Serving It Up: Scotia's Schmitz family creates legacy on courts

PHOTOGRAPHER: Photo Provided

Scotia native Claire Schmitz (left) and Riley Schmitz (right)

SERVING IT UP – Anton Schmitz was a darn good gymnast. As for racquet sports, he didn’t particularly shine, but the young German immigrant, who came to the U.S. after World War I, was good enough to help create a prolific tennis family that continues to add to its legacy today.

His great-granddaughter Riley Schmitz, a Scotia resident and Holy Names sophomore, won the Section II Girls’ Individual Tennis Championships last week at Sportime, and another great-granddaughter and Scotia native, Claire Schmitz, earned five straight trips to the State Tournament from 2009 to 2013, winning the Section II crown as a senior.

The girls never knew their great-grandfather, but watching many of those matches was their grandfather, Scotia’s Bob Schmitz, one of the best players in Schenectady County throughout the 1960s and ’70s. It was way back in the 1940s, however, just after America saved the world from fascism, that Schmitz took up the game seriously, with a little prodding from his dad.

Everything Scotia-Glenville

“My father was a gymnast and a good one, and I grew up on Riverside Avenue where the tennis courts were kind of handy and that’s when I started playing,” said Schmitz, who splits time between Scotia and Florida these days with his wife, Barbara. “He would grab me on a weeknight or weekend and take me to the courts. At first, he would beat me. But after a while, I got the best of him. When I got so I could beat him regularly, I knew I had to start looking for stronger guys to play with.”

It was probably during the summer between sixth and seventh grade — he isn’t exactly sure — when Schmitz left the comfy confines of Collins Park in Scotia and dove into a deeper talent pool across the Mohawk River in Schenectady.

“I would jump on my bike, ride over the Scotia bridge and all the way to Central Park to look for better people to play with,” remembered Schmitz. “I played at some other places, but it was mostly Collins Park and Central Park, and Central Park was where I really had the opportunity to play different people and improve way back in junior high school.”

Schmitz, now 88, was a Schenectady County Closed men’s singles champion back in 1965 and ’66, and for much of his life was ranked in various age divisions by the Eastern Tennis Association. He has been involved in the sport in many ways other than just playing, serving as president and treasurer of groups such as the Schenectady County Tennis Association and the Eastern Tennis Association. And, in 1973, Schmitz was part of a core group that built the Schenectady Racquet Club, now owned and operated by Sportime, where he still plays tennis regularly.

“I think the fact that I got involved with the racquet club, being a part of that group of founders and owners early on, because of that connection all my kids would come there and play,” said Schmitz. “Many of them also worked there, so it was kind of my family’s home away from home.”

Schmitz’s two oldest sons, Bill and Tom, were both No. 1 players at Scotia-Glenville High, and his two youngest children, David and Carolyn, also played tennis for the Tartans.

Both Bill and Tom played college tennis, and while Bill went to the Rochester Institute of Technology, Tom stayed close to home and went to the University at Albany where he graduated in 1986 and was inducted into the college’s athletic hall of fame in 1992. It is his children that have had such an impact on tennis inside Section II.

Ryan, the oldest, was the boys’ sectional champion in 2010, and his brother Bob was also a very good player at Scotia. As for Tom’s two daughters, they chose the private school route, with Claire earning her sectional title for Emma Willard and then Riley doing the same two weeks ago while representing Holy Names.

Their grandfather Bob also chose the private school route, completing his secondary education at Christian Brothers Academy in Albany. During his senior year there, Schmitz reached the 1953 sectional semifinal, losing to Chuck Nichols, who just happened to be Scotia’s top player that year.

Schmitz went on to play No. 1 for Lafayette University before heading back home after college and starting his family and a long working career at General Electric.

Three years ago, I asked Bob about tennis being the “sport of a lifetime,” and he said he couldn’t agree more.

