Ron Bronson, the Finnish celebrity and tennis coach extraordinaire | Humans of Catlin Gabel
By Olivia Morrison ‘24
Bronson with the District 1 Girls Tennis Coach of the Year award in 2022
Ron Bronson is the girl's varsity tennis coach at Catlin Gabel (CGS). In 2022’s tennis season, Bronson led the girl's tennis team to a district championship and state title, winning Oregon’s 3A district/state coach of the year as well. This season, he plans to do it again.
“We’ve gotta get a chip, we’re repeating,” Bronson states confidently.
This is Bronson’s fourth year coaching at CGS. He has also spent summers coaching in Wyoming and Colorado and coached the Oregon City boy’s tennis team for a season. When the position became available to coach at CGS, he sprung at the opportunity.
“The values of Catlin really represent my own, and I previously worked at a big public school so when I saw the opportunity open it was kind of like my dream job,” he states.
When asked what he liked about coaching tennis at CGS, he answered, “The people are smart! The kids are really smart!”
Bronson elaborated on this point by explaining that players at CGS tend to be effective collaborators. He shared that he enjoys being able to discuss things like the match lineups with the team as well as the strategy of the games.
“It’s made my job easier, but it’s also made my job more fun!” Bronson exclaimed.
Another thing he adds that has encouraged his commitment to the girl’s tennis team is the fact that there are no egos.
“There was no ego about who played one, or who played doubles,” he explained, “it didn’t feel cutthroat in a way that many talented championship teams can be.”
Bronson grew up in Plainfield, New Jersey, and has played tennis since he was nine years old. He was a scrappy player whose coach liked him because he never quit.
“It never occurred to me that I had the option to quit!” he laughed.
Bronson described how growing up in Plainfield influenced his love for the sport, and encouraged him to continue playing even when no one else in his family did.
“We had 16 tennis courts, so you could have middle school practices and high school practices all in the same place with lessons going on, so it was a weird, unique place with a big tennis culture.” He adds, “I don’t think I would have gotten that anywhere else, I don’t think tennis would have stuck with me in the same way.”
When he’s not coaching or playing tennis, Bronson works in tech. He says his job is difficult to explain, but in one sentence he says: “My job is to help people make websites work better, for lots of people—millions of people.”
His job allows him to speak at conferences often, which he is well known for in his field, and requires him to travel a good amount outside of the tennis season.
For fun, Bronson runs the skee ball league in town, but also loves to listen to music. “I like a lot of ‘synthy’ stuff so I listen to a lot of noise rock and dark wave,” he adds, “bonus points to anybody reading this who knows what dark wave is!”
Slightly more surprising than being a music lover, Bronson is also an avid follower of “Pesäpallo,” which is a Finnish sport that is similar to American baseball.
He randomly began watching the sport around a decade ago and has since turned his fanatics into a role as a “D-list” celebrity in Finland. He describes himself as the preeminent American fan of the sport and has been on tv shows and podcasts to add the seldom-heard perspective of an American follower of Pesäpallo.
It all started on Twitter. “I was tweeting about it, and the Finns found me and were like ‘wait, you’re American, this is so confusing’ so a journalist did a story about me in 2016, and then I got invited to the Finnish embassy, and now I know famous Finnish baseball players,” he says casually.
Although tech, music, and Finnish baseball are all compelling things to discuss, nothing seems to excite Bronson more than talking about the CGS tennis team.
He says that this year’s team is even more fun to coach, as it’s a “merger of the old and the new” with new freshmen and many graduating seniors in the lineup. He is determined to get another state championship with the team, especially for the seniors who he highlights as the reason the team won state last year.
Each week, Bronson takes the time to send detailed emails to the players reporting the highlights of each day and creates professional infographics for every match the team plays. He believes in every player and wants each one to be able to improve and become more confident in the sport that he loves. His dedication to the CGS girl's varsity tennis team is apparent, and the school is lucky to have him.