Four years ago, the Hanford West High tennis team was nearly nonexistent. One boy's decision helped changed that.

When Taylor Herron chose not to follow his father, a 12-year wrestling coach, to the mats he forced the parent's hand. Marc Herron stepped back from wrestling and decided to support his son by coaching tennis at Hanford West.

"Our school didn't really have a program," Marc Herron said. "I got some really great help and ran tennis [practice] like a wrestling practice. I showed them what to do, didn't let them do it wrong and made them do it 1,000 times."

That approach — mixed with the wisdom and humility to ask for help from expert tennis coaches — has helped turn Hanford West into repeat Central Section Division III champions and earned Herron The Bee's Boys Tennis Coach of the Year honor.

"It's great to be recognized but that's not what you do the job for," said Herron, who gave credit to his assistants, experienced tennis veterans Doug Hofer and Michael Miya. "You're not coaching for recognition and appreciation. If you do, you'll never survive."

Under Herron, who also thanked other Valley tennis coaches who supported him and helped him grow as a coach, the program surged from less than 10 players to about 25. The boys and girls tennis teams were a combined 0-186 before he became coach, Herron said.

"Before he took it over it was small and there wasn't a lot of interest. We didn't really have a tennis coach per se, someone that really loved tennis," Hanford West athletic director Lance Dowd said. "Since he's taken it, he's made [the program] known. … The interest is there and the competitiveness is there."

"Marc's a very good coach and he builds interest in the program. He's a go-getter. Marc's got some competitive boys and girls out there who want to win. I think it comes from him."

The No. 2-seeded Huskies topped No. 1 Clovis North to claim this year's section title 5-4. Herron scouted the Broncos twice to map player tendencies.

"He had good strategies," senior Brandon Pedreiro said. "Switching up our ladder, moving No. 3 down to 5. … He'll mix up the doubles to our advantage. … He put the time in and effort and he wanted it. He showed a lot of heart in getting us to where we needed to get."

Titles were not even a consideration when Herron first took the job.

"I said, ‘Hey, I want to build a program for kids to come on in,' " he explained. "I just got motivated. There were so many coaches that helped: the El [Diamante] coach, Bill Bradley, [Buchanan coach Jonathan] Slater, the Bakersfield Christian coach. All of them helped to motivate me. Anything I needed they were all there. I got motivated, sought out Doug and Mikey and it all came together."

Asked where the program would be had Herron not stepped up, Dowd responded: "I'm hoping it would be right where it is, but I doubt it. … He's done one hell of a job."