Second-year tennis coach Matt McCleary comes from what can best be described as a ‘tennis coaching family.’

After growing up watching his father and grandfather lead high school and college tennis teams around the state of Texas, McCleary joined the family business last year when he became head coach at Alvarado High School.

That family history made last week’s United State Tennis Association of Texas’ state conference in Austin even more special than it typically would have been. It was there that McCleary received the USTA No-Cut Coach of the Year for Texas.

“I knew I was in the running, but when they emailed me to let me know I was in the top 10 that surprised me,” McCleary said. “It’s really humbling to get an award like that just two years into my first coaching job. My dad and granddad were coaches so to have someone out there saying you’re doing a good job means a whole lot when I compare myself to those two.”

The No-Cut Coach of the Year is an award that is best described by its title. It is just the second year the USTA has honored a coach of a program that does not cut players.

McCleary was one of over 3,200 no-cut coaches in Texas in 2009.

“It doesn’t matter about court space or ability, they are just looking at whether or not you cut players,” McCleary said. “The goal is to keep kids in the game and keep them encouraged.”

The label of being a no-cut program has not curtailed Alvarado’s success on the courts. In each of the last two years the team has produced state qualifying doubles teams and last year was a match away from qualifying for the state tournament as a team.

McCleary believes the team’s success as a no-cut program makes the award even more special.

“Winning with the type of attitude that we’re not going to cut you because you don’t have experience or for whatever reason, it means a lot to me and to our kids,” he said. “Beating someone like Cleburne for the first time like we did in the fall and having that type of success is special to us because there are so many teams that we compete against that do cut.”

The team’s on-court success is beginning to carry over off the court as well. Alvarado’s tennis team was also recognized in Austin for its community service.

In the fall, the team adopted a portion of road in the state’s Adopt-A-Highway campaign and coordinated toy and food drives with community tournaments.

“I think we spend a lot of time on the court, but I think its good for these kids to realize there are other ways to help people in need,” McCleary said. “Community service gives them a lifelong lesson they can walk away with. If they learned to control anger, be a disciplined worker, give back and be compassionate … I think that’s a pretty successful team. That’s worth a lot more than a state championship.”