After 15 years with the Saint Joseph's Hawks, head coach of the women's tennis team and Director of Tennis Ian Crookenden is calling it a career.

Crookenden came to SJU back in August of 2008 after originally being reluctant to coach again at the collegiate level.

"I was thinking I would just look for a smaller club and to cut down a little bit," Crookenden said.  Before coming to St. Joe's, Crookenden was previously coaching at the Philadelphia Cricket Club, which was a very large and active program.

"However, in conversations, being able to see St. Joe's and looking at the challenge that lay ahead, as a result of their expanded facilities, the consequence was the potential to expand the activity of the tennis players at the school; instead of it being seasonal, where on the four courts, most of the women's play was in the fall and most of the men's play was in the spring," Crookenden said.

Crookenden ended up taking the lead and transforming the Hawks program from a fall and spring sport to a year-round program. This challenge and significant change sparked his interest, which then led him to come to St. Joe's.

Hear from current and former Hawk tennis student-athletes as they say "Thank You, Coach Ian!"

"I decided to do it for about five or six years to get it started. However, the more I was doing it the more I was enjoying it." Crookenden said. He expressed how the planning and overall atmosphere between the players, coaches, and staff kept him young. He always appreciated their enthusiastic responses, and 15 years later, when it came time to retire, Crookenden hadn't realized how long he had been with the Hawks. 

Acknowledged by his colleagues, Crookenden has a very gentle and kind approach with everyone he meets and builds relationships with those around him that will last a lifetime. Saint Joseph's men's tennis head coach Marc Pibernat recalls his first interaction with Crookenden as someone who cares for everyone in the program, not just the student-athletes.

"Few people have the heart that he has, and he's somebody with a very warm heart and that cares for the people around him," Pibernat said. "That's naturally the first impression that I had about him. He has so much care not only for the student-athletes, but also for the people that are around him, like me working alongside him."

His ability to care and build relationships with both student-athletes and coaches is something that is recognized by others as well. Kyle Chalmers '17 was coached by Crookenden before his switch to working full-time with the women's team. Crookenden and his wife Dianne treated the student-athletes as children of their own and became mentors that Chalmers always knew he could go to.

"He and Dianne don't have children together; however, they've always thought about the student-athletes that come through the St. Joe's tennis program together as their family and the young people within their life who they're able to have an influence on and mentor and work with, too," Chalmers said.

Another way to describe Crookenden is as a mentor to many. Both coaches and student-athletes have looked up to him for many years, hoping to retain as much knowledge that their coach and colleague are willing to share. He has always made an effort and connection with each person that he has crossed paths with during his time at St. Joe's.

"He was the person that I looked up to, in college studies and also outside of work, here in the United States," Pibernat said. "I see him as a father figure to me. He has helped me a lot off the court as well with situations that have arisen on me on a personal basis. He was able to give me very good advice every time. He not only means a lot to me, but he also means a lot to my wife and my two daughters."

Chalmers also considers Crookenden one of his biggest mentors in life and appreciated his support throughout his time at St. Joe's, both on and off the court.

"I was involved in a lot of other activities on campus," Chalmers said. "He allowed me, and encouraged me, to be involved, and realize that my educational experience was more than just classes and sports. It was also establishing a community and growing myself as a person outside of those realms."

Chalmers explained how keeping in touch with his student-athletes is something that Crookenden is very adamant about. Despite graduating from St. Joe's six years ago, Chalmers and a few other teammates still go over and have dinner at the Crookenden household.

"He and Dianne always make great meals," he said. "It's always a very fun and interesting conversation where we talk about memories from the court or from our time as teammates."

Crookenden has had the opportunity to share his skills and passion with other people in the tennis world, and many of those lessons and stories that he has shared are taken to heart by student-athletes and coaches. He was described by Phibernat as someone who approached every situation very calmly and neutrally both on and off the court. Phibernat took every interaction he witnessed with Crookenden as a lesson and learned how to improve himself as a coach as well.

"I learned a lot about how to balance myself by looking at his actions, how he manages certain situations, how he talks to the group or the team, and how he responds to a controversy that occurred during a match with a referee, coach or player," Pibernat said.

One thing that Coach Crookenden is praised for by his student-athletes is his ability to share the passion for a sport that has been a part of his life for 71 years. This energy encourages them to succeed. Senior Stow Weiss has a moment that she will remember forever that captured just that.

"Last year at the Atlantic 10 Championship, we had a huge upset over the fifth seed, Dayton," Weiss said. "I was the last match on [court], so there was a lot of stress. I knew that the match was riding on me. After the match, I went up and hugged him. That was one of the best moments, I think, for both of us. We had just won an A-10 postseason match for the first time in a decade; it was a really nice moment for us."

As Crookenden enters retirement, he will be remembered by his student-athletes as someone who was able to maintain or re-light a spark that previous coaches may have taken away in years before coming to St. Joe's. Weiss was one of the student-athletes whose spark Crookenden brought back to life.

"He brought the love back for the sport in me," she said. "I had a lot of coaches who have taken that away, and I think he is a coach that has had that healing ability for a lot of student-athletes."