTA Pella Junior Open last summer.

“Obviously Doug Stursma laid a great foundation for the program,” Mours said. “I hope to build upon that. Certain things will change with a different coach, but our ultimate goals remain to win the Iowa Conference and compete in the NCAA Division III championship tournament.”

During his tenure at Pella High School, Mours’ teams’ have had nine state tournament qualifiers in four seasons, with four top-four individual finishes. Last summer’s squad reached the final eight in the team tournament. In all four seasons his teams received the Iowa High School State Athletic Association’s Academic Team Award for having a combined grade point average above 3.25.

“The fact that our teams have competed at a high level has helped set the stage for me making the transition from high school to college,” he said. “I’m very comfortable making that transition.”

“We’re excited about having Bryan on our staff,” said athletics director Al Dorenkamp. “He brings a lot of energy and enthusiasm. Bryan’s done a great job of building the program at Pella High School and increasing the numbers. We think he has the personality to be an excellent recruiter and will be a good fit at Central.”

While Mours doesn’t officially start his new job until midsummer, he said he will begin recruiting immediately. He wants players to know he’s committed to their development.

“Players can expect that I will hold them accountable for what they do and that they will work hard,” Mours said. “But at the same time, we’ll have a lot of fun. I want to make their Central College experience one they can be proud of for the rest of their lives.”

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