It happened about a decade ago, though it's a day neither will forget.

It was the type of watershed moment that many fathers and sons share, one that defines a landmark rite of passage for each generation.

Reminiscing the other day, Chuck Correll, Jr., told of the fateful day when in high school he beat his dad in a tennis match for the first time.

"He told you he beat me?" Chuck Correll, Sr., quipped a little later.

"I haven't lost to him since then," the younger Correll said.

Though Chuck, Jr. has since ruled the action on the courts, Friday, the elder Correll will have a chance for tennis redemption.

Correll, Jr. is the head coach of the Thomas Jefferson boys' tennis team. Section 5-AA rival South Park is coached by Correll Sr., a coaching veteran of more than a quarter century. The two teams have a match scheduled for Friday.

"I think it's really cool," the father said of facing his son. "I'm really looking forward to it."

Chuck Jr. is in his third season as Jaguars coach. The team dropped from Class AAA, where it was buried in a section behind powerhouses Upper St. Clair and Mt. Lebanon along with Bethel Park and Peters Township.

The younger Correll was taught by his dad, then the coach at Keystone Oaks, where he led the program for 18 seasons.

When his son became old enough to compete, however, the older Correll quit as tennis and junior high basketball coach to spend more time with his son. Chuck, Jr. advanced to the WPIAL singles and doubles (twice) tournaments as a Thomas Jefferson junior and senior before playing at Westminster College.

In addition to coaching the Jaguars, Correll Jr. is a part-time pro at Glen Creek Racquet Club and teacher at South Allegheny High School.

When the elder Correll retired from coaching to "be a dad" and watch Chuck Jr. and his two younger brothers play sports, he swears he thought he'd never go back.

But then Chartiers Valley High School called, desperate for a coach.

So a new chapter of Correll's coaching career began in 2000 with the Colts. It snowballed to where he is as busy as ever.

Correll, Sr., 54, also coaches the Thomas Jefferson girls and finds time for coaching Keystone Oaks eighth-grade boys' and girls' basketball teams. This, in addition to his day job as biology teacher at Keystone Oaks.

"I bet I'm the only guy coaching four sports in one school year," Correll said. "I coach all year, but I love it. I really do. It's a lot of fun working with kids."

The coaching family tree goes beyond Correll's son in Section 3-AA. Chuck Sr.'s former assistant, Melissa Fabian, is now the head coach of Keystone Oaks, where the team went to the playoffs last season. It all should make for quite an interesting race for the section title.

South Park was a WPIAL quarterfinalist as a team and first singles player Dan Gal advanced to the PIAA Class AA singles championship match. But the team lost Gal and several other seniors and find itself without a home court this season.

"[Chuck Jr.] has the best team in the section," Correll Sr. said. "He's going to be the team to beat. They have some really strong players with experience. [Junior first singles player] Matt Kravitz is a real nice player."

One thing is for sure, if the younger Correll's Jaguars win, it will be on merit and not because the father let the son win -- just like what happened when playing on the court when Chuck Jr. was in high school.

"One of the things I promised him from when he was old enough to understand is when he won, he would know for sure he actually beat me," Correll Sr. said. "When he finally worked hard enough to beat me some day, I wanted him to earn it. When it happened, it was actually one of the happier days for me."