News and Announcements
PREVIOUS OUT OF TOWN TOURNAMENTS ATTENDED
2010 The Tommy Thomas Classic, The Colony, Texas
2009 Beach Blowout Classic, Fort Walton Beach, Florida
2008 Chaminade Classic, Woodland Hills (Los Angeles) California
2007 Midland College Classic, Midland,Texas
2006 Torry Pines Classic, San Diego, California.
2005 Paintsville, Kentucky
2004 Poplar Bluff, Missouri (Tyler Hansbrough's Junior year).
2003 WhataBurger Classic, Halthom City, Texas (Ft. Worth Dunbar's Tournament)
2002 Alvin Invitational, Alvin Texas
2001 Plano West High School, Plano Texas (this was the tournament in which Richard Law set the CLHS scoring record (42) in a double overtime loss to Dallas Strake Jesuit High School 80-76).
Falcons Will Travel To Florida for Holiday Tournament
For their December 2009 out of town tournament the Clear Lake Falcons Varsity will travel to Fort Walton Beach Florida to play in the Beach Blowout Invitational Tournament December 28-30.
Click on this link for a bracket of the tournament http://www.beachblowout.us/2009BBO2/Boys.html . Scroll to the bottom of the screen to see the bracket.
Hotel contact information for the hotel where most parents will stay:
Fort Walton Beach Holiday Inn SunSpree Resort
573 Santa Rosa Blvd.
Fort Walton Beach, Fla.
1-800-238-8686
Directions from this hotel to the school:
Go east on Santa Rosa Blvd. 2 miles to LEFT on US98 (also SR30).
proceed 2.7 miles to RIGHT on Wright Pkwy.
.4 to school
Contact information for the condos where the team will stay:
It is believed that no more condos are available here.
Southern Resorts
3 bedroom condos, $100 nightly for Dec. 27 - 29
Loraine, 1-866-492-0509 ext 5617, or agarcia@southernresorts.com
Parents are also welcome to ride the charter bus with the team for $100. Any adults planning to ride the bus should give their $100 per person to Joe Swingle as soon as possible.
Head Coach Tommy Penders Jr. was born in Lowell, Massachusetts on December 17, 1973 into a basketball-rich family. His father, formerly one of the premier basketball coaches at the University of Texas, is the former head basketball coach at the University of Houston. In addition, Tommy's grandfather coached teams to four state championships in Connecticut.
Tommy graduated from Austin Westlake High School and attended the University of Texas (1991-1995) where he played basketball and baseball. His degree is in Speech Communication. While at UT Tommy was chosen for the Southwest Conference All-Academic Teams for three years. He was also one of only two players to play on teams to win three Southwest Conference titles in basketball in the school's history. In addition, he has the distinction of being in the top ten in the number of career games played while at Texas (109 games). Many UT fans cannot forget the incredible play Tommy was involved in that ranks in the Top Forty All Time Great Sports plays in UT Sports History*.
Tommy has coached on the D-1 college level as an assistant coach at Rhode Island and George Washington University before deciding his real love is at the high school level. While point guard coach at the college level Tommy coached three All-American point guards as well as Atlantic Ten Conference Player of the Year Cuttino Mobley.
In 2001 the Texas sun shone brightly on Texas schoolboy basketball when Tommy started his career on the high school level. After a two year stint as head coach at Calhoun High School in Port Lavaca Tommy moved to Angleton High School where he quickly distinguished himself as one of the top young coaches in the state. In his second season at 4A Angleton and for the first time in the school’s history, their team not only made it to the regional playoffs, they won the region and went to the state tournament (2006). In 2007 Tommy coached 4A Player of the Year Isaac Reid. It is also noteworthy to mention that in his last three years at Angleton Tommy coached five players who received full basketball scholarships (4 D1).
After five seasons at Angleton where his teams compiled the best two year record in the school’s history, Tommy chose Clear Lake High School as his next challenge when he was selected from a field of over 70 applicants to head Clear Lake's Boys Basketball program.
Tommy has an older sister Wendy and a younger sister Karli. Tommy and his lovely wife Jennifer, also an educator, have a daughter, Mattingly Victoria (age 5 in 2010), and a boy, Jaxon Thomas, born July 7,2009.
