Remembering Coach Ralph Bencivengo

 

 By Erin Cahill-Wetzel

 

 

This past weekend, Mercer Athletics learned of the passing of longtime Assistant Men's and Women's Tennis Coach Ralph Bencivengo.  Coordinator of Sports Information Erin Cahill-Wetzel wrote the following on Ralph and getting to know him over the years she has been in the MCCC Athletic Department.

 

I got to know Mercer’s tennis coaches over my years working in the Athletic Department, which was harder than most of our coaches as tennis played offsite at the Mercer County Park Tennis Center.  I worked the Region Men’s Tennis Tournament we hosted every spring which allowed me to really get to know our coaches after spending hours watching matches with them. 

 

What I loved about Ralph was the insight he would provide me about Mercer’s players.  This insight wasn’t about the player’s talent or on court strengths, but about their mental game or and how that affected their play.  When watching a match with Ralph, I almost felt like I was in a Psychology class with a Professor and I could follow real life examples of how personalities affected outcomes for an individual.

 

When Ralph would end up next to me at a match, I would learn things about a player I would never be able to learn from watching a match on my own.  He knew how play affected not just Mercer’s players, but their opponents, having two matches against them during the regular season.  If a serve or point bounced a certain way, Ralph would whisper to me, see what I mean, we can get to this player early or see, he’s placing those shots where he needs to, to win this match or he’s already getting to his opponent, this is looking good for us. And sure enough as a match played out, whatever Ralph had whispered to me would often play out exactly as he described.

 

Even during these tennis discussions, Ralph would always ask about my kids.  How are your kids?  How many do you have now?  And then a big smile would light up on his face as he talked about his grandkids.  Ralph was very into fitness and always ask, are you still running? How far are you running or you still running the trails at the park here? And talk about what he was still able to do.  In the few years I ran the Fitness Center at MCCC, he would poke his head into my office before or after his workout and ask how things were going and about the kids and briefly talk about the training he did.  He really was a fitness fanatic even as he got older, which is another thing I admired about Ralph.

 

But the thing I loved most about Ralph was his kindness.  You could tell he really got to know his players and their psyche and would find ways to boost their confidence through his quiet almost whisper like talks with them between matches.  He truly cared about helping his athletes to have success.

 

As former Head Men’s and Women’s Tennis Coach Marc Vecchiolla said when he texted us the sad news about Ralph’s passing, “Ralph was one of a kind.”  Although I didn’t get to see the tennis coaches as much as our other sports because they practiced and played off campus, I could see the impression Ralph left on his players from the few matches I would be able to get to.  He really was one of a kind that will be deeply missed but all those, including me, who he left an impression on.

 

Rest in peace Ralph.  We are forever grateful for the influence you had on Mercer’s student athletes.

 

For the latest on MCCC men’s tennis, visit: https://www.mccc.edu/athletics_men_tennis.shtml

 

For more on Mercer women’s tennis, visit:  https://www.mccc.edu/athletics_women_tennis.shtml