Town of Cary
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Cary Tennis Park Coaches are highly skilled and experienced in order to give junior players the best tennis training environment possible. Their hard work, coupled with their wealth of knowledge, makes for a great place for tennis players to learn and grow. Below is a list of the full-time tennis professionals at CTP. We also have a great part-time coaching staff who help out as needed to ensure the highest quality of teaching while maintaining a low player-to-pro ratio.
If you are interested in private lessons, please fill out our lesson request form. Please note, we are working through a large backlog of lesson requests. You will be contacted if there is a teaching professional available.
Head Tennis Professional – Academy Programs
USPTA P-1 Certified
Hired in 2005, Jake is a premier coach at the Cary Tennis Park. Playing experience includes #1 Singles and Doubles at Eastern New Mexico University. Jake holds a master’s in electrical engineering. He brings experience as a USTA Mountain West “STAR” Mentor and as an assistant coach for the Air Force Academy Women’s Tennis Team.
Jake's track record of player success is astounding. His players have competed in the Junior French Open, Junior Wimbledon, and the Junior US Open. His players have also won state, sectional, and national level events, including three USTA National Championships (gold ball), have been ranked as high as #1 nationally, and several have received NCAA athletic scholarships. Jake has coached USTA Southern National Girls 18 & Under team, which won the championship in 2014 and was the runner-up in 2015.
Jake not only does private training but also runs the entire Cary Tennis Park Academy, which reaches tennis talent from ages 6 to 18. He can mainly be found on the court at Select, coaching and advising top tennis players from our area.
Head Tennis Professional - Community Tennis
PTR Certified
Reid has been with CTP since 2010 and is the Head Tennis Pro for Community Tennis, where he supervises all developmental junior and adult programming, which includes clinics, teams, and camps.
Reid attended NC State University. While in school, he worked part-time at Fayetteville Racquet Club (Fayetteville, NC) as well as the Cary Tennis Park. At St. Paul’s High School, Reid was the singles champion and Player of the Year for the Tri-Six Conference his senior year.
He was awarded the USTA NC JTT Local League Coordinator of the Year Award in 2016 and the director of the NC Junior Team Tennis Event of the Year in 2009 for Western Wake County. He strives to blend player improvement with a fun team environment.
Reid is also actively involved with the abilities and wheelchair clinics.
Junior Tennis Development Specialist
Academy Select Lead
USPTR Certified
Rob is an accomplished coach who joined the Cary Tennis Park in Jan. 2008. Prior to that, he worked several years at the Cherry Hill Health and Racquet Club (Cherry Hill, NJ) and served as the Director of Tennis at Westside Athletic Club in the Outer Banks of North Carolina. A graduate of UNC-Wilmington, Rob was a top state and sectional-ranked junior tennis player.
Rob works with high-level players, many of whom have achieved top national and sectional rankings and have gone on to play in Super Nationals and won gold and silver balls. Many of his players have gone on to play collegiate tennis, from Division 3 schools all the way up to playing #1 at a Division 1 school. Rob has coached at the USTA Southern Junior Cup and Team NC Camps. Rob has been a USTA Team North Carolina coach for many years. Rob and Team NC won the Ozaki cup in 2022, making history as the first time NC brought home the cup. In 2020, Rob received the Junior Tennis Council Award.
He currently serves as the Chair of the NC Tennis Junior Competition Committee and NC Tennis Selection Committee, both of which help drive and promote tennis in North Carolina. He has been invited to coach at the USTA Player Development Center in Boca Raton, FL, Orlando, FL, and The USTA National Center in New York. Rob enjoys traveling with his students to various tournaments throughout the US and watching them put their skills to the test.
Rob also has immense experience in adult teaching, having coached adult players and league teams that have qualified for state, sectional, and national competitions. At Cary Tennis Park, Rob runs Academy Select and is on the court with Select across all hitting programs, such as the drop-in clinic, high performance, and skills.
Tennis Programs Specialist
USPTR Certified
As Tennis Programs Specialist, Bill oversees Developmental Programming at CTP, as well as JTT and TAD. Bill is also the Co-Local League Coordinator for JTT in Western Wake County. At the State Level, Bill is the Chair of the Sanctioning and Scheduling Committee for NC Tennis which oversees the quality of USTA Tournaments and Tournament Directors in NC. Also for NC Tennis, Bill Chairs the TEAM NC Committee which serves as outreach for 10u tennis in NC.
Bill was awarded the Educational Merit Award Given by Buster & Karen Brown! This award is a reflection of the incredible impact he has made on the growth of tennis in North Carolina.
Since joining the tennis staff in 2011 while pursuing his sports management degree at NC State University on a Rifle Team scholarship, he also played club tennis during his collegiate tenure. His coaching experience includes Brown Ledge Camp in VT, as well as seven years as a member of the tennis coaching staff at St. David's High School in Raleigh. Competing on the tennis team all four years in high school, Bill was an all-conference player in his junior and senior years.
In his off time, Bill also is a competitive shooter who has not only competed at the 2012 Olympic Trials finishing in the top 10, but also has finished in the top 10 nationally multiple other times. To this day, Bill holds over twenty national records. Bill is also an Eagle Scout, currently serving as Den Leader for his son's Cub Scout Pack.
Tennis Professional
Junior Team Tennis Lead
Erik is from Boca Raton, Florida, but was raised here in Cary. He grew up playing multiple sports. He started out with a mix of soccer and baseball, but eventually discovered tennis as a teenager where he played for Apex High School all four years.
