THE ARCHITECT OF EMORY TENNIS AND HALL FAME MEMBER, COACH SCHROER

I have had the pleasure of knowing Coach Schroer for many years, and over that time, he has become a mentor and a dear friend. Coach Schroer is one of the most well-respected people at Emory and Division III men's tennis. Anyone who has ever played for Emory tennis owes Coach Schroer a huge debt of gratitude. The success we have enjoyed is directly attributed to his work over his 31 plus years of coaching at Emory.

Interview with Coach Schroer: by freshman Alex Ruderman.

1)       I came to Emory in the Fall of 1967 as Men’s Tennis Coach and Instructor in Physical Education.  I was tennis coach from 1967 through 1999.  I have continued teaching in the physical education department since retiring as the Men’s tennis coach.

2)      There have been many memorable players and teams but 1996 stands out as one of the most memorable.  We hosted nationals in 1996 and  had a better than average team.  The outstanding part about that team was that they continued to improve throughout the season and overachieved constantly.  We lost badly to Kalamazoo in the regular season (7-0).  Then at nationals we beat Redlands in the first round (4-2) and played K-zoo in the second round.  They were the obvious favorite but we won 4-3.  Santa Cruz beat us in the finals 4-2 and repeated as national champions for their second in a row.

3)      Memorable players are too numerous to mention.  It is nice to have the first Emory All-American come from the Men’s tennis program.  That was Steve Gittleson.  The Men’s tennis team also had the first NCAA scholar athlete.  That was Roy Martino.  The NCAA awarded three post-graduate awards to men’s tennis in 1972.  Danny Birchmore from the University of Ga. tennis team received one, Roy received one and I can’t remember who received the other.  There were only three awards for all of collegiate tennis and that made it very special.  Todd Kennedy was a four time All-American and NCAA III Rookie of the year.  Gavin O’Connell, a three time NCAA III All-American,

        continued playing competitively ff graduation and played some matches for the Atlanta Thunder in World Team Tennis.

4)      First of all, I was not the first Men’s tennis coach.  I followed Crawford Henry and I don’t know who preceded him.  Crawford was a world class player who graduated from Tulane and played with some of the nationally and world ranked players of that era.  I would like to think the players of my tenure worked hard, played with heart and many were over-achievers.

5)      We had several rivals.  Nationally, Kalamazoo was our biggest.  We played them every year on their Spring trip to Florida and, unfortunately, I can count on one hand the number of times we beat them.  Gustavus Adolphus, Claremont Mudd, Redlands and Swarthmore were perennial dogfights.  Santa Cruz a powerhouse but we rarely saw them during the regular season.   Regionally, Trinity was our biggest rival.  Our relationships were cordial and respectful.  With few exceptions, the coaches kept rivalries in a proper perspective.

6)      I follow the Men’s and Women’s programs but rarely sit through a complete match.

7)      The Men’s program has accelerated to new levels since Coach Browning took over in 2000.  Any advice I could give would be to put your games in his hands, work hard and take nothing for granted.

8)      For a team to be successful, the veterans need to be work ethic leaders and mentors.  That’s generally been the mo for the past and I believe the present.