Las Vegas Valley coaching icon Jan Van Tuyl dies at 83

He was 83.

Van Tuyl began teaching and coaching in the Clark County School District in 1969, and spent the last 12 years coaching tennis at Desert Pines High School, where he also taught math.

He began his coaching career while in U.S. Air Force, in which he coached basketball and weightlifting before settling in Las Vegas.

He also coached gymnastics in the 1960s, and coached basketball at Basic in the 1980s and 1990s.

Van Tuyl initially retired from teaching in 2001, but returned as a substitute teacher two years later before taking a full-time job at Desert Pines.

He was honored in 2016 by the United States Tennis Association, which recognized him as as member of their 10-person “No-Coach All Star Team” comprised of exceptional coaches across the country who don’t cut players from their tennis teams.

Contact reporter Sam Gordon at sgordon@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BySamGordon on Twitter.