Bill Shine’s shrine to Menlo tennis

Shine’s home away from home is most certainly the 12 tennis courts of Wunderlich Tennis Courts at Menlo School. But his home away from that home is his office of the past 27 years, just outside the east gate of the tennis courts, which has grown into a live-in trophy case.

“It was just a big shed,” Shine said of how he found his office when he arrived at Menlo in 1996. “If you go to the one next door, you can still see the 2x4s and stuff. Then people started dumping stuff in, like the couch came a few years (later), we got this desk, microwave, all that kind of stuff.”

The “big shed” is now complete with plastered walls, a television, a boombox radio, refrigerator, heater, air conditioner, and just about every trophy the Knights have ever earned. The prizes of Shine’s collection, though, are the myriad autographed photos of former players combining to cover nearly every inch of surface area of the wall behind his desk, the wall where it all began.

The office, along with the deck area outside it — both of which Menlo’s players utilize as their unofficial clubhouse — have been dubbed Walters Tennis Pavilion, a dedication to the Walters family, who were integral to the genesis of Menlo tennis’ downtime digs.

Preston Walters was the only freshman on the boys’ team in 1997, Shine’s first season. So, the two shared a unique bond. The Pavilion, however, is named for Walters’ father Buzz, who was largely responsible for funding and building it.

“Then as the awards start coming in, we start putting them up, then I just decided I would start a Wall of Fame,” Shine said. “It was just for difference makers. It wasn’t for top players, or No. 1 all-time.”

Some of the Wall of Fame highlights include a photo of world star Dmitry Tursonov, who played at Menlo until he turned pro at age 14, and Alison Dohrmann, a foundation member of the undefeated 1998 Menlo girls’ team that brought home the program’s first CIF Northern California state championship.

A majority of the keepsakes are professionally shot by photographer Frederick Vallaeys. But the one that started it all was shot by Shine himself, a photograph of former Menlo boys’ No. 1 single Kurt Tenenbaum which, like every photo, has a story to go with it — this one something of a humorous one — with Tenenbaum having a broken arm and no racket at the time.

“So, he grabs my wooden racket out of this office and said: ‘Why don’t I take a picture,’” Shine said. “So, it all started with him.”

A graduate of Los Altos High School, Shine started his high school coaching career at his alma mater in 1980. He moved to Pinewood the following year when the Los Altos Hills private school added its high school campus. He spent 14 years at Pinewood, initially turning down an offer to take over at Menlo in the early 1990s, before Norm Colb took over as Menlo’s headmaster and succeeded in hiring Shine in 1996.

“It took me about a year and a half to change the culture,” Shine said of the early years at Menlo, “to have the kids realize it’s not about ‘them,’ it’s about ‘us.’ And, if you want it to be about you, you shouldn’t be on the team … it’s a privilege to be on this team, it’s not your right. And they started buying in.”

Now, the buy-in is fairly built into the tennis culture at Menlo.

Shine’s coaching know-how is legendary; he was named to the USTA Northern California Hall of Fame early last year but has yet to be inducted due to scheduling cancelations brought on by the coronavirus pandemic. And his tactical proficiency in navigating the history of Menlo tennis is quite something to witness.

When asked about Menlo’s 2018 Corona Del Mar National High School All-American Tennis Tournament championship — the third time the Knights brought home the title from the high-profile national invitational in Southern California — he immediately digs into the video catalog on his cellphone and, in 45 seconds, produces a clip of Bo Leschly’s game-winning point that saw the team storm the court in celebration.

“It was unbelievable tennis,” Shine said. “Very high level.”

High-level tennis has become the expectation at Menlo, though the culture, Shine said, is not driven by him but by the kids.

“I think by now with the reputation that all these kids have built, and all these new kids that have come in have heard about it, they come in and they kind of expect this,” Shine said.

And through every story Shine shares, you can feel the love.

“You’ve got to love ’em,” Shine said, “and they’ll run through a wall for you.”

The love certainly cultivates a fun environment.

After 27 years, Shine’s office, in its current form, may have seen its final tennis season in 2021. The “big shed” is scheduled for an expansion, potentially combining the shed next to it. This would entail razing the current office, an idea Shine is lukewarm about, but said it would be beneficial because the team could use the additional space, especially for team meetings.

“Girls like to pile on each other on the couch; boys won’t do that,” Shine said. “So, I cannot have a boys’ meeting in here, there’s not enough room. … I just wish it was bigger.”

Not that the office isn’t a big draw for the boys as well.

“The refrigerator is the love for the boys,” Shine said. “That’s where they immediately go.”

Whether in a new office or the current classic, Menlo and Shine will no doubt continue to add to the collection of the chapters among chapters of modern history.

One of the most enduring chapters closed this season with the graduation of Lindsey Ball. As a senior at Menlo in 2021, Ball was the fifth sibling in her family to play consecutively for Shine. It stated with her oldest brother Jamin — “[With that name] he should have been a basketball player, but I’m glad he chose tennis,” Shine said — from 2007-10; followed by Andrew from 2010-13; David from 2011-14; and Mark from 2014-17.

Each of the Ball brothers are currently hanging on the Wall of Fame.

“And Lindsey Ball will be up on the wall as well,” Shine said.

As for Shine, he’s intent on continuing to hang those pictures for years to come.

“Twenty-seven years later, here I am,” Shine said. “It’s been a great ride and I’m just very fortunate to have this job. I’ve got control of all the courts and it’s a pretty good gig. I think it’s the best tennis coaching-lessons job there is in Northern California.”