About John

Coach John Schoenmakers has worked with and developed many different levels of players, from beginners to top level Superchamp and National players, as part of the team at Austin Tennis Academy. He says, “Kids make me laugh and I truly enjoy their humor.” And believes making a genuine connection with the player is vital to being an effective coach.

One of the highlights, so far, in Coach Schoenmakers’ career was getting the opportunity to work with and coach under Emilio Sanchez and Sergio Casal at the Sanchez/Casal Academy in Barcelona, Spain. While there, he worked with their ITF-level program, coaching players ranked Top 300 in the world.

A key position at Midtown Athletic Club in Weston, Florida, enticed Coach Schoenmakers to return to the U.S. His role at that facility entailed managing adult programs and coaching in the junior academy comprised of more than 200 players.

Even though he was born in Austin, Coach Schoenmakers grew up in San Antonio, and that’s where he first started playing tennis. As a junior player, he ranked in the Top 15 in B18s. In college, he played singles and doubles at the University of Texas at San Antonio in 1997. He also played at Temple College where he led the team to the National Championships with a record setting 27-5 dual match win/loss mark.

After graduating college, Coach Schoenmakers worked at McFarlin Tennis Center where he coached 5 out of the 6 female varsity players on the Alamo Heights Tennis Team. He became the Head Coach at Saint Mary’s Hall, where he coached his team to a 2nd and 3rd place finish in the state championships, defeating rivals, St. Stephens, to advance to the finals in 2004. Coach Schoenmakers also was the director of S.E.T. Tennis, a High Performance academy at Saint Mary’s Hall.

Coach Schoenmakers graduated from Southwest Texas State (now Texas State) with a B.S. in Exercise Sports Science and a minor in Health Education.

Click on the ATA Insights graphic just below to view ‘A Conversation With John’ video.