Later this month, Tim Brueggeman, who spent 20 years as John’s Island’s tennis director, will compete in Vero Beach’s wildly popular “King of the Hill” tournament for the first time in a decade.
When he does, another former John’s Island tennis director – Tom Collins, his employer – will be in the crowd at The Moorings rooting for him.
“I’ll definitely be there,” said Collins, owner of the Tom Collins Insurance Agency, where Brueggeman has worked for the past 20 months. “I’ve been a supporter of Youth Guidance through the King of the Hill event for many years, and I’ll be out there to support Tim.”
Collins, a longtime Castaway Cove resident who moved to Vero Beach after playing tennis at the University of South Carolina in the 1970s, was John’s Island’s tennis director for seven years before departing in 1981 to start his own business and later, in 1989, launching his successful insurance agency.
Brueggeman, on the other hand, left John’s Island in July 2013 under different circumstances: He wasn’t given a choice.
“Sometimes, in that industry, longevity can work against you,” Brueggeman said. “I had been there 20 years, we had developed a team atmosphere, and I really enjoyed my job. Everything seemed to be going well.
“I thought my best year was my last year,” he added. “We had our first ladies professional squash event. We had increased our tennis activity. All the metrics you’d use to measure success were positive. That’s why I was just floored when they told me I was out.
“Apparently, they wanted to go in a different direction.”
Brueggeman didn’t.
He tried to stay in the tennis industry and, having banked what he called a “nice severance package,” applied for full-time directors’ jobs at several clubs. But he couldn’t get past the finalists stage. He was 49 years old in a business that tends to favor the young.
“It’s not easy to get those jobs at 50,” Brueggeman said. “The industry was closed to me.”
And not even 20 years at one of the nation’s finest clubs could open it.
So Brueggeman began looking for a second career off the courts, first starting a family business with his sons – they sold surface coating for boats and airplanes – and then taking a job as a salesman at Treasure Coast Lexus in Fort Pierce.
In June 2015 Brueggeman and his wife, Tracy, decided to move to Montana, where he had spent the previous five summers teaching tennis at the Iron Horse Golf Club in Whitefish and still had a seasonal job.
There, he took a job as a manager at the outdoor store Cabela’s and worked as a realtor to supplement his tennis income and ensure year-round paychecks. But his children and grandson were still in Vero Beach.
“It became obvious we needed to come back here, and Tom had reached out to me shortly after I left John’s Island and said, ‘If you ever want to try selling insurance …” Brueggeman said. “So I contacted him and he offered to hire me on a trial basis.”
Brueggeman moved back to Vero Beach in April 2017, earned his license to sell insurance and embarked on a new career.
“Tom has been unbelievably helpful and supportive, from marketing me to providing opportunities for me to reach into any market I can,” Brueggeman said, adding that he has used his local contacts in the nonprofit and country-club realms to generate commercial business while also writing residential policies.
When Collins first approached Brueggeman about joining his insurance team, the two didn’t really know each other despite their common background at John’s Island, but Collins wanted to give him a chance.
“Every time anyone brought up Tim’s name, it was always in a positive way,” Collins said.
“Everyone considered him a quality person and seemed to hold him in high regard. So after he left John’s Island, I had heard he was looking to transition into the business world and asked him about joining our agency.
“He decided to move to Montana, but my offer stood, and even when he was out there, we had several brief-but-serious phone conversations and email exchanges,” he added.
“The more I got to know him, the more I saw that Tim had all the right qualities and characteristics.
“Our business is based on relationships, and Tim is a smart guy who is very good with people.”
Brueggeman, now 54, knows plenty of the right people, too, including many potential customers at John’s Island – a market Collins hopes to attract and nurture.
He’s also using his tennis background to market himself at other local clubs, occasionally playing in Sea Oaks’ weekly pro exhibitions, participating in The Boulevard’s advanced men’s nights and competing in the 50-and-over division of this year’s “King of the Hill” tournament, which starts this month.
“It certainly helps get my name out there and lets people know what I’m doing now,” said Brueggeman, who won the tournament’s Open Division championship in 2001 and 2002. “Besides, I enjoy playing tennis as much as I ever did, I enjoy being around the other pros here, and I still enjoy a competitive atmosphere.”
In fact, Brueggeman said he and John’s Island Head Pro Joe Biedenharn continue to play doubles together in United States Professional Tennis Association tournaments.
In late June, however, Brueggeman will head west for his 10th summer in Montana, where he’ll teach tennis until mid-September – and use his court connections to sell insurance under Collins’ banner.
“We’re now licensed in Montana, and he’s building a book of business out there, so I have no problem with it,” Collins said. “Eventually, we might open an office out there.”
If so, Brueggeman would be thrilled.
“Tom knows I love it out there, so I couldn’t write a better script,” Brueggeman said. “Once you get to your 50s, finding a second career can be a challenge. So, for me, this has been an absolute godsend. I’ve got the best of both worlds.”
He paused for a moment, then added: “I’ve been in the desert, though.”
For nearly four years, Brueggeman wandered in search of a professional life after John’s Island tennis, only to find his way – in an ironic twist of fate – with the help of someone who built a wonderful life after John’s Island tennis.