Being a third generation basketball coach makes Tommy’s pedigree in basketball read like something written for a screenplay for the next “Hoosiers” type movie but it gets even better. It seems Jennifer has quite a sports “pedigree” of her own. Not only did she go to state in the Texas 300 hurdles three years in high school, she was MVP in volleyball and basketball. Jennifer was an honor graduate in high school and graduated magna cum laude from UT San Antonio. As if that weren’t enough, her mom and four aunts all played on state championship or national championship basketball teams AND, one of her aunts was an All American! For Matty and Jaxon that's what you call "a very significant gene pool"!
The Clear Lake boys basketball community is honored to have a coach of Tommy's caliber endeavor to continue the tradition that has established Clear Lake High School among the elite basketball schools in the state of Texas. With his thorough knowledge of the game, his innate ability to convey his knowledge to his players coupled with his emphasis on communication, and his obvious personal commitment to his players and his team, Coach Tommy Penders will leave an indelible mark on Clear Lake’s basketball legacy that will rival his formidable predecessors.
In 2015 Tommy and his staff took Clear Lake all the way to the 6A state finals where Clear Lake lost by 2 at the buzzer in one of the greatest games in state tournament history. Tommy received the honor of being selected the 2015 Texas State Coach of the Year by the National Federation of High Schools. The tradition continues.
*A fraction of this profile was provided by Coach Penders. Most of it came from research, my recollections, and a very brief communication with family members.
Matt was born in a remote region in Idaho on February 29, 1987. Matt is the youngest of 7 boys and 11 girls. Because he was the 18th of her children Matt’s mom did not speak to Matt’s father for almost four years so Matt was not named until he was three years old. Expecting a girl, his mom finally decided to use the name she had selected before he was born so Matt was christened “Mathilda Louise Frye”. It is easy to understand why his only childhood friend, Seymore Butts, called him “mlf” for short.
Since all of his brothers were grown and had left home before Matt was born, his clothes were all hand-me-down dresses from his older sisters. Matt really enjoyed wearing those dresses despite the ridicule he received when he attended school at St. Heathen’s Public School #22.
Matt was not a good student but he did excel in sports, especially Hopscotch (the only sport played at St. Heathens). But school was not for Matt so he dropped out in the seventh grade. He continued to practice his Hopscotch with the hopes that someday he could get a scholarship although he was not sure what a scholarship was and he certainly could not spell the word.
In 2005 Matt was observed by a scout for the local community college and was signed to a Hopscotch scholarship to play for the Idaho Dolts. It was a proud day at the Frye household so Matt’s parents bought the boy a new dress to wear to the signing ceremony. It was the first new dress Matt had ever owned. He was so proud of that dress. Imagine his disappointment when his Hopscotch coach told him he would have to start wearing underwear and he would not be allowed to wear his new dress when he competed in Hopscotch Tournaments. All the other girls on the team tried to console him but Matt was so dejected he stayed out of the gym for almost a week (In Idaho Hopscotch is an indoor sport due to the weather).
Matt’s college experience did not last long. The school work was difficult for sure but Matt had even more trouble finding his way from one building to another on campus. So after one month Matt decided to leave school and go out into the world.
Matt hitched a ride on a large cargo truck loaded with potatoes bound for Texas. Spud Likker, the driver, admitted he only stopped to give Matt a ride because he thought Matt looked “real purty” in that dress. Matt was so proud. No one had ever told him he was “purty” before.
After a long ride with some questionable stopovers Matt and his new special “friend” Spud finally made it to the Texas Gulf Coast where the Idaho potatoes were delivered to the local Piggly Wiggly and Matt kissed Spud goodbye one last time.
Based on a tip from Spud, Matt landed a job sweeping the floors at a local school gymnasium. It was there Matt met Hunter, his life partner. Hunter has a job emptying the Port-a-Potties beside the portable classrooms at the school. Matt and Hunter just seemed to be made for each other.
After only three years sweeping the gym floors and despite never having played basketball, Matt landed a job as a basketball coach at one of the local high schools (which shall remain nameless to avoid embarrassing the school district).
Matt and Hunter live in Webster with their two Chihuahuas, Fifi and Brutus. When Matt is not in the gym he enjoys scrapbooking, quilting, and especially sewing. Matt makes all his own dresses and his current project is a stylish sheer pink chiffon number with a see-through bodice that he hopes to wear to the school prom where he will serve as a chaperone.
Now if we can just get him to bathe and wear underwear.
