I am going to start reflecting on the many dynasties area high school sports teams have established during Ches-Mont League and then Pioneer Athletic Conference (PAC-10) history. The PAC-10 was established during the 1986-87 scholastic year and is progressing through its 22nd season of existence.

The first dynasty that comes to mind is that of the Phoenixville Area High School boys tennis team, coached by Leo Scoda.
Scoda has coached the Phantoms’ boys tennis team since the squad’s inception in 1964. Scoda has remained the boys’ net coach since that time for 44 years and will be entering his 45th year in 2008. He is also the current mayor of the borough of Phoenixville.
Scoda is a retired biology teacher at Phoenixville Area High School and formerly served as a borough councilman. He is originally from the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre area and is a graduate of Penn State University.
He is a longtime fan of Penn State football and is a former season ticket holder for the Philadelphia Flyers National Hockey League (NHL) team.
Scoda’s Phantoms have never lost a PAC-10 match. Their amazing winning streak currently stands at 186-0.
On top of that, last year’s Phoenixville senior doubles tandem of Kyle MacLelland and Tom McAvoy captured the PIAA Class AA state championship at the Hershey Racquet Club. McAvoy’s father, Tim McAvoy, and Rob Vance captured the Phantoms’ only other previous state championship in tennis doubles as sophomores in the 1970s.
MacLelland, who is the son of Phoenixville graduates Bruce and Buffy MacLelland, is attending Lafayette College in Easton for tennis while McAvoy, the son of Tim and Nancy McAvoy, is a student-athlete at Philadelphia University.
Kyle MacLelland was also a starting forward for coach Bill Detweiler’s undefeated PAC-10 champion boys basketball team during 2006-07. Those Phantoms finished 13-0 during the regular season and then won two Final Four playoff games to close at 15-0 with victories over Owen J. Roberts and then Boyertown in the title game.

Posted by
Barry Sankey