When 1 Teaches, 2 Learn with Jack Newman

Summary

Jack Newman, founder of the Austin Tennis Academy (ATA) in Austin, Texas, shares the philosophy and operating structure behind an academy he built from scratch in 2003 after a career that began with political campaigns, deferring a graduate fellowship at the LBJ School at UT-Austin, and a series of community tennis programs in Dallas. ATA’s model integrates a hierarchy of programs from 5-year-old summer camps through a college prep school with twice-daily training, with 75–80% of academy players having struck their first ball at ATA. Newman’s philosophy centers on three interlocking commitments: “living the sport” (making life decisions through the prism of athletic development), community service (a stated goal of raising $1M for a local charity called Glimmer of Hope), and character development (including mandatory peer teaching, daily public speaking, and alumni mentoring). The episode title references Newman’s colleague Kevin Clark’s phrase “when one teaches, to learn” — the principle that teaching tennis to younger players accelerates the teacher’s own development.

Guest Background

Jack Newman grew up in Ontario, California, started playing tennis at 13–14 at a free city program on two cement courts with metal nets, and played D3 college tennis at Claremont McKenna College (his final year, the team lost in the national finals to University of Redlands). He pivoted away from politics and a planned fellowship at UT-Austin’s LBJ School of Government after falling in love with coaching at a Dallas public facility. He built the Fretz Tennis Center junior program in Dallas, then co-founded a tennis program at St. Stephen’s School in Austin (1996–2002) before the school changed leadership and downsized the program. He founded Austin Tennis Academy in 2003 on an SBA loan, operating first at Barton Creek Country Club before building his own facility. Notable ATA alumni include Blake Mycoskie (founder of TOMS Shoes, who launched the TOMS business model of giving away one pair for every pair sold) and Ashley Weinholt (Girls 18s National Champion, ranked as high as 100 in WTA doubles, 200 in singles, with a 10-year professional career).

Key Findings

1. “Living the Sport” as the Core Philosophy

Newman defines “living the sport” as making life decisions through the prism of athletic development: planning vacations around national tournament schedules, using free time at school to complete homework so evenings can be reserved for training and sleep, practicing when others take days off. ATA cancels practice only for ice on roads or tornadoes. He frames this not as deprivation but as a choice to be the best possible version of oneself — a choice that teaches discipline, goal-setting, stewardship, dedication, and integrity as life skills that outlast tennis.

2. The Multi-Level Pipeline: Summer Camp to College Prep School

ATA runs a fully integrated pipeline: 10-week summer camps (ages 5–13, 15 hours/week), Junior Development (school year, twice weekly, 1.5 hours tennis + 30 minutes athletic skills — compensating for schools cutting PE time), Junior Academy (3 days/week, 12 tournaments/year required, private lesson weekly), a 12-and-under Academy program for more committed players, a four-day-per-week after-school program for 13–14 year olds, and a fully accredited private school (ATA College Prep School, co-founded with Carol Hager) for students who want twice-daily training. The academy section totals ~80 students; 75–80% began at ATA.

3. Teaching Tennis as a Learning Mechanism (“When One Teaches, 2 Learn”)

All ATA players are required to volunteer 1–2 hours per week teaching younger players. Newman discovered this principle from his own experience: his tennis improved dramatically in the first 5–6 years of coaching. He credits teaching for forcing a deeper intellectual engagement with the game that pure practice cannot replicate. Practically, the program has produced a large number of tennis coaches from its alumni — Newman estimates it exceeds what typical junior programs generate. Coaching staff attribute this to the early exposure to teaching responsibilities while still playing.

4. Character as a Recruiting Tiebreaker

Newman articulates a strategic argument for character development: when five recruits look essentially the same to a college coach (similar UTRs, similar tournament results, similar grades and SAT scores), “impeccable character” becomes the tiebreaker. His experience over the last decade is that college coaches increasingly prefer the player who is a better person to work with over the player who is slightly better at tennis. Newman can call coaches and speak specifically to a recruit’s character — how they will treat teammates, how they will respond to coaching — as a differentiator that pure stats cannot provide.

5. Public Speaking as a Required Skill

ATA requires all players to develop public speaking skills: daily end-of-practice team meetings where players discuss what went well and MVP each other; juniors required to give a speech at the end-of-year party; seniors required to give two speeches (one at their college signing ceremony, one at the end-of-year party about their ATA experience). Newman connects this to the ITA career pathway: speaking confidently with coaches on recruiting calls, conducting oneself professionally in alumni settings, and eventually representing employers or programs.

