Coaching Spotlight: Mike Barrell, SPORTIME / John McEnroe Tennis Academy

For nearly four decades, Mike Barrell has been one of the most sought after speakers and advisors in the tennis industry. As a keynote speaker at three ITF Worldwide Conferences, as well as the author of the ITF Tennis10s manual and also the official 10U program used by many countries across the world, Barrell had a rolodex of clients seeking out his services and expertise.

One of those was SPORTIME and the John McEnroe Tennis Academy (JMTA), and specifically Mike Kossoff and Lawrence Kleger.

It was about 10 years ago, when Kossoff, the Director of Tennis at SPORTIME, and Kleger, who at the time was the Director of Tennis at SPORTIME Randall’s Island, were in Mexico representing the JMTA at the ITF Conference, that they were introduced to Barrell.

“We were actively looking for world-class coaches to strengthen our program,” Kossoff recalls. “On the second day of the conference, Mike Barrell delivered a presentation. Within the first thirty seconds, Lawrence and I turned to each other at the exact moment and said, ‘This is our guy’”.

Barrell’s reputation preceded him, but was well-earned. In addition to his speaking roles, Barrell had immense experience running clubs in his native England, including being the Director of Tennis at club, and helping Federations build programs on every continent.

It was his unique understanding of junior tennis programming from a worldly perspective that inspired Kossoff and Kleger to bring him in to work with the JMTA, as Kossoff says, “in any capacity possible”. As a result, Barrell was brought in on an advisory role to start.

“They had asked me to come in and help with their kids programs, and so I would come in and do that,” said Barrell. “We developed a really good relationship. Ben Schlansky [SPORTIME’s Executive VP, COO, SMD, and General Counsel] was asking when I was going to come work for them full-time, it became sort of a running joke, but at the time I wasn’t ready for that.”

But that would change as the COVID pandemic progressed. Barrell, used to travelling around the world for conferences and events, felt as trapped as everyone else due to the restrictions imposed. This led him to consider other options, and at the top of the list was joining the SPORTIME family full-time.

“It seemed like the perfect time to begin working with SPORTIME and the JMTA on a bigger scale, and we agreed on a contract for me to come in,” Barrell recalls.

In 2022, Barrell joined the team full-time, and his initial role was to help align all the programming harmoniously across all of SPORTIME clubs.

Now, Barrell is the Executive Director of SPORTIME Clubs, an all-encompassing position that requires different objectives day-to-day.

“We have over 230 coaches, who are at varying stages of their careers, so a big part of my role and the Global Tennis Department is trying to help support them in the industry. Part of this is training and as a result the company has a  training structure for our coaches. At the start our newer coaches need some parameters and structure so they feel safe to grow, but as they evolve it’s trying to identify what they need to stay motivated,” Barrell explained. “My role is to try to ensure our coaches are doing the right things on a big picture scale. The unique challenge at SPORTIME is size, with over 200 coaches it is a mammoth task, so some of this is direct but the biggest way we achieve this is through working with all members of our team to stay connected.””

Even though he is still coaching players, Barrell brings  almost unequally expertise in coaching education, but a major point of emphasis is building a more robust system and training  coaches in a way they are able to climb the ladder within the company. So last year he started a new development  to train some key coaches to become coach educators, and create a team that is actively involved in investing in people and growing their collective skills.

“Since joining SPORTIME full-time, Mike has completely transformed and elevated our entire tennis brand across the company,” explained Kossoff. “Drawing on insights gained from consulting with and working at numerousf academies around the world, he has brought the absolute best practices and innovative ideas into our organization. As a result, we are implementing programs and approaches that simply are not being done anywhere else.”

One major initiative is sending coaches along with their players to all L1 National tournaments that a JMTA player is competing at. For the last two years, coaches have accompanied their players to these high-level events, at no cost to the family.

This has a two-pronged effect; first, the player has a traveling coach with them to help out before, during and after matches, and second, it provides a validation for the coach to be able to see their players put what they work on in practice into action.

“It’s an investment into both our players and our coaches,” Barrell says. “Our players are able to work with our coaches while away, and it gives our coaches a chance to get out of the proverbial hamster wheel that coaching can become. Coaching is hard work, so letting them travel and spend a week in Alabama or Florida at a National tournament is an important thing we do. We also make sure our coaches are available for local tournaments on Friday nights, and Saturday and Sunday afternoons, and we are providing feedback and reports. I think those are some things that people don’t even realize we do, but that is really important to deliver for our players but also for the growth of our coaches.”

SPORTIME and the JMTA have always been at the forefront of tennis offerings, providing the best resources and expertise to not only its players, but its staff. That was reinforced further four years ago by bringing Barrell into the fold. He has brought his extensive knowledge and experience across the SPORTIME clubs, and further helped foster a culture that will continue to grow the game.

“Mike serves as the clear driver and leader of SPORTIME tennis at every level,” Kossoff added. “His guidance, vision and day-to-day support have been unmatched by anything we have experienced before–and the positive impact is felt not only in Syosset, but across every one of our clubs on Long Island, in New York City and beyond.”