Erik previously was a participant in our programs at CTP, both in JTT and then in our Academy program. He has been working full time with CTP since 2021 after 10 years of experience working with programs of all levels including the Academy and JTT Programs as well as the Adult programs. He is currently the lead coach on our Junior Team Tennis program, where he works year-round with hundreds of players of all ages every season.
Tennis Professional
Tennis and Athletic Development (TAD) Lead
ITF/PTR Certified
Leonardo joined the Cary Tennis Park team in 2021, at the beginning of 2023 he assumed the full-time position and took the lead of the TAD Program (Tennis and Athletic Development). He also, he assists in the different CTP Academy programs.
Leonardo is an Agronomic Engineer with specialization in Rural Development. He graduated from the Central University of Venezuela, where he was the Head Coach of the Tennis Team for more than 10 years. He has also founded several successful tennis schools in Venezuela and has coached national teams of high performance players, training many young players who have received college scholarships in the United States.
From a very early age, Leonardo showed his passion for tennis, standing out among the best Junior players of his native country Venezuela, in singles and doubles, as well as in his college tennis career.
Tennis Professional
USPTA Certified
Nick was hired at Cary Tennis Park in 2024.
Nick has been around tennis his whole life being the son of legendary tennis professional John Barker. Nick attended Div.1 George Mason University where he went undefeated in singles play his freshman and sophomore years and was team captain his senior year. Nick was also the assistant Men's and Women's coach for the 2015/2016 season.
From 2016-2019 Nick Coached at the Evert Tennis Academy where he worked with many nationally and world ranked juniors. In 2019 Nick started his own junior and adult tennis programming at a club in Alexandria, Virginia. He also helped grow the Mitchell Frank Tennis Academy from the beginning which now trains and develops many nationally ranked junior tennis players in the NOVA area.
Nick has a passion for teaching and playing tennis and still occasionally competes in prize money tournaments, USTA Leagues and Father-Son tournaments.
Tennis Professional
Academy 1 Lead
Gene was hired full-time to the tennis park staff in 2019. Gene is the lead pro of Cary Tennis Park’s JTT Competition program. The JTT Competition program is designed for intermediate players looking to advance their skill set and begin tournament play. JTT Competition is in the pathway to CTP’s academy programs.
Gene was born in Yonkers, New York, where he grew up a multi-sport athlete throughout high school, playing tennis, football, baseball, and basketball. Gene’s passion for excellence in tennis and dedication to fitness and athleticism help him excel on the court as a coach. Gene put it simply, “I think it’s super important to play more than one sport growing up. It builds athleticism, character, and mental toughness.”
While pursuing his BA in Philosophy and minor in Comp Sci from Fordham University in NYC, Gene spent his summers teaching tennis at Beckwith Pointe Beach & Tennis Club on the Long Island Sound in Westchester County, NY. When Gene wasn’t coaching, he would spend much of his free time playing and hitting with players from Iona College, a Division I college in New Rochelle, New York.
Gene loves his job as a tennis coach and enjoys working with juniors and adults of all skill levels. “It makes me a sharper coach to work with players of different levels, from areas such as stroke development with a true beginner to working with academy level juniors on rhythm hitting, patterns and strategies.” -Gene
Tennis and Pickleball Professional
Academy Team Lead
RPSA Elite Tennis and Pickleball Professional/ PPR Pickleball Professional
Steve joined the Tennis Park as permanent staff in 2018 after working part-time since 2016. He brings a lifelong passion for tennis and coaching. Steve attended the University of Nebraska, where he competed at the Division 1 level in gymnastics.
He has transferred those disciplines into a successful coaching career, developing junior and adult tennis players. Steve likes developing all aspects of a tennis player, working on both the physical and mental abilities and uncovering the full potential of the player. Prior to being the lead for Academy 1, Steve leads Academy Team. His energetic persona makes him a dynamic tennis coach!
Tennis Professional
Val Stanford joined Cary Tennis Park team as a full-time staff in 2024 after working there part-time for several years. While working part-time, she pursued a Master’s degree in Industrial-Organizational Psychology from Harvard University with Graduate Certificate in Organizational Behavior. She is passionate about psychology which is helpful with mental aspect of tennis game.
She assists with wide variety of programs from the beginner level to high performance juniors, from young players to adult classes. She attended Liberty University in Virginia, where she played at Division I level and earned Big South Conference champion title in doubles in 2011. Since graduation Val has been working close to tennis, coached Girl’s High School team in Evenston, IL for 3 seasons before moving to North Carolina in 2016. She uses her knowledge and experience when working with junior players to help them improve their game.
Tennis Professional
Developmental Tennis Lead
PTR Certified
Maurice Williams has been coaching at the Cary Tennis Park since 2015. He has a knack for helping beginners learn the game quickly and begin having fun on the court. He leads the facility's developmental program for beginner and intermediate adult and youth classes as well as its Summer Camp.
Before joining Cary Tennis Park, he coached the Boys' and Girls' Tennis Teams at the South Carolina Governor's School for Science & Mathematics in Hartsville, S.C. During his two years there, he led four players to compete in the state singles championships, resulting in two Top-10 finishes, one fourth-place finish, and a Sportsmanship Award.
Maurice played No. 1 singles and doubles for three of his four years at Lake Taylor Senior High School in Norfolk, Va. He also finished runner up in the district doubles championship.
He holds certifications from the Professional Tennis Registry and Cardio Tennis.