Bill Byron

Bill Byron

If Coach Lot Christensen was considered "the Father of Tennis" at Mesa, then one of his favorite "sons" had to be Arcadia High School graduate Bill Byron. Bill had been ranked in the Top 20 in the Southwest of 18-year-olds. Playing for Coach Christensen, he was on Mesa's 1972 and 1973 regional and national championship teams and was named an All-American in 1973. In the State Championships that year, the HoKams breezed to the title without losing a single match, winning six singles and three doubles flights.

He received a full scholarship to attend and play at Mercyhurst College in Erie, Pennsylvania, where the tennis team ranked among the top 5 small colleges in the country.

Having majored in English, Bill went to work for an advertising agency for a brief period. For the past 22 years, he has been in hospital public relations. He currently is Assistant Public Relations Director for the Banner Hospital system which has 29,000 employees in seven states.

Drawing on his tennis background, Bill founded Sun Tennis Magazine in the early 1980s, which he ran for 20 years.

Lot Christensen had a major influence on Bill Byron's life and helped set his life in a good direction after suffering a personal family loss. "Lot was extremely supportive and very positive," Bill recalls. "He provided me with the role model that I needed at the time, and for that I shall be incredibly grateful to Mesa Community College."