HighFIVE: Tobias Ortegon

Tobias Ortegon grew up in North Denver playing baseball. When he was 15, a friend told him about free tennis at the La Alma Recreation Center, part of Denver Parks & Recreation. Ortegon decided to give tennis a try and the decision changed his life.  

“I didn’t have many years of formal training or access to indoor courts, so I did a lot self-teaching. I read books and magazines, watched tennis videos and matches on tv, rode my bike to the Denver City Open and Colorado State Open so I could watch the best players,” says Ortegon.

This passion for tennis, along with his natural athletic ability, led Ortegon to earn a spot on the Denver North High School team, an alternate spot on the University of Colorado men’s team and ultimately the No. 1 singles position at Metro State.

“These were great experiences,” he recalls, “I got to travel and learned what it meant to be on a team.”

After graduating from Metro State, Tobias decided to take his experience and love for tennis and bring it to back to the place it all started, La Alma Recreation Center. He started as an instructor and then became a Recreation Coordinator. In this role, he was involved with tennis for about half of the year. There he saw great potential in building the tennis program with Denver Parks & Recreation and proposed a Tennis Coordinator role. His determination paid off and he served in the role for about 10 years. After that time, he decided to focus on the Recreation Center operations side, but in 2021 he returned to the role of Tennis Coordinator.  

For Tobias, success is about relationships and he’s happy to be building those connections again on the court.

“Coaching allows you to change lives and inspire kids to work hard – challenging them to instill commitment, yet still have fun. These are special relationships that develop,” he says.

Besides being on the court, Tobias is responsible for creating well-rounded and balanced tennis programs for both youth and adults throughout Denver as well as re-establishing strong partnerships with various organizations including the USTA, Denver Tennis Park and the general public. He works with Denver Parks & Recreation’s planning division to ensure they advocate for the infrastructure expansion and improvements. Their five-year vision aims to prevent repurposing and losing tennis courts, as well as providing new viable options in creating the best facilities for the future. 

Kristy Harris, USTA Colorado Community Development Director, has worked with Ortegon on many projects.

She says, “Tobias cares about the entire tennis community, including community tennis associations (Washington Park, City Park, Berkeley Park, Greenway Park) and their players, new and developing youth players, and new and developing tennis teachers. He is constantly trying to influence the infrastructure landscape within the City of Denver and all of the parks to make sure that tennis is accessible to everyone in Denver.”

Tobias’s commitment to the sport and the people who play it is perhaps most evident in his success with what he calls “a grand slam,” which is when he helps a child get interested in tennis in grade school, they continue in middle school, play for their high school, and ultimately play in college, with many receiving athletic scholarships.

“We’ve had a number of kids go through this cycle who ended up with full or partial scholarships. Some of them are David Kijak and Kasey Walisundara (Metro State), Adriana Strode (Norfolk State), Rachel Nguyen (Minnesota State University Moorhead), Mia Oliver (Edinboro University of Pennsylvania) and Illijah Bailey (Hastings College). Many of these kids also give back to the Denver Parks & Recreation community through coaching or volunteering,” he says.

Building this “grand slam” cycle is exactly what motivates Tobias. He still remembers the feeling he had as a kid at La Alma – the sense of belonging to a family, always being encouraged, challenged and disciplined, yet heard and understood.

He says, “I want these kids to learn proper footwork and technique so they can play the sport at an advanced level and for the rest of their lives. And I also want them to understand that we are not on this earth by ourselves. Kelly Lovato, my first coach at La Alma, inspired me as a kid to do the best I could and to believe in myself. I want to pass that inspiration on to kids today. It’s about working together and having respect for one another. I want them to learn perseverance, work ethic, discipline and develop self-confidence. When they miss a shot, it’s not the end of the world. They can get back up and try again and get better with each try. There’s so much in our world that can disconnect us. I want to change that and bring it back to a time where community and family were connected through something as simple as tennis.”

For more information on tennis programs offered by Denver Parks & Recreation, please visit www.denveryouthsports.org. The website is updated seasonally so if you don’t see what you are looking for, check back frequently.

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