By Mark Ambrogi
Mike Bostic couldn’t imagine spending so much time watching other kids play and not seeing his own play.
So the highly successful tennis coach decided to put what will likely be a pause to his career, resigning as Carmel High School boys and girls tennis coach.
“I’m not calling it retirement,” he said. “I won’t close the door to coaching again. I love it too much.”
His Carmel High School girls tennis team sent him out in style, capturing its third consecutive state title on June 6 at North Central, finishing unbeaten.
“You can write it any better,” he said of his final season. “No Carmel girls team has ever won three in a row so we made history, too.”
Bostic, 42, also captured five state boys team titles to give him a combined total of eight. Bostic had coached the boys since 2000 and girls since 2012.
Bostic and his wife Gina have two sons. Emerson, 12, will be a seventh grader at Westfield Middle School and Michael, 10, will be a fourth-grader at Shamrock Springs Elementary.
“I didn’t want to look back when they’re older and think I missed out on something,” said Boston, who will continue as Forest Dale Elementary physical education teacher. “I’ve missed a lot of their lives. Family life is busy and they need their dad around.”
Gina said they had talked about him stepping down when the boys were in high school.
“But Emerson is going to be playing middle school tennis and he would have missed every single one of his matches,” Gina said. “So we came to the decision that this is going to need to be his last year.”
Gina said Carmel’s players have been amazing role models for her sons.
“Not only athletically, but academically and the way they carry themselves,” Gina said. “It’s true blessing they’ve grown up in this atmosphere. I can’t even tell you how much they’ve learned and grown.”
Bostic will continue to follow his former players.
“I’ll be up in the stands watching them,” he said.
