Girls tennis: Gillman resigns, Decker takes over

Tom Gillman resigned as the Red Wing girls tennis coach to become the women’s tennis coach at Wisconsin-Eau Claire the morning of the high school fall sports meeting, but the Wingers had a replacement by that evening.

Former assistant Randy Decker took Gillman’s place Aug. 9 and met with players and parents at the meeting. Decker completed his first season as coach of the Wingers boys tennis program in the spring and was an easy replacement pick, according to athletic director Matt Schultz.

“We did the search for the boys and he came out heads and shoulders (above the other candidates) for that job,” Schultz said.

Schultz said Decker was not hired on an interim basis to coach the girls and that Decker hopes to remain the boys coach.

The Wingers’ first day of practice is Monday.

Gillman is now coach of both the men’s and women’s programs at Wisconsin-Eau Claire. His new title will allow him to continue to coach his daughter Katie, who will be a freshman in the Blugolds lineup this fall.

Gillman coached both the Red Wing boys and girls in the 1990s before taking a coaching job with UW-Eau Claire, according to the R-E archives. Gillman has coached the UW-Eau Claire men for the last nine seasons and he coached the women from 2001 to 2003. He returned to coach the Red Wing girls in 2004.

In his 15 years at the helm of the Red Wing boys and girls teams, the Wingers won 12 Missota Conference championships and four section titles, according to the UW-Eau Claire website.

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