“It’s very healthy for body and mind, and it keeps you young,” Schmitz told me back in 2019. “I still play four times a week, singles and doubles, at 85. My sons and daughter play and many of my 12 grandkids.”

All Local Sports

Last week he told me his feelings haven’t changed. He is still playing tennis three and four times a week at 88, and as the current treasurer of the SCTA, his primary goal is to make sure other people play more, particularly children.

“We’re happy to give money to Central Park for a new backboard when they need one, and we underwrite a number of juniors to help defray the costs of playing tournaments,” he said. “It’s not like it used to be with adult tournaments, and then COVID made things pretty difficult the last few years, but we’re still trying to put money out there to get more people to play tennis.”

Riley Schmitz didn’t fare that well in last week’s state high school tournament at Sportime, losing in the first round. But if family history is any indication, don’t be surprised if she returns to the state tournament over the next two years where she will most likely add a few more impressive pieces to the Schmitz family’s tennis legacy.

McENROE WINS STATE TITLE

The finals of the New York State Girls’ Individual Championships was an all-Victorian affair, with Bronxville’s Victoria McEnroe defeating Longwood’s Victoria Matos for the title 6-4, 7-5.

McEnroe, a junior, is the daughter of Patrick McEnroe and the niece of seven-time grand slam winner John McEnroe.

While Section II champion Schmitz and runner-up Katrina Setchenkov of Guilderland were both defeated in the first round, Schmitz’s teammate at Holy Names, Kate Regan, was a first-round winner.

Section II also got one victory in the doubles competition when Aleesha Choudry and Jeevika Benki of Niskayuna advanced a round before losing to the eventual runners-up, a team from Paul Schreiber High, in the second round.

Saratoga Springs’ Addison Jones and Kate Lindley lost a tough three-setter in their first-round doubles match, while the Bethlehem Central team of Anna Peles and Hope Brown went down by a 6-4, 6-4 score.

SUCCESS A TARTAN TRADEMARK

Scotia-Glenville didn’t have a player qualify for the state tournament, but the Tartans were once again a force to be reckoned with under head coach Geoff Olson. And everybody in the starting five, including freshman Isabel Amurao at No. 1 singles, will be back.

Everything Scotia-Glenville

Scotia posted its 25th consecutive winning record in the Foothills Council, and in those 25 years, the Tartans have won 13 league championships and have finished second on 12 occasions. They were 10-2 in the league and 13-3 overall this season.

Amurao won 18 consecutive matches at No. 1 before losing in the sectional quarterfinals to Greenville’s Bryn Fitzmaurice in one pro set 10-2. Other singles players for S-G include freshman Lillian Liberatore at No. 2, junior Natalie McGlauflin at No. 3, freshman Emma Klejsmyt at No. 4 and junior Ana Kittle at No. 5.

“These kids worked hard every day at practice and really gave it everything they had in matches,” said Olson. “I’ve always had great student-athletes at Scotia that really wanted to compete.”

Along with those hard-working student-athletes, another strong link to the Scotia-Glenville success story is the Olson family. Geoff took over as head coach of both the boys’ and girls’ teams in 2003, succeeding his father Greg, who had been coaching both teams since 1984. Greg also coached some of the best Scotia-Glenville boys’ basketball teams during the 1970s and ’80s.

Long-time Schenectady County tennis enthusiasts may also recall that when Greg Olson took over the reins of the Scotia-Glenville tennis program, he was succeeding former Linton High coach Alex LaRocco. A native of Dolgeville, LaRocco moved to Schenectady in 1956 to begin teaching history at Linton High, and from 1960 through 1964 he led the Blue Devil boys to five consecutive Class A-B tennis team titles.

After moving to Scotia and retiring as a Linton guidance counselor and coach, LaRocco spent a few years building the Tartan tennis program. People like Bob Schmitz, Greg and Geoff Olson, and Alex LaRocco, really do make a difference.

All Local Sports