Lonnie Mitchel enters his 10th season as the SUNY Oneonta Head Coach for both the men’s and women’s tennis program.
Mitchel’s women’s squad performs as one of the top two teams in the SUNYAC conference. In 2018 & 2019 the squad had its best seasons in program history reaching the finals of the conference championships. The squad has advanced to the semifinals each year he has been at the helm. Mitchel was recognized by his peers as the SUNYAC Coach of the Year in 2015.
The men’s team has been competing as an independent since Mitchel’s arrival, but due to its success, the program has been accepted as an affiliate member in the New Jersey Athletic Conference beginning with the 2019-20 year. The Red Dragons will be joining seven other colleges that will be divided into and East and West Division with teams from New Jersey and Wisconsin. The new conference is loaded with nationally ranked schools that Oneonta will compete against yearly.
Bringing in the CORE 4 philosophy where poise, footwork, high consistency and mental toughness are stressed as the program holds players accountable to all facets of play and practice. The players learn that following the CORE 4 can resonate into the classroom. Currently the men's and women's team places third of all the athletic teams on campus with an average GPA of over 3.25.
In his 30+ years of teaching all levels of players from grade school to collegians, Mitchel has produced players that are not only successful on the court at all levels, but helps them to flourish beyond the tennis arena seeding these skills for life achievement. Mitchel worked privately as a coach and teaching professional on Long Island for 25 years and is certified by the United States Professional Tennis Association as a Level 1 Coach, the highest level that can be attained by the USPTA.
Mitchel ran tennis facilities on Long Island and owned a Summer Adult Tennis Camp in the 1990’s. He coordinated many youth and adult tennis programs as well as coached adult travel teams in the Long Island Region.
Mitchel is also an editorial contributor and for Long Island and New York Tennis Magazine. In that capacity he represented division III tennis as a coaching panelist at the New York Tennis Expo in June of 2014 at the National Tennis Center along with other top division I coaches and world class professional coach Nick Bolletieri.
In 2013 Mitchel earned designation as Team USA Head Coach for the Macabbi Games (a division of the International Olympic Committee). The Macabbi games bring over 7000 top ranked athletes from around the world to Israel every four years to compete in Olympic Style Competition. Mitchel also represented the United States as a Head Coach and Chairman for the European Maccabi Games in Berlin and the Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile in 2015. Mitchel also coached a squad of nationally ranked juniors in Budapest, Hungary in 2019. Mitchel also represented the United States in 2017 bringing 12 Division I players some with world professional rankings to Israel for the Maccabiah World Games.
Mitchel was appointed a member of the NCAA Northeast Tennis Ranking Committee for Division III schools and served in that capacity for three years. He is also an Assistant to the Sports Information Director promoting a variety of athletic teams and competition for SUNY Oneonta. In addition he works with Alumni Engagement writing for Reflections the official alumni magazine.
Mitchel played collegiate tennis and on USTA teams as well as competing in many amateur tournaments throughout his playing career as a highly regarded Level I USPTA Teacher and Trainer. He also lived in Switzerland during his career as a sports and marketing consultant.
Mitchel has had long affiliations with the Walt Disney/ESPN Company, Royal Caribbean and Sandals Beaches Resorts in various sales and marketing roles. He is involved with the College’s Harvey Delaney Leadership Institute and has lectured for the athletic department at the Dr. Joseph Heissan's Leadership Academy coaching collegians to prepare for change beyond the academic experience. Mitchel additionally is an adjunct lecturer in the Sports Management Department.
Mitchel graduated from Fairleigh Dickinson University in 1981 and has graduate designations in marketing and sales in the hospitality, tourism/sports field. He maintains a residence on Long Island and in Oneonta. He has been married to his wife Harriet for 32 years and has two sons Wayne and Trevor. Harriet is a special education teacher and his sons were highly ranked USTA Juniors who played collegiate tennis. Both Wayne and Trevor are currently employed in marketing positions in Denver and New York City respectfully.
