Tell us about your background
I have close to 20 years of experience in coaching tennis to 4 year old players and national and international level competitive players. I was lucky enough to grow up in a really fun and positive tennis environment, probably the reason why I am still in the sport. I traveled around the world because of tennis, met people from different cultures and have been able to make a living out of my passion. I was also fortunate to see future champions grow up in front of my eyes; like Félix Auger-Alliassime, when I was coaching in Québec City, and many other kids that continue their tennis in the NCAA. I was able to see, hit and work with some of WTA pros in Québec during the Challenge Bell tournaments, now known as Coupe Banque Nationale. And of course, during my time working in Montréal for Tennis Québec I got to be involved in activities during the Rogers Cup! Lately, before arriving in Burlington, I coached tennis in one of the most beautiful places on earth, the Caribbean.
You are new to ACE - what are your thoughts?
It's a big academy. I heard of it around 2008 when we were running a really good U12 program in Québec City and we were awarded the second-best academy in Canada; and I asked; who is number one? It was Ace Burlington. So I'm happy to work here now, I know it has a long history of excellence in high performance tennis development. Now, of course, my job is to develop the best progressive program possible
.
Teaching tennis to beginners can be challenging; what is your philosophy?
I wish to be able to communicate my passion for the sport to children focusing on 3 Priorities; that, for me, is the base and the secret of developing tennis for life.
#1 FUN
; it's a game, it needs to be fun to keep the child interested in learning and practicing the sport.
#2 LEARNING
; it's not a simple sport, it is a discipline that requires technical, tactical, physical and psychological
information that needs to be thought to players in a comprehensive and simple way.
#3 PLAY;
the final goal is to quickly allow your child to be able to play points. Often the first question we have from kids in our lesson is: When do we play points? My answer is always: If we work well, you should be able to start playing points during your first session!
In conclusion; for me, choosing ACE to continue my career and development as a tennis coach was the best choice I could make, and in my opinion a great choice in general because of the quality of coaches, who combined has hundreds of years of experience in coaching at a high level. How can you go wrong with that and me! :)
Please email Francis at francis@acetennis.ca for any questions you might have!
