Since Salem added tennis as a team sport in the early 70’s, most observers consider Bob Plaschke, a 1981 Salem Community High School grad, to be the best player produced by the program.

There is much to support this:

• He is the first tennis player to be elected in the SCHS Sports Hall of Fame.
• Bob has won more singles matches than any player in Salem history.
• He was the North Egyptian Conference Singles Champion in 1979 & 1981.
• In 1979 Plaschke and his double partner Mic Martin won the IHSA district meet and
  advanced to the state meet. In 1981 Plaschke and Jay Henke won the IHSA district and advanced
  to the state meet.
• He lettered in tennis all four years at SCHS under coach Bill Morgan.
• Bob was a member of the 1981 Junior Davis Cup Team.
• He was rated the #1 tennis player in Southern Illinois for those 16 & under and then again for those 18 & under.
• He also played tennis for Northwestern University his freshman year there.

Bob started playing tennis at an early age in Louisville, KY. His father Grover was one of his first tennis teachers and he credits the support and encouragement of his dad and his mother Mary for getting him started in the sport.

After graduating from SCHS, Rob received his undergraduate degree in computer engineering from Northwestern. He then earned an MBA with honors from the University of Chicago.

Bob currently lives in Menio Park, CA and has recently served as an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Sutter Hill Ventures focusing on wireless investments. Prior to that, he was the Senior Vice-President of Worldwide Client Services at Info Space. At Info Space, he was responsible for the implementation of wireless data solutions for the company’s group of carriers. During his tenure there, he was responsible for bringing eighteen wireless operators online across the globe. Before joining Info Space, Bob was the CFO and VP of Business Development for Prio, a wireless and wire-line promotion infrastructure company.