After a 38-year career at BYU-Hawaii, David Porter has been named the director of tennis and men’s head tennis coach at BYU in Provo. He has contributed to the sports and academic departments at BYUH inspiring students to take their health and exercise seriously.
Michelle Khoo Li Sha, a recent BYUH graduate from Malaysia, said she trained with Porter from the Fall of 2016 until she graduated in 2019.
“Coach [Porter] is one of a kind. He’s just fantastic. He makes things so easy to understand, and I am so grateful I was able to train under him because he really opened my eyes on how to be a better player and a coach. He uses real life experiences and relates the concepts to real life applications.”
Khoo said the principle she’s been most grateful during her time training with Porter was discipline. “He is so disciplined when it comes to getting things done. The way he does things just makes you realize so much of how things can be done in such an effective and efficient way.
“He’s very compassionate, and I honestly see him as a second father figure. I am so grateful that I was able to meet him. It's fantastic now that the BYU men’s tennis team is having him as their coach.”
Porter started his career at BYUH in the fall of 1982 as an assistant professor in Physical Education, now known as Exercise and Sport Science. Porter was the assistant basketball coach and then assisted the volleyball team for one year and later coached the tennis teams.
Porter said he has been blessed by and appreciates all of the experiences he has had at BYUH. He said some of the biggest benefits of living and teaching in Hawaii were learning how to relax, appreciating the wonderful atmosphere around him and enjoying every minute of his time every day.
“It doesn't mean everything's perfect, but it's a very special place. And it's a place where it's easy to be at peace.”
Porter hopes the university will embrace the Exercise and Sport Science program’s philosophy of the importance of health and wellness. He said the program's vision was to establish an “attitude” of health and wellness that would be applied across every discipline. He referred to the philosophy of the early Greeks who focused on the principles of the body, mind and spirit.
The university concentrates on the spiritual and academic aspect as part of the student’s learning experience. Porter shared his perspective on how all aspects of the body, mind and spirit ought to be equally embraced. He said he hopes the education of the physical aspect of people’s lives will increase the same way the spiritual and academic education are requirements.
“I'm here because of the philosophy of the university. Through the classes that we teach, we use sports and we use the body as areas to emphasize in teaching life principles. I believe in the philosophy of the program or department. I love teaching. That's why I haven't left before. I wanted to coach and teach.”
Porter shared he thinks getting a physical education is just as important as a secular and spiritual education. “You’re here to get an academic education. But it's important that [students] get a spiritual education too. And that's why they have religion classes that are required. That's why they have church on Sundays, but we currently don't have required exercise classes. We don't have required participation in exercise or anything else related to the health and well-being of the body.”
He said people often approach philosophy as spiritual and mental. However, he thinks the body is an important part of the mind, body and spirit triangle. “I think we have mind and spirit pretty strongly here, but I think that all three should be in place.
“I don’t feel that as a university Ohana, we really embrace the body in terms of nutrition, exercise and taking long-term care of it. A certain percentage of the student body does focus on the body, but all of the student body is involved in the spiritual aspect.
“All of the students are enrolled in academic classes. They’re involved in the mental aspect. I don't think everybody is involved in the physical aspect, but I think that's an important part of having a complete, healthy and happy life.”
Porter’s highlights
Porter said he’s been fortunate to train outstanding athletes who represented BYUH and others who have competed at the highest levels of world tennis.
“I've worked with some players who had exceptional results. I worked with a girl from China who made No. 2 in the world in singles. She won the French Open and the Australian Open Singles Titles.
“I worked with a doubles team from China, different girls, who won Wimbledon and the Australian Open. I worked with two different girls in China who won the Olympic Games and got the gold medal in Athens [in 2004].”
Porter said, “Never considered that goal [of legacy] when you start coaching. You never know how long you're going to be able to coach here. It was just to make it a good experience for the players, help them learn and help them grow and help them be successful. And you know, if you stick out long enough, I suppose you get some kind of a legacy.”
Former students and colleagues
Brandyn Akana, head of Sports & Student Activities and part of the Faculty of Sciences from Molokai, Hawaii, was recruited to play basketball as an exercise science student in the early 1990s.
“He was very successful with teaching and coaching tennis,” Akana said adding Porter was experienced in what he taught.
One of the principles Akana recalled learning from Porter was preparation, because one had to always be prepared physically and mentally to be the best athlete they could be.
Kate McLellan, as assistant professor in the Faculty of Sciences, said, “When I was a student, he was the tennis coach. I ran cross country for Coach K, but I was an exercise science major. So, I had to take a couple of classes from Porter. I took motor learning, which is kind of a rite of passage. And sadly, now with him leaving, people won't get that full motor learning experience, namely that it was at 7 a.m., which is impossible.
“He's really good. He is a very well-prepared, well-rounded and well-versed person, and I think that helps. He knows so much about so many things.”
Evan Nakachi, a friend and colleague in the Faculty of Sciences, said he first met Porter when he was a fitness instructor. “He's a phenomenal coach, you know, and when I first got here, I thought it was just because he was a fantastic recruiter. You could tell he was a people person, and he was very persuasive.
“So, he was getting good players here. But then there was this one year when several of these recruits fell through. So, he didn't have the full team on scholarship. He might have been short one player or two players. So, he actually recruited some girls on campus to play.
“The year before, they had won the national championship. They were the defending national champions, and he didn't have all his recruits he wanted. So, he had to work with what he [had]. They won the national championship again.
“That showed me right there he wasn't just a good recruiter. He was an excellent coach who he could bring the best out of people. Even though he didn't have his full team of six, he could actually get people who were on campus. And that's the kind of guy [who will get] something done. He will find a way.”