OROVILLE — Driving past Bedrock Park in Oroville, former Paradise High School tennis player Josh Hamilton noticed a man lying on the tennis courts. When he stopped to check on him, he realized it was Oroville coach Wayne Hill.

“He was helping put all the sealant in cracks and fixing the courts,” Hamilton said. “And I said, ‘Oh my gosh, that’s amazing. You’re coming out here on your time, on fixing these courts.’ So then I realized, this guy is seriously into tennis.”

Hill, now the head coach for the Oroville High School boy’s and girl’s tennis teams, said he has always been interested in coaching youth sports, having coached soccer years ago when his children were younger. However, he said his true passion has always been tennis.

“After a health crisis later in life, I kind of reemphasized fitness and health, and got back into tennis after 20 years, and I got in good shape,” he said. “And then I decided that I wanted to help coach the high school team.”

He first volunteered as an assistant coach about four years ago before being made head coach this year. The boy’s team, which plays during the spring season, is currently 8-3 overall and 7-3 in the West Side League, and is having one of its best seasons in recent memory. Hill is also a teacher at Wyandotte Academy in Oroville.

Along with coaching to Oroville high tennis teams, Hill also coaches youth tennis players at Bedrock Park — where the high school tennis teams practice — for free on days the team is practicing. He said he has been welcomed into the tennis community in Oroville, which he said has a 30-year tradition of playing together, and said he wants to give back.

“When I came along, I was welcomed into the group, it’s been a huge positive after turning my health around from negative to positive,” he said. “I feel like tennis can be so healthy for kids, but I also see it as like a lifelong sport, it’s so good for lifelong players. We really are inspired by our 70 and 80-year-old players that are out here and are skilled and still moving well and running. And it’s amazing to see. That kind of makes me want to just grow our community program.”

Hill said tennis has many health benefits, which is another reason why he loves coaching it to the youth. He said tennis helps give people a reason to “want to eat healthy and live healthy.”

“Unlike a lot of high school sports, we don’t have referees, so the kids actually have to learn all the ins and outs and fouls, mainly on yourself,” he said. “So it really teaches integrity and sportsmanship and fairness.”

Hill is helped out by Hamilton, a former Paradise High School and Butte College tennis player who taught at the Feather River Recreation and Park District for 18 years. Hamilton said Hill is one of the “most passionate men I’ve ever met,” which drove him to help out and grow the tennis community in Oroville beyond just high school. He also said he considers Hill his “partner in crime,” and said he has helped the community a lot since he started coaching.

“(Hill) makes kids feel way more comfortable and way more validated in the actual sport,” Hamilton said.

Hamilton emphasized the greater Oroville community as well, who he said has helped immensely by donating rackets, tennis balls and more. He added that local Oroville Chinese restaurant Tong Fong Low donated a tennis ball machine, which he said has helped make tennis in Oroville very accessible. He said many people are shocked to find that they don’t need any equipment and can just come out to Bedrock Park and learn tennis. He also said he recommends people to help in any way they can, whether it be a donation or help cleaning the courts.

Seeing all the community support, Hamilton said tennis is his passion.

“This is not work to me. This is just fun. I’m just having a great time with coach Wayne and the kids,” he said. “This is a free experience. If people do want to bring tennis balls out occasionally, or something like that, or donate a racket, we welcome that, but this is something that we really are just happy to give back to the community of Oroville.”

Boriana Donkova, who brings her daughter, Teddy, to Bedrock Park for tennis practice, said Hill has helped the community a lot since he started doing lessons.

“He is a blessing to the community and the kids of Oroville,” he said. “He is here in the rain, sunshine, Sunday, Wednesday, everyday.”

She said Hill, along with Hamilton, are able to not only help train the kids who come for lessons, but also “make it fun” and help them enjoy the sport.

Oroville High School sophomore Aarav Patel, echoed Donkova’s point about Hill helping people enjoy the sport. He said Hill and Hamilton are “really encouraging,” and aren’t too hard on him or the other players when they lose. He added that Hill is always there for them as well.

“He takes time out of his day just to come play tennis with us,” Patel said. “Even when he has to work, he takes time off his job to come support us at our games. He’s great.”