Hopper Put Rams On Sports Map

Thursday, April 24, 2008

Something was missing from student life at Mobile College - now known as the University of Mobile - and Dr. Thomas "Terry" Hopper knew exactly what that ingredient was: sports.

So in the mid 1980s, he suggested the school start an athletic program. The school decided it was a good idea, so Hopper was given the opportunity and the coaching responsibilities for the Rams' first sports team. He was even allowed to choose the sport.

That was a no-brainer.

"I picked golf," said Hopper, who is one of four members of the Class of 2008 who will be inducted into the Mobile Sports Hall of Fame at the organization's annual banquet April 29 at the Mobile Marriott.

The school's first golf match, at Southeastern Louisiana in May 1985, was no indication of what was to come.

"That first day was an experience," Hopper said. "The first kid we had got up on the first tee, which had a pond in front, and rolled (his tee shot) into the pond. The second kid came up and flew his shot into the pond. The third kid came up and wanted to make sure he didn't hit his tee shot in the pond, and he hit it over, but well to one side of the pond."

One school official asked if Hopper might prefer to disband the team and try again the following year. Hopper and his players stuck together, though, and finished the season. In the seasons that followed the players improved and so did the results. Hopper is still leading the Mobile men's team, although he retired from teaching almost two years ago.

"Golf has been a good sport for us," he said. "We've done pretty well."

Under Hopper's leadership, the Mobile men have won eight Gulf Coast Athletic Conference championships, eight district championships, three regional crowns and, in 1997, the NAIA national championship.

In 1994, shortly after rival Spring Hill College announced it was starting a women's golf program, Mobile added women's golf as well, a move Hopper had suggested three years earlier.

Hopper took over the reins of that program, too, leading the Rams to the NAIA national championship in 1998. He was named NAIA national golf coach of the year for men's golf in 1997 and won the women's version the following year. After the 2005 season, Mobile hired a full-time women's golf coach and Hopper remained as the men's coach.

He has coached 17 men's and seven women's NAIA All-America golfers at Mobile. In 2006, he was inducted into the NAIA Hall of fame.

"It's been a great experience for me," he said of his coaching days. "That first team has a reunion every year, either at Greystone or Silver King, and it's great to be around everyone."

There's little doubt why Hopper continues to coach the sport today. "Golf is my joy," he said.

Hopper, 66, was born in Batesville, Miss., and arrived in Mobile in 1970. In an effort to get involved in the community, he officiated basketball games. That led to officiating baseball and football, volleyball and softball. He has been the president of several officiating groups, and said he has always found it fun and interesting.

"I had played athletics in college and in high school and had always enjoyed that," he said. "Officiating kept me involved in sports. It was a way to help and it gave me a chance to watch my boys grow up."

As it turned out, his officiating and coaching also paved his way into the Mobile Sports Hall of Fame.

Joining Hopper in this year's class are Mike Gottfried, the late Gordon Smith Jr. and Jim Tate.