John Woffington doesn't play much tennis any more. That's the direct result of age and four back operations.

But when it comes to winning, nothing seems to be slowing the 64-year-old Woffington.

Woffington is in his 38th year as North Allegheny High School's tennis coach. His team is 17-0 and he won his 21st section title this season. A few weeks ago, Woffington reached a milestone with his 600th career win. His all-time record is 605-131, and the Tigers will be in the WPIAL team playoffs next week. They are the No. 1 seed for the Class AAA bracket.

Woffington's success earned him a spot in the 2009 class of the Western Chapter of the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame. Ceremonies will be tomorrow night. To give you an idea of how big of an honor it is, consider one of the other inductees will be University of Kentucky basketball coach John Calipari, who grew up in Moon.

For sure, Woffington has had quite an impact in his almost four decades of coaching. In terms of longevity and wins, you could say he is to WPIAL tennis what Upper St. Clair's Jim Render and Blackhawk's Joe Hamilton are to WPIAL football.

"But I just want to give credit where credit is due, and that's to the kids," said Woffington, who is a retired English teacher.

Woffington, who graduated from Tarentum High School and still lives in Tarentum, doesn't take himself too seriously, despite the many victories. He said these days, many high school tennis players take private lessons from pros so he doesn't have to teach them much about technique. But he teaches players a lot about other things -- and not just winning.

"I guess I'd like to think I've been able to make a difference by emphasizing some old-school standards, like good sportsmanship and doing your best whether you win or lose," Woffington said. "I know our kids get tired of this phrase, but I insist on them being a class act.

"I've seen so many instances over the years where kids don't behave on the court. They see John McEnroe self-destructing and they think that is the way tennis should be played. It's not."

Woffington has coached 11 WPIAL champions in singles or doubles and two PIAA champions. Both of John and Judy Woffington's sons, Matt and Jay, played at North Allegheny. Jay won two WPIAL doubles titles and Matt one. And how's this for irony: Matt is the coach at rival North Hills.

With all of his years and victories, John Woffington has obviously seen many talented players. But he can't pick the best two or three that he has coached -- or gone against.

"I've never been asked who the best was," he said. "The difficulty I have with that question is the equipment has gotten so much better. We had a player here in the 1970s, Tom Liebenguth, who won a state singles championship. When I think of the fact that he was using those old wooden rackets, I can't imagine what he could do nowadays with these rackets."

Woffington said coaching nowadays is different than decades ago.

"It's easier in a sense because you certainly don't have to teach most of the kids how to play because they already know when they get to you," he said. "But it's a little tougher in a sense because some get the attitude that they already know everything there is to know about the game."

North Allegheny is in the WPIAL playoffs for the 27th time in 28 years. Maybe Woffington has one last championship run left in him. He said this team is one of his best, in terms of being strong at the top, but also having depth.

"I'm playing it strictly one season at a time, but this could easily be it for me if we do well in the playoffs," Woffington said. "If I can go out in the height of style, that would be fine."