6. Community Service as an Organizational Identity

From day one of founding ATA, Newman committed the organization to raising $1M for Glimmer of Hope — an Austin-based foundation doing water, health, and microfinance work in Ethiopia and homeless work in Austin, founded by a tennis-playing family. At the time of the interview, ATA had raised over $650,000 toward that goal. The commitment is known to every student and parent. Alumni like Josh Hager (Notre Dame tennis captain, now a Chicago businessman) created the “Playing for Glimmer” campaign (a walkathon format paying per game played in the summer). Newman argues this exposure to global inequality and community responsibility shapes students’ worldview in ways that outlast their tennis careers.

7. When to Recommend Going Pro vs. College

Newman is explicit: in 30 years of coaching, he has recommended only one student go pro directly instead of attending college — Ashley Weinholt, Girls 18s National Champion. His framework: “The game will let you know what your level is supposed to be.” Players who are winning ITF Level 2s at 15, reaching junior Grand Slam quarterfinals, and beating peer competitors by wide margins should consider the pro pathway. Players who are good D1 college competitors at positions 4–6 are unlikely to sustain a professional career. He supports determined players who want to try the pro circuit, but notes most of them play for 5–6 years without sustained success and then transition to other careers. College remains the right path for the vast majority.

8. Tennis as a “Force Multiplier” for College Access

Newman’s framing of tennis’s core value for most players: it is a “force multiplier” that gets students into better colleges than their academic credentials alone would allow. This is the core business proposition of ATA and the reason he does not organize programming around producing pro players. Maximizing college choice — through the combination of UTR, grades, and intangible character attributes — is the stated goal of the program for nearly all students.

Actionable Advice for Families

• Require or encourage your junior player to teach tennis to younger players — it will accelerate their own game development and build character attributes that college coaches value, often more than marginal ranking improvements
• Treat community service not as an add-on to tennis development but as integral to it: character built through service is the same character that wins tiebreakers in recruiting decisions
• For the vast majority of junior players, college is the right pathway; only players consistently winning at the highest junior international levels should seriously consider skipping college for the pro tour — let the competitive results dictate the decision, not ambition alone

INTENNSE Relevance

• Coaching pipeline: ATA’s track record of producing coaches from players who teach younger players while still in development is directly applicable to INTENNSE’s interest in building coaching depth. A league program that embeds teaching responsibilities into player development would create a coaching pipeline that serves the league’s long-term needs
• Character as selection criteria: Newman’s argument that character is the ultimate recruiting tiebreaker maps directly onto INTENNSE’s player selection philosophy — the league competes for entertainment value and fan connection, not just on-court excellence. Players who are better humans to work with create better teams, better broadcast narratives, and better community relationships
• Community engagement as brand infrastructure: ATA’s $1M commitment to Glimmer of Hope, embedded into the culture from day one, is a model for how INTENNSE could build community engagement that is authentic rather than transactional. A league-level charity commitment — known to players, families, and fans — creates identity and loyalty that marketing alone cannot
• Public speaking and media training: ATA’s mandatory public speaking program for juniors is an analogue for the media and broadcast training INTENNSE players need. Mic’d coaches and player interviews are central to the league’s broadcast model; players who are comfortable speaking publicly perform better in that environment
• “Living the sport” and format commitment: Newman’s culture of practicing through weather, planning life around competitive schedules, and treating discipline as identity rather than sacrifice is exactly the mindset INTENNSE needs from players adapting to a new and different professional format — one serve, rally scoring, unlimited subs require habitual adjustment, not grudging compliance
• College-to-pro bridge signal: Newman’s explicit statement that only one player in 30 years of coaching was ready to skip college and go pro reinforces the reality that INTENNSE’s player pipeline will be overwhelmingly college-routed. The league should design its scouting and onboarding programs around players who peaked late in college, not early teen international standouts

Notable Quotes

“When one teaches, to learn. You learn more by teaching.”

“The end for us is creating citizens of significance, not just accomplishment — kids who can go out and do things and impact their communities and be global change makers.”

“If I can pick between five people and one is slightly better in tennis, but the others are all better people, I’m probably going to pick the better person.”

“Tennis is a force multiplier — it gets you to a better situation than you would have gotten into with just your academic credentials.”

“The game will let you know what your level is supposed to be.”

“In 30 years of coaching, she’s been the one” [referring to the one student recommended to go directly pro].