Coach Bill Murray, had been a coaching stalwart in the Delray Beach since 1972 - Coach Bill as he is affectionately known. Prior to becoming a tennis coach he was a tennis player at HBCU Kentucky State University from 1966-1970.
Coach Bill is a proud Vietnam Veteran who served in Vietnam in 1972. Coach Bill started teaching tennis at the historic Pompey Park in Delray Beach Florida in 1972 and still continues to teach tennis at Pompey Park. Bill became a PTR Certified Coach in 1985 and remains so to this day and has coached both Corey Gauff when he was a youngster growing up in Delray and Corey's US Open Champion daughter Coco also received a few lessons from Bill at Pompey park. Venus and Serena William's dad Richard Willams would sometimes bring his soon to be world famous daughters to Pompey Park in the Black Community to receive lessons from Coach Bill when they were at Rick Macci Tennis Academy.
In 1978 the Roots Cultural Festival began and Coach Bill Murray was named the Athletic Director and remained in that position for 30 when he ran the annual Roots Cultural Tennis Tournament where he averaged 400 entries per year Bill has served as the Florida USTA District 6 Chairman. He has traveled to Kenya multiple years as the request to the Kenyan Tennis Federation to give lessons to juniors.
Bill has also been instrumental in helping tennis Juniors to come to South Florida to receive education and play tennis. Coach Bill has been a member of the American Tennis Association since 1972 and has brought many juniors to the ATA nationals and continues personally accompany juniors to tournaments coach to coast helping them compete in national
USTA tournaments.
"I am honored to be selected into the Black Tennis Hall Of Fame and very appreciative; thank you.
I started my tennis career, in Delray Beach, Florida, the same park where I learned how to play tennis in 1961, our class walked over from school to participate in tennis and swimming classes. The Black community partitioned the city to build two tennis courts and a pool in the Black community, in this famous park in 1956. The name of this famous park is Pompey Park. One month after graduating from Kentucky State, in 1970, I was in the army, then Vietnam, after my two years, they offered me $25 thousand to reenlist, I turned that offer down. I was so anxious to go home, to get back into tennis, signing all these papers, which was taking so long, until I accidentally signed myself back into the army, for a year, the reserves, which became the main army, I ended up staying in the reserve for a long time. I started an intercity tennis program in 1972 at the same park where I learned to play tennis, Pompey Park. Those courts were abandoned for 10 years, so I had to be the one to shape it back up, by sweeping the glass and rocks off the court. I went to my, Black city commissioner, told him what I was trying to do, so he had both the courts redone. Fifty two years later and the rest was history. Venus and Serena came to Pompey Park when they were 9 and 10, Corey Gauff came to Pompey Park when he played at 10, he brought his daughter Coco there when she was 4. I put her in her first ATA tournament when she was 7, she won the 10’S."
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