Norfolk State University Athletics

The 2021-22 academic year will mark John Brinkman’s third season serving as a volunteer assistant coach with the Norfolk State men’s and women’s tennis programs.
 
In his second season in 2021, both teams captured the MEAC Northern Division title, the second regular season championships for both in the league. Player of the Year Andres Alcaraz led four All-MEAC honorees on the men’s side, including fellow first-team player Federico Rebecchini. First-teamer Paula Fortuno led three all-conference nods on the women’s side, the most in program history.
 
For just the second time ever, the Spartan men advanced to the MEAC Championship final. They also had a winning record for the second time in seven years. The women qualified for the semifinals for the first time in 13 years and posted their first winning record in eight seasons.
 
Prior to his first year with NSU during the COVID-19 shortened 2020 spring season, Brinkman coached across town at ODU for 12 years as a volunteer assistant coach from 2008-19. He worked with both programs his first seven years and then exclusively with the men the last five.
 
He helped coach seven players to the NCAA Tournament in either singles or doubles. Several players also went on to capture player of the year honors in either the Colonial Athletic Association or Conference USA.
 
The Monarch men climbed as high as No. 25 in the national rankings in the 2018 season. ODU defeated a pair of top-25 teams that season and advanced to the NCAA Tournament after winning the C-USA title.
 
He was the head men's and women's coach at Virginia Wesleyan for five years from 2003-07, where he became the winningest head coach in school history. He led the men's squad to a 61-20 record and the women to a 64-16 mark and a first ever regional ranking. The 2007 women’s team finished 18-2, the best record in school history. Also that year, his No. 1 men’s doubles team earned the Marlins’ first NCAA berth in school history.
 
In 2006, Brinkman was named the Old Dominion Athletic Conference Coach of the Year.
 
Prior to Virginia Wesleyan, he spent time as the head tennis coach at Maury High School from 1989-2000, where he led the program to five regional championships. He also served as the lead psychologist for Norfolk Public Schools. Brinkman is recognized nationally and internationally for his work with suicide prevention.
 
He and his wife, Maggie, have three children, Brigid, Katie and Peter. His daughter Katie and son Peter played collegiate tennis at UNC Wilmington and Robert Morris, respectively. They have four grandchildren: Anna, Lucy, William and Flynn.