Over more than three decades, nobody was more instrumental in the development of Vero Beach as a tennis town than longtime island resident Mike Rahaley.
If it weren’t for Rahaley, who passed away last week at the age of 76, U.S. Davis Cup Captain Mardy Fish probably would not have grown up playing tennis in Vero Beach – because his father wouldn’t have had a job here.
“I’d probably still be in Minnesota, freezing my butt off in the winter,” said Fish’s father, Tom, the tennis director at Windsor. “And if we hadn’t moved to Florida, Mardy might not have become a professional tennis player.”
It was Rahaley, then tennis director at John’s Island, who hired the elder Fish and brought him to Vero Beach in 1986, when Mardy was only 4 years old.
But Rahaley was just getting started: Over the next three decades, he would bring to our seaside slice of heaven more than two dozen teaching pros, among them longtime tennis directors Jim Buck, now at Orchid Island, and Christophe Delavaut, now at The Boulevard.
Adding to his local tennis legacy, Rahaley in 1995 founded the annual men’s pro tournament played in Vero Beach, which quickly became the most popular stop on the United States Tennis Association’s minor-league circuit before he turned it over to the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation four years ago.
“Mike launched a lot of careers,” Delavaut said. “He was so connected in the industry and his opinion was so respected that high-end clubs would call him for recommendations. And when you add in what he did here with the pro tournament …
“He was the godfather of tennis in Vero Beach.”
Surrounded by family at a local hospice, Rahaley succumbed to the debilitating effects of vascular dementia on July 16. He is survived by his wife of 56 years, Beth, their three sons and, really, the entire Vero Beach tennis community.
A celebration of his life is planned for next month at the Little Harbor Club in Harbor Springs, Mich., where Rahaley spent more than 40 summers as the head tennis pro. Judging by the condolences shared and support shown in the wake of his death, it should be quite an occasion.
Rahaley’s son, Brian, said Sunday the family had heard from dozens of members at clubs where his father worked – particularly John’s Island, Grand Harbor and Indian Trails in Vero Beach – as well as from teaching pros he hired, mentored or referred for jobs.
“It’s been amazing, but not really surprising,” said Rahaley’s son, who, along with his two brothers, also has worked as a teaching pro. “Dad had a knack for connecting with people, and he had an impact on a lot of people’s lives, on and off the tennis court.”
Although he captained the tennis team at Eastern Michigan and continued to compete during his teaching years, Rahaley, who coached at Ferris State University in the early 1980s, is best remembered for his work as an instructor, manager, mentor and promoter.
A former schoolteacher, Rahaley was as enthusiastic working with juniors and giving lessons to club members as he was coaching college players. He took pleasure in introducing newcomers to the game.
“He loved tennis and lived for growing the game,” Buck wrote in a text message from Europe. “He excelled in getting adults into tennis.”
Rahaley was even better at recruiting and nurturing assistant pros, teaching them every aspect of running a tennis operation at upper-tier country clubs – something he learned at the Little Harbor Club before his membership connections there helped him get hired at John’s Island in 1982.
“Some of the best pros I’ve known, here and in Michigan, all started under my dad’s tutelage,” Rahaley’s son said. “Whatever he knew, he shared with his assistants.”
“He influenced my life in so many ways,” said Fish, who also worked at Riomar, Grand Harbor and Orchid Island before landing at Windsor. “He hired me, mentored me and helped me get jobs. He was a good friend, and I appreciate everything he did.”
In fact, the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships’ singles winner each year is now awarded the “Mike Rahaley Cup,” in recognition of the man who founded the Vero Beach tournament and ran it for 20 years – until a battle with prostate cancer forced him to step down in 2015.
“He took a lot of pride in that tournament and worked hard to promote it,” Rahaley’s son said. “Most of those events don’t draw much of a crowd, but he’d have people coming out to watch qualifying matches.
“People like to say Vero Beach is a tennis town, and that tournament is a big part of it.”
So is Mardy Fish, our home-grown tennis star who went on to crack the top 10 in the world rankings, become a U.S. Davis Cup standout and bring home a silver medal from the 2008 Olympics.
And so was Mike Rahaley.