Tennis Coach Hall of Famer and Alton Native Releases Memoir

ALTON - An Alton native is releasing his memoir.

On Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, you can purchase your copy of “Mountains Within: A Life of Achievement, a Quest for Meaning, and the Mountain that Changed Everything” by Dr. Jack Groppel. Raised in Alton, Groppel is a world-renowned tennis coach, businessman and speaker. But his story is one of humility, faith and learning to foster relationships.

“I’ve had this fairly outlandish career, and I’ve had people for years tell me that I should tell my story,” Groppel said. “I dedicated the book to anybody that ever felt they were not good enough or ever felt that they had to please someone in their life. That’s who I wrote the book for.”

Groppel grew up playing tennis at Rock Springs Park. He never had a formal tennis lesson, but “cut [his] teeth” at the park and on the Alton High School team before playing at the University of Illinois. He went on to train top athletes and was eventually inducted into the United States Professional Tennis Association Hall of Fame.

He co-founded the Johnson & Johnson Human Performance Institute and advised Fortune 500 companies. In the early 2000s, he was part of one of the biggest speaking tours in the world and shared the stage with Margaret Thatcher and Mikhail Gorbachev.

But while his achievements are impressive, Groppel quickly realized that the “really cool stuff” he had accomplished didn’t fulfill him as much as he had hoped. He was juggling relationship challenges, including a rocky relationship with his father. He turned to God, looking for answers, and his life changed when he adopted his son.

“This is where I think God has a sense of humor,” Groppel shared. “He’s going to send this guy who’s struggled in relationships his whole life, and He’s going to send him by himself to China, and they’re going to put a screaming 4-year-old in his arms, and He’s going to teach these two how to love each other. He speaks Mandarin and I speak English. We can’t talk. All we’ve got is facial expression, tone of voice, and touch. That’s all we’ve got. And now we’re as close as you can imagine.”

In 2017, Groppel and his son summited Mount Kilimanjaro together. It was “exhilarating yet terrifying” when, on top of the mountain, next to his 12-year-old, Groppel decided he would write his memoir.

He wasn’t just interested in sharing his story. He wanted to inspire people to push themselves, to trust in God, to take the steps they needed to create fulfilling and passionate lives. His memoir addresses this, sprinkling in some advice alongside Groppel’s story.

“Doors will open in your life. Do you have hope enough and do you believe in what you’ve done and how God created you that you’re ready to go through those doors? That’s number one,” he said. “Number two is, just understand the answer to the question, what matters most to you in your life and what matters most right now to help you make decisions. I got on a lot of planes that I didn’t have to get on. I could have easily said no to a lot of things, but I didn’t. I said yes to everything.”

Groppel hopes the book resonates with people. Though he currently resides in Florida, he hasn’t forgotten his Riverbend roots, and he credits the region for the upbringing that led to his success.

“I’m an Alton Redbird at heart,” he said, adding, “It’s been very cathartic, to say the least. It’s been very therapeutic in many ways to write it all down.”

For more information about Jack Groppel, visit his official website at JackGroppel.net and click here to order your copy of his book as a paperback, hardback, or audiobook narrated by Groppel himself.

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