Kapner Wins State Coaching Award

Westfield coach George Kapner picked up another award in his long and fruitful career Monday at the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association annual luncheon. Kapner won a state association sports award for his contributions as tennis coach of the Blue Devils.

Kapner can add this plaque to the ones he won from the National Federation of High School Coaches Association in 2002 for boys soccer. He also won the same award for his contributions in tennis in 2008.   

Last year, the Blue Devils' tennis team went 29-2 and earned its third straight trip to the Tournament of Champions final. The Blue Devils also won a third straight Group IV title. The 59-year-old Kapner, who'll be entering his 20th year as tennis coach in the spring, has a remarkable 411-90 record.

He has a spectacular record of 927-332-45 in 59 varsity seasons of coaching boys and girls soccer, girls basketball, boys tennis and boys swimming, He has won 36 regular season championships, 28 county titles, 18 sectional titles, nine Group IV titles and one Tournament of Champions title in tennis three seasons ago.

The Blue Devils haven't lost to a public school tennis team in three seasons. The last loss was to Bridgewater-Raritan in the North 2 IV sectional final in 2006. Those numbers have been recorded in 59 varsity seasons.

"It's a great honor,'' said Kapner, a longtime math teacher at Westfield High.

He has been the boys coach for 19 years and was the head girls coach for the 11 previous seasons.

"The number one goal of the (last tennis) season was to capture our third consecutive Group 4 championship and we did exactly that," said Kapner. "Despite the pressure of living up to the success of the previous two Westfield teams, these young men faced every challenge and gave their best performance time and time again. They were able to continue the magnificent run that began two years ago.''   

Westfield's only losses were to top-ranked Newark Academy, both by 3-2 scores. The first in the Bryan Bennett Memorial Tournament final on April 19 and then in the Tournament of Champions final on May 28.