Bob MacKay - Outstanding Coach

Part of the Bob MacKay story goes like this: In 1961, the Loyola High graduate starts classes at Glendale Junior College because it is the best route for him to take at the time. He is a good athlete, good enough to believe he has a shot at a professional baseball career, but life got in the way.

He dutifully takes classes while always believing bigger things were in the offing for him. He doesn’t play baseball at the time for the Vaqueros choosing instead to participate in intramurals and is named male intramural athlete of the year for his all-around sports prowess. He returned to GCC in 1966 to play baseball for Murray Messic and is named All-WSC.

In 1961 he also started working for the City of Glendale in the parks and recreation department. He immediately finds a niche for himself within the community as a pied piper of sorts, working to bring activities and programs to youth and senior groups and anybody in between.

What started as a part time job became a decades long career that culminated in his retirement from the city in 2002 after 41 years as a manager in the Parks, Recreation and Community Services Division. Many of his friends, family and colleagues packed the Civic Auditorium for his retirement party which also featured dignitaries honoring him with proclamations for his decades of service.

This is the other part of the MacKay story:. In 1991 he was hired as the tennis pro for the El Vaquero Racquet Club. His background in tennis in the City of Glendale is legendary as he ran countless programs and tournaments and is considered one of the preeminent coaches in the city. His contacts helped the GCC Foundation raise thousands of dollars to support the college until he retired in 2017.

That retirement in 2017 also saw the end of his coaching career for the GCC Men’s Tennis Team that ran from 2002-2017. In that span, he coached two state singles champions in Dylan Kim in 2007 and 2018 HOF recipient Alex Sarkissian in 2011. His team won Western State Conference titles in 2005, where they also advanced to the So. Cal Finals and were the 2014 WSC champs.

He was also named WSC Coach of the Year five times in 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011and 2014 and was named the Character and Ethics Coach of the Year in 2011,2014 and 2017.
Through it all MacKay does not mince words about his time working for the City of Glendale and his love for Glendale College and what his induction into the 2018Athletic Hall of Fame means to him.