Sparta Tennis Academy 2.3

Sparta Tennis Academy is a premier performance tennis academy in Auckland.

The academy is run by experienced coaches Dwayne Cleugh and Chris Hirst with additional support from co director and former Australian Open doubles champion Judy Chaloner, ex NZ Davis Cup player and Fed Cup coach Kevin Woolcott.

Dawyne built the academy from scratch two years ago and now there are over 60 performance players aged between 5 and 17 years old.

The origin of Sparta comes from Dwayne's experiences of travelling in Eastern Europe and the successful teaching methods of the Spartak Moscow Academy in Russia together with the Sparta society in Ancient Greece. Once a warrior became a Spartan, they would then train the next group of young warriors to become physically and tactically elite.

This family orientated approach together with the strong focus on hard work to become elite are the cornerstones of what we're trying to achieve here at Sparta Tennis.

Dwayne's work ethic and enthusiasm are combined with his in depth knowledge of coaching performance tennis.

He has developed several regional and national standard players in New Zealand and has a strong emphasis on teaching effective movement with a solid technical basis within his coaching. Dwayne is PTR certified, TNZ Registered Performance Coach and an ITF Referee.

Chris arrived from the UK in October 2014 where he had been working as Director of Tennis at a club in North London. Chris has worked with several national champions and many regional players throughout his 13 year coaching career.

Chris has a game based approach to his coaching with a strong focus on the mental and tactical elements of the game. Chris holds ITF Level 3, USPTA elite professional, LTA performance coach and RPT Director of Tennis qualifications.

The coaching team is strongly supported by it's co director and CPTC Head Coach Judy Chaloner. Judy is a former Australian Open doubles champion, NZ Fed Cup player and Captain.

Kevin Woolcott will also act as an important consultant for Sparta Tennis, having represented NZ in the Davis Cup. Kevin has also acted as NZ National Coach and NZ Fed Cup Captain.

The experience that these two highly successful coaches will bring to Sparta will only serve to create an even stronger coaching team.

To ensure the players are in the best physical condition and to prevent injuries our Strength and Conditioning coach Ben Sinnamon, BPhEd Otago Sport and Exercise Science. Ben works closely with the coaches to ensure that the work he carries out closely mirrors what is happening on the court.