Stuart O’Shannessy at the Wollongong Regional Tennis Centre. Photo: Supplied.
For Stuart O’Shannessy, tennis has never just been about forehands and backhands, it’s been a passport to the world and ultimately a way to shape lives in the Illawarra.
From his business Complete Tennis at the Wollongong Regional Tennis Centre, O’Shannessy reflects on the crossroad that led him to choose coaching over pursuing his own professional playing career.
During primary school, his father’s job as a bank manager meant the family moved regularly.
When they arrived in Kiama, he found himself in a town where his first sporting love – soccer – barely registered.
“My parents were tennis players, so I enrolled in the local tennis club,” he said.
“When I do something, I like to see it through, so it was easy for me to get hooked.”
And hooked he was, with O’Shannessy generally ranking in the top two or three in NSW for his age group in juniors.
“The ultimate thing it led me to was an Australian doubles title when I was 17,” he said.
“I became an Australian champion and that led me to getting a full scholarship in the US.”
The boy from Kiama suddenly found himself in the middle of Texas in the early 1980s in a system that was a well-trodden pathway for aspiring professionals.
“What a culture shock,” he said, laughing.
“It was very tough.
“It was too expensive in the early 80s to be calling home and there were no emails or mobile phones in those days, so your only correspondence was the odd phone call and an actual handwritten letter.”
He said on court, the standards were high, but off court, the demands were just as intense.
“You had to go to school every day and pass your college subjects to be able to compete on the tennis team,” he said.
“In the US, college sport is a pathway to becoming a professional.
“It was really the only way at 17 of getting my tennis career going. Which, at that stage, I had visions of becoming a professional tennis player.”
He spent two years in Texas, and while the experience was challenging and isolating, it was also unforgettable and set up the next major turning point in his life during a summer break back home.
“The then tennis coach in Kiama offered me his coaching business free of charge because he was a friend,” he said.
“I had to make a lifetime decision, and at that stage, money was quite thin.”
He decided not to return to the US and instead took over the business.
From 1983, he was a full-time tennis coach in Kiama and over time gained formal qualifications and became Kiama Tennis Club head coach.
After nearly two decades at Kiama, in 2000 O’Shannessy made another big move to go into partnership to start Complete Tennis at what was then known as Beaton Park.
“Going from a relatively small club to one of the biggest, most prestigious clubs in NSW, which is still Beaton Park, it was about moving forward in my career,” he said.
Stuart overlooking the first foundations laid for the new tennis courts in 2024. Photo: Kellie O’Brien.
Over the decades, O’Shannessy has coached countless players, from juniors just learning to rally to athletes chasing big dreams.
He said among his standout proteges was Michelle Summerside, who climbed to about 150 in the world in the professional ranks.
Another of his “top pupils” was Mark Burns, known through his involvement with the Man Walk initiative.
“He was a great tennis player, very high level. I took him to the US for junior tournaments,” he said.
“For me, a highlight has been seeing some of these people come through and forging their own careers and their own paths, and seeing them successful.”
O’Shannessy also made a point of qualifying to coach people with disabilities, reflecting his belief that tennis is truly a sport for everyone.
“Tennis is a sport where you can play if you’re eight or 80, if you’re in reasonable shape,” he said.
In recent years, he has also seen another racquet sport quietly explode: pickleball.
Now part of its multi-sport offerings, O’Shannessy admits he initially wondered whether it might just be a passing trend, but the numbers have proven otherwise.
“Pickleball has really surprised me,” he said.
“It’s a very fast-growing sport, and that’s happening everywhere in the world.”
He said over the years the way the business of tennis was run had also changed dramatically from unlocking courts and setting up nets daily, to today’s online bookings and contactless court access.
However, one of the biggest changes has been Beaton Park relaunched as the Wollongong Regional Tennis Centre last month, thanks to significant investment from Wollongong City Council and Tennis NSW.
The centre now boasts eight international-standard cushioned acrylic courts, two community hard courts, four synthetic grass courts, and another multipurpose court available for community use.
“The signs are really good,” O’Shannessy said of the first few weeks of full operation.
“People are coming out of the woodwork who haven’t played for quite a few years.”
He said beyond that, there were plans for the centre to host larger tournaments, including possibly events up to Challenger level.
Complete Tennis is located at 37 Foley Street, Gwynneville.
