Ted Schneider: The Mayor
Some of us know Ted as our USTA captain, some of us know him as a friendly face around the club; but Ted’s closest circle know him as “The Mayor”. Ted Schneider has a knack for creating warmth in any environment, whether on or off the court. Known around TCSP as a team builder and a community connector, Ted embodies the relationship between tennis as both an act of self-improvement and a valuable social tool.
A Seattleite since 1999, Ted spent his formative years in nearby Puyallup before venturing out of state for college in Atlanta and Michigan. Despite his travels, the Pacific Northwest always beckoned him back. “When can I get back to Seattle?” was a question he pondered frequently away from the place he felt was home.
Ted’s tennis journey began at the age of 12, where he discovered an early love for the game and later, during his high school years, the impact of camaraderie that was quintessential to the construction of his values. Coincidentally, Jamie, the inaugural head pro at TCSP, was Ted’s first coach. But it wouldn’t be for another 25 years before Ted returned to tennis.
Three years ago, during a campout with a group of fellow dads, Ted was struck with a realization: he was about to be an empty nester. Spurned with a new desire to re-discover his “thing”, Ted joined a friend for a live ball session and has been hooked ever since.
Outside of tennis, Ted is a proud father of two sons—one headed to college on a track scholarship in Colorado, and the other exploring acting and musical theater. He’s also a fan of board games, often sharing his love of strategy with friends who overlap with his tennis circle.
“The improvement has been rewarding, but the social connections have been even more amazing,” he says. He expressed his love for tennis as a surprisingly social sport, recognizing that it has allowed him to make friends within such a variable and wide demographic, all who share a love of the game.
As a USTA team captain, Ted emphasizes playing for each other. “We’re here to play and act as a team,” he says, noting that his teams are among the few that spend extensive time with each other off-court and outside of their usual circles. You’ll often find Ted surrounded by his USTA crew, sharing laughs with staff or recruiting members to his team practices.
When asked about a moment he felt defined his tennis career, Ted recalls a piece of advice from an early coach: “You can make this game as interesting or routine as you want, just by the choices you make.” For Ted, this idea applies much greater in its scope, and is more allegorical to his life and how he approaches his actions. Ted chooses to make things interesting—and it shows.
We’re lucky to have leaders like Ted defining what it means to be a part of the TCSP community. If you see him around, do not hesitate to ask him about his favorite tennis podcast—he’ll be thrilled to share tips and tactics from “Baseline Intelligence.”
