Mitch Bridge

                                                       By Terry Nielsen         

Mitch Bridge represents a stunning tennis adventure that started in Rapid City, SD and journeyed on into sunny southern California. His story brings him into the 2025 class of the SD Tennis Hall of Fame.

When he looks back in time from his Southern California Tennis Academy at Eldorado Park Tennis Center in Long Beach, even Mitch can hardly believe what’s happened over the years.

Mitch, born in 1963, was the youngest of four born to Mike and Darlene Bridge in Rapid City.  His dad was an iron worker and his mother a homemaker, nurturing Mike Jr, Marty, Melody, and then Mitch. 

Growing up in Rapid, Mitch jumped into athletics: “I was a hyper kid and played many sports from a young age.  I played baseball in Harney Little League, skated and sledded in the winters and played basketball at Annie Tallent Elementary School and South Jr. High School,” said Mitch.

Mike was seven years older than Mitch. “When Mike and our neighbor Rich Lenker starting playing tennis, I starting copying them, first hitting the South courts in 1972 with my Garcia wooden tennis racquet.”

“My only structured private lessons were a few with Lenker, maybe I was 12 or 13,
Mitch said. “I mowed lawns for spending money and moved onto a Jack Kramer Autograph racquet.”  

His first sanctioned tournament was the Black Hills Open and he played in the 12’s in tournaments mostly across the state, reaching a #3 ranking in the Northwestern Tennis Association. “Sioux Park was the tennis center of Rapid City and where I met my tennis pals of the early years: Larry Kopriva, Donnie Ward, Mark Sogge and Duke Paluch. It was an electric time in tennis, with the courts full everywhere in the mornings and evening, with players lining up for ‘their turn’ in the evenings, as late as midnight on the weekends and summers.”

 He was in the 8^th grade when his parents made a reality out of the song “California Dreamin’.” His father wanted to get out of the cold iron and also liked the idea of year round tennis that California brings.

They moved to the small desert town of Ridgecrest, three hours from Los Angeles, and Mitch graduated from Burroughs High School where he played #1 on the tennis team all four years.  As his dad figured, Mitch’s tennis game really flourished with the new opportunities. He played a tough tennis schedule, earning his first ranking in the boys 18s, following the southern California junior circuit. He started college at Grossmont JC in San Diego, and then went to Long Beach State for a business marketing degree. He worked his way into the starting lineup each year as Long Beach State climbed as high as #2 in NCAA DI ranking in 1987, the year he graduated. 

Over the next seven years, into his 20’s, Mitch taught tennis and played money tournaments to continue chasing his dream and sharpening his skills. He earned an ATP professional ranking in 1989 in singles and maintained a doubles ranking until 1994. All the while, in the back of his mind, was his dream of coaching youth tennis.

 He and his wife Kim married in 1988, and in 1994 moved their family to Grand Junction, CO, to raise their family in a small town and start a junior program. Their first Academy, Junction Tennis Academy, in 1994, was the start of a 30 plus year career in leading junior tennis academies at the highest level.

They transformed junior tennis in Grand Junction by elevating the level of play with five #1 state high school champions, as well as creating many scholarships, even a DI team champion at Pepperdine. His sons Jordan and Cooper both went to DI schools in CA and other students excelled at places like Boise State, Colorado, Utah, UNLV, BYU and Nebraska, among others.

California drew them back with an excellent opportunity in tennis and to reunite with other family. They first partnered with a popular academy, Advantage Tennis Academy for a few years before going on their own in 2011.  Thereafter came the birth of Southern California Tennis Academy, located in Long Beach, one mile from his alma mater.     

At SCTA, they even have a boarding program which is growing, while creating large after-school programs for all levels of players.  They currently have 500-600 players at any time in their training programs with their players competing at over 20 universities and several on the professional tour.

In 2021 his family created a management company, BTC Tennis, and was awarded the leases for El Dorado Park Tennis Center and Billie Jean King Tennis Center in Long Beach. Mitch’s son Cooper and his wife Lauren manage the daily operations for the two facilities and older son Jordan is the head coach of the Academy.

In 2022 they created a nonprofit 501(c)3, Bridge the Gap Tennis, to introduce tennis to lower income kids throughout the area.  They offer Free Play Days to teach local children and to search for talent for their scholarship program.

So from his younger days in the Black Hills where they drove hundreds of miles for tournaments, they now can be a part of world class tennis, all within 30 minutes of their tennis center.  What a revolution!

“Yes, but I still feel the same way about tennis that I felt as that eight year old boy hitting his first tennis balls at South Jr. High in Rapid City,” said Mitch.