Our coaches
All our coaches are licensed by the LTA, have CRB and First Aid certificates and public liability insurance.
They can be contacted directly for individual tuition.
Rates vary between £20 and £35 per hour depending on qualifications and experience.
Christian Coombs
Senior Performance Coach. LTA licensed.Christian is Head Coach at Hackney City Tennis Clubs.
Christian has experience of coaching school and club sessions as well as coaching individuals of all ages and ability. When managing the Mini Tennis programme he successfully coached club teams, school teams and individuals to secure numerous county titles. Currently, his main focus is the development and management of the HCTC Performance Programme.
He has been playing tennis since the age of 6. He played for Middlesex and Kent from age 7 – 14 and played in the 14u and 16u National Tournaments.
After graduating from De Montfort University, Leicester with a 2.1 honours degree in Business Administration Christian decided to return to tennis. He was instrumental in setting up Clissold Park Junior Tennis Club (now known as HCTC). He has overseen the growth of the club and has introduced tennis to thousands of juniors and adults.
Visit the Juniors pages for details of the HCTC Squad Programme and Player Profiles.Email: Christian_coombs@hotmail.co.uk
Gino Demichelli
Senior Performance Coach. LTA Licensed.Gino works with the HCTC Performance Squads.
He has been coaching at HCTC since 2003.
He is a former Peruvian Junior International player and competed in tournaments across South, Central and North America. Injury terminated his playing career at the age of 20.
Before joining HCTC, Gino coached in Peru, Mexico and the USA where he mainly worked with juniors of national and international standard and seniors at ITF (International Tennis Federation) level. He remains in contact with junior and senior players from Peru by assisting them at Junior and Senior ITF tournaments in Europe.
Email: ginodemic@hotmail.com
Janette Smith Dacosta
DCA (Development Coach Award) Level coach.Janette is one of the HCTC Community Tennis Coaches.
Born, raised and still living in Hackney her work is mainly based around London Fields and Haggerston Park. She coaches in local schools and parks as well as the Queensbridge Community Centre.
She is the mother of two talented basketball players and combines their busy schedules with her tennis coaching.
Her own sporting career was diverse but Volleyball became her main focus. She played for England many times as well as leading the team as captain.
Email: Smudger_smith@hotmail.co.uk
Chantal's main role at HCTC is identifying and developing Mini Tennis players. She oversees the Mini Tennis Performance Programme which consists of squads and teams at Mini Red, Orange and Green levels.
Olivier became a full-time tennis coach in 2007. He coaches in schools and club sessions as well as individuals of all ages and ability.
Sponsored by his local club in Northumberland, Ross qualified with the LTA in 1999. Ross has coached for over ten years in the UK, France and more recently in the USA. With 2:1 Honours degree in Education and Drama, Ross has considerable experience of coaching children and adults of all abilities. Ross coaches in a club setting and in local schools across Hackney. As part of his role he identifies talented individuals to feed into performance squads or courses that will further develop their skill set.