Myrtle Beach, Horry schools to rename shared tennis center after local legend

Two weeks after their coach unexpectedly died, the Myrtle Beach High School boy’s tennis team put on a dominating performance, shutting out A.C. Flora 6-0 to take home yet another Class 4A title in the sport.

It was May 28, 2019, and the close-knit Seahawks athletic community was still mourning the loss of Rivers Foster Lynch, who died April 11 at 72. Their commanding win brought Lynch his 12th overall coaching title in the sport.

“He made every athlete at Myrtle Beach High School feel like they were captain of the team,” John Cahill, the school’s athletic director and Lynch’s son-in-law, said.

Lynch, known as much for leading winners as building character in his student-athletes, is set for a major honor this week.

The Myrtle Beach Tennis Center will soon bear the name of Rivers Lynch

The city’s facility, co-owned with Horry County Schools is set to be named after Lynch later this week in a ceremony expected to attract participation from across the Grand Strand.

Though best known for coaching the Myrtle Beach High School boys’ and girls’ tennis teams to 11 championships between 1991 and 2009, Lynch also basketball, baseball, track and field and volleyball teams.

“What he loved most about teaching and coaching was always the students,” his wife, Teresa, said in a 2020 “Grand Strand Heroes” tribute video. “Sometimes teenagers are not that easy to love as they become independent but he always found something good, and that was way he taught and coached all the time.”

“He served as a positive force in his students’ lives in the classroom, and on and off the tennis courts. His sudden death in 2019 marked the loss of one of Myrtle Beach’s brightest stars,” city officials wrote in a description of the dedication.

Lynch is one of the region’s most decorated coaches of all time

Lynch was recognized at the state and national levels throughout his career:

• In 1992, he was named S.C. Tennis Coach of the Year
• In 1994 the U.S. Tennis Association named Lynch and his relatives their Family of the Year
• In 2007, he was inducted to the S.C. Athletic Coaches Association Hall of Fame
• In 2009, he was named National Tennis Coach of the Year and won a High School Sports Report lifetime achievement award.

“He was selfless. So whenever others met their goals, that what was what he would consider his greatest accomplishment,” his daughter Tai said in in 2020. “We could be on the streets of Myrtle Beach, he would always find someone he always knew and I think that’s why many people considered him a hero. He was in their camp, he was positive and encouraging.”

The naming ceremony is free and open to the public

Officials will gather at 4 p.m. on Sept. 21 at Robert M. Grissom Parkway for the ceremony. For more information, visit the city’s official website.

Cahill said Teresa and the rest of her family are appreciative of the gesture.

“They’ve impacted so many different people and the adults in their lives as well. They’re excited about it happening and humbled to see his name live on,” he said.

This story was originally published September 20, 2022 at 7:00 AM.