Today we’d like to introduce you to Todd Wojtkowski.
Todd, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
Thankfully, I had tennis. In 2008 I had finished a Masters of Business Administration at The Citadel only to find a job market and economy that was in a major recession. The job offers that I had received were frozen so I was left to figure things out as a young adult in a tough job market. It was in that moment that I said to myself, “Thank God for Tennis”. It wasn’t the first time and it certainly will not be the last time that I uttered those words. My coach growing up was Keith Vens, and if it wasn’t for Keith and his family, I would not have learned so many valuable lessons; tennis and life. One of those major life lessons he shared was to always “share the wealth”. Tragically, Keith’s life was taken on the weekend of my 18th birthday in a car accident. Much like many other times in my life, tennis helped carry me through the time of grief.
A Fortunate Upbringing.
Rewind the clock to 1983 when I was born, and adopted by two amazing parents in Youngstown, Ohio. My father was an immigrant, his father had survived the concentration camps in Germany and had come to the US to find work in the steel mills. My father would work to pay his way through college, and dental school. My mother was a teacher and supported the family while my father went to Dental school. By the time I was adopted they had built an incredible life for me to be able to have access to things such as tennis. Despite being fortunate to have a lot of great things I never wanted to lose sight of the hardships and sacrifices that were made for me to be in that position and thankfully I believe that my work ethic and discipline are a direct result of the sacrifices that were made for me when I was younger. So, it was only natural for me to decide to live a life dedicated to “sharing the wealth” the way that my family, mentors, and coaches had done for me.
Building a family.
In order to be a great husband, and a great father, I knew that I would need to love my work, and I truly do. My passion for coaching and teaching is likely my best attribute. So, at first, I treated every player as if they were family, I put as much care and passion as possible into each of these athletes as if they were family. It was through tennis that I met my wife at the Ohio High School Tennis Championships. She works in athletic administration and happened to be there as well. As a former college basketball player for Indiana University (PA), she played in two NCAA final fours. Her passion for sports and being part of a team was one of the immediate things that I love so much about her. Today I am a very proud husband to Julie Wojtkowski and father to Owen Wojtkowski.
From Worst to First.
At that time, I was able to get an offer to be the Head Men’s and Women’s Tennis coach at Case Western Reserve University. The CWRU programs had finished last place in the conference as far back as I could find and were unranked in the region. Fast forward to today, on March 11th, 2022 CWRU was officially announced as the number one team in the National Rankings after winning the National Men’s Team Indoors in February.
Thankfully, being in the ‘worst’ position was something that I had been prepared for over many years of experiences, from the journey of my family, the loss of my coach, the recession of ’08, to the pandemic of 2020, I have always been relentlessly optimistic and energized for making the most out of any possible situation I am in.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle-free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
I think that in the previous story I touched on how those challenges had helped pave the way to where I am now.
I think that in life, tough things happen to us all and it becomes a matter of how we deal with them and the perspective that we have. We need to always give people the benefit of the doubt because we have no idea what sorts of things they may be dealing with or have gone through in their journey.
I would say that along my road the challenges/obstacles that might have turned my life in another direction were when my grandfather survived Dachau, when I was adopted, when my coach passed away on my 18th birthday, when I finished my MBA in the ’08 recession, and finally when my wife and I had multiple miscarriages before having our amazing son, Owen.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I am an Associate Professor and Head Men’s Tennis Coach at Case Western Reserve University. I am also the Director of High Performance at the Cleveland Racquet Club. The team practices in the mornings around 630am 5-6 days a week when we are in our season. I teach the wellness classes at CWRU throughout the day. The camps/clinics that are run at the Cleveland racquet club are all at night and run all day during the summer break period.
I also serve in many different capacities in volunteer roles across the sport of tennis.
I am on the Board of Directors for Advantage Cleveland. AdvantageCLE provides a free eight-week summer program to children in the Cleveland area. More than 250 kids participate in the camp each summer and represent over 70 schools in the city. Tennis is the backbone of our instruction, and kids play up to an hour each day. Educational programming is also provided in daily rotations, and kids participate in fitness, wellness, literacy, STEM, and creative expression classes. They are surrounded by caring high school and college-age students who act as role models and mentors.
I am Delegate to the Board of Directors for the USTA Midwest, Nominating Committee for USTA – Northeastern Ohio, and President of the USPTA – Ohio.
I would say that what sets me apart and what I specialize in are the same in that I try to dedicate my life to being a servant to the game of tennis and its industry. I will always do what is best for our team, players, and sport. Tennis has always been there to keep me focused, disciplined, and to give me an amazing life, and I will always do what is best to give back and share that wealth.
I am most proud of my wife and son. Whenever that question comes up, they are the first thing I think of. I am so thankful for how supportive my wife has been to allow me to pour as much time and passion into what I do and sharing our family with those that I work with.
What do you think about luck?
I would say that I was lucky to get the job at CWRU. I didn’t make the final interviews and when I asked the AD about that he had said that I was too young for what they wanted. They interviewed three candidates and when they didn’t succeed, they brought me in for an interview after that. I came in with a 5-, 10-, and 20-year plan on where I thought the program could be and this included both individual and team national championships. To go from dead last in our conference, and unranked in the region, to #1 in the country there has to be a ton of good luck that goes into it.
Contact Info:
- Email: todd.wojtkowski@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/toddwojo/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/todd.wojtkowski
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/toddwojtkowski
