Individual Achievements
Coach Starkey's Philosophy:
Win or beaten, you live to play another day.
I have been asked my philosophy as a coach. Well, this is it. There has emerged a craziness surrounding professional, amateur and college sports. When you win, you are the greatest. And when you are beaten, you dont amount to much. To me, this is crazy.
Many of todays tennis players, as well as athletes in other sports, have lost the ability to keep the games they play in proper perspective. As an educator, I try to help my players recognize and maintain their priorities. As a coach, I am fairly idealistic. I try to be the type of coach I would want my daughter to play for, and I try to run the type of program I would want her to be a part of.
The single most important goal of this Missouri tennis program will always be the pursuit of academic, athletic, and personal excellence and in this order. Excellence is the athletic ideal, but that doesnt mean winning at all costs. Here at Mizzou, we buy into the phrase, Team first, me second at every level. Team competition involves the pooling of many talents. It is critical to expect to win every time you walk on a court. But it doesnt always happen. Players learn quickly that while no wins all the time, teams can still succeed if individuals fall.
There is a big difference between being beaten and losing. I dont want any part of a player that loses it is hard to respect a player that doesnt fight. We will always have a team of fighters. And our opponents should know we are going to fight. It is who and what we are. When you fight, win or beaten, you walk of the court proud. I expect our players to go into matches prepared to play at the best of their ability. This is because we pay attention to daily priorities and daily effort given in practice. If this effort is where it should be, then we are going to be ready the day of the match. If one of my players can walk off the court, and we both know she was prepared to play and she fought hard and put everything she had into her match, then Im going to be proud of her.
If our players acquire the quality education that Missouri offers and improves their tennis skills during their time here, as well as improve as people, then as a coach I have done my job.
- Blake Starkey
Commitment to Domestic Recruitment:
Many tennis programs focus their recruiting efforts solely overseas. I have coached a number of players from other countries, and am proud to have seen them graduate from Mizzou. I have nothing but respect for all tennis players, regardless of where they call home. Here at Mizzou, we have made a commitment to focus our recruiting efforts (and scholarships) domestically. From an admissions standpoint, we have found this is the best fit for us here at Mizzou. We obviously take a hard look at players from the Midwest, but we look all over the U.S. Nationally, we will look at any talented player for whom the University of Missouri is a natural fit. This is often young ladies interested in Journalism, Business, Pre-Med, Pre-Law, or Liberal Arts. We are very highly ranked in all these fields, with Missouris Journalism program being the top ranked Journalism program in the world, and the standard by which other universities that have Journalism programs measure theirs.
Coaching Achievements
Head Tennis Coach
Blake Starkey
Date of Birth: September 14, 1966
B.A., Public Relations, Eastern Kentucky University
M.S., Sports Administration, Eastern Kentucky University
Commitment to Domestic Recruitment:
Many tennis programs focus their recruiting efforts solely overseas. I have coached a number of players from other countries, and am proud to have seen them graduate from Mizzou. I have nothing but respect for all tennis players, regardless of where they call home. Here at Mizzou, we have made a commitment to focus our recruiting efforts (and scholarships) domestically. From an admissions standpoint, we have found this is the best fit for us here at Mizzou. We obviously take a hard look at players from the Midwest, but we look all over the U.S. Nationally, we will look at any talented player for whom the University of Missouri is a natural fit. This is often young ladies interested in Journalism, Business, Pre-Med, Pre-Law, or Liberal Arts. We are very highly ranked in all these fields, with Missouris Journalism program being the top ranked Journalism program in the world, and the standard by which other universities that have Journalism programs measure theirs.
Starkeys Bio:
Blake Starkey is the Head Tennis Coach for the University of Missouri. Blake was born in Palestine, Texas, and has been involved in tennis his entire life. He attended the John Newcombe Tennis Academy as a junior, and was a mainstay on the Texas junior circuit throughout his junior years. He played collegiate tennis at Eastern Kentucky University under legendary coach Tom Higgins, where he received his bachelor and master degrees. Upon finishing school, Starkeys love of developing junior players led him back to Newks (in Texas) where he worked with the Academy Junior Development and Competitive Edge program. In 1992, he was named the Assistant Coach at the University of Maryland. During his five years with the Terps, he helped them to their first top 30 national ranking and first two NCAA births. Starkey came to Columbia in 1998 and inherited one of the weakest teams in the nation. At the time, the Tigers had not won a Big 8 or Big XII team match in 22 years. Similar to what occurred at Maryland, Starkeys Tigers have enjoyed a similar turnaround and his teams have been the strongest in program history. He is pursuing 200 team wins and is the winningest tennis coach in Mizzou program history. The Tigers have become a dangerous squad posing a threat to any team in the Big XII, as well as any in the country. His Tigers have defeated every Big XII team with the exception of Baylor. In 2004, his Tigers were unique in pulling off the NCAA trifecta - they sent an individual to the NCAAs in singles, a doubles team to the NCAAs in doubles, and the entire team competed for the NCAA Team Championships. This is one of the most difficult feats in Division I, and has only been achieved by a handful of coaches. These NCAA appearances were firsts in Missouri program history. The Tigers reached their highest national team ranking in program history that year at #32 (314 teams nationally) following their win over the Texas A&M Aggies. While he has coached a doubles tandem that reached a #3 national ranking and won the Big XII twice, his ultimate coaching goal is to win a Big XII team title. What occurs off the court is also very important to Starkey. His Tigers have annually fielding one of the brightest athletic teams in the conference and are one of the brightest of all sports teams at Mizzou. The Tigers have been an Academic All-American Team for numerous years, and his players are regulars on Missouri Dean lists and on the Big 12 Commissioners Honor Roll. He keeps the Tigers active in numerous community service efforts, but mostly services benefiting children.
Starkeys wife, Julie, is the Assistant Dean for Campus Life at Columbia College. They have two children; Emily (12), and Samuel (8). When Blake is not on or near a tennis court, he enjoys biking, cooking, playing chess and other strategy games, spending time with his kids, writing, and tech gadgets. Among other community organizations, he is a member of Columbias Northwest Rotary.
