Three local tennis pros are bringing their expertise this spring to the high school courts.

Most afternoons, in fact, at least one of Phil Kovac, Claudette Laliberte or Larry Lineberry can be found on one of the courts at Sedona Red Rock and Mingus Union high schools.

Phil Kovac

Kovac, former director of the Sedona Community Tennis Association, is back coaching the SRRHS boys tennis team after suffering a heart attack in November.

“I’m almost there — darn close,” said Kovac, who will turn 70 years old in July. “Beta blockers [and] blood thinners take all my energy away.

“My doctor said, ‘You should’ve been dead.’ I had one artery completely closed, two 90 percent [closed]. I had arteries going out of my back to keep me alive.”

But because of his strong belief in educating and giving back, “never in my wildest dreams” did Kovac consider slowing down his coaching lifestyle.

“I always said if I get well, I’d give back to the community, especially to the kids,” he said. “It’s not about winning or losing. Even if one kid out of 100 gets something out of it, you’ve accomplished something.

“Keep going 10 yards at a time, but never cross that goal line, because life will keep going.”

Claudette Laliberte

Laliberte, a local elite professional for the U.S. Professional Tennis Association, is the new girls tennis at Sedona Red Rock High School.

Her love of the sport goes back to her freshman year of high school in New Hampshire, where she made the varsity tennis team. After she played tennis at Florida State University, Laliberte was a nationally-ranked singles and doubles player before becoming, for 15 years, the tennis director at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Fla.

“Tennis has done so much for me, and I want to give back some of what this great game has given me,” she said.

“Tennis teaches you discipline, sportsmanship, patience and perseverance, among other things.”

Larry Lineberry

Lineberry, a Sedona resident for the past 25 years, was named Feb. 19 by the USPTA as the 2015 Southwest Community Tennis Volunteer of the Year.

Lineberry, the new boys tennis coach at Mingus Union High School, was one of three Northern Arizona players recognized for his contributions.

“I do what I can,” he said. “A pro hardly ever wins it. It’s a real honor for me, because there’s so many people doing a lot of good work.”

A past president of the Northern Arizona chapter of the United States Tennis Association, Lineberry has raised over $25,000 through various junior tennis benefits across Northern Arizona over the past five years.

He has also secured a grant from the Verde Valley Medical Center to help children be able to play in local summer programs.

Those funds have exposed nearly 1,000 grade-school children regularly, in both Sedona and Flagstaff, to the game of tennis every year for the past six years.

“All that added up,” he said. “I work with each organization, help get a grant, get equipment.”

For more photos, please see the Friday, March 4, issue of the Sedona Red Rock News.