1.
Can you briefly describe your life before I met you?
I grew up in Kingston, Jamaica. Before I started to teach tennis I worked as a lab technician at a health center then went on to work on at a prominent high school in Kingston. I went on to te ach some chemistry some physics and integrated science lab classes, but I was always doing tennis on the side – you know fooling around tennis. I became involved with the high school team and was the assistant coach there and I began running junior tennis tournaments, both local and international for the Jamaica Lawn Tennis Association. The association asked me to join them full time and I went full time into coaching so I had to give up the teaching position at the school in order to pursue that. In 2008 there were some diverging opinions on where to take the association. We in Jamaica had developed one of the most competitive high school competitions in the world, as noted in an ITF book called Best Competition Formats Worldwide. During that time I became the assistant of the national coach and the coach of the Junior Talent Squad in Jamaica, also the Junior Davis Cup captain, the Junior Fed Cup captain. It’s been an exciting ride because tennis gave me the opportunity to travel around the world and work with many talented juniors and my entire life has been around juniors. So in 2008 I came to the United States and coached full time because a friend of mine who had a facility, Hillcrest Racquet Club, up in Reeding, Pennsylvania and he asked me for years to come and join his staff. We met and Camp Cobbossee where I am the tennis director now for the past 15 years. He asked me to join his club in 2008 so I moved to the United States then and subsequently my dad who lived in McDonough, Georgia, he recently retired from New York and I really like it here because the weather is nicer than the north east, the people are nicer, and the country side is beautiful.

2.
What triggered your interest in the sport?
It’s fascinating because I, as a kid I used to walk by 2 national players- 3 actually- Norman, Greg and Counten Russell. They were Rastafarians. They used to practice on the court in an open lot, their dad had a piece of land and he didn’t build a house on it he just put a court there. They had these little shacks around the court and I would pass and watch for hours in my school uniform. One day Greg Russell called me over and said, “I see you here every day, I want to you to come on the court and see if you can hit a ball” and that was it. My introduction to it was trying to hit 100 forehands at a wall and if I hit 99 I would have to start over again. I had the opportunity to practice with him, he taught me a lot. He also gave me the opportunity to practice with the Davis Cup team and hence that stimulated me a lot because I was always a soccer player. So I worked with him a while and I worked with the Fed Cup, national juniors, and the Davis Cup team from a very young age, just training with them. Played juniors, played a couple futures, then went full time into coaching. After playing a couple futures I recognized that I had limitation in terms of size and strength and it would be a very difficult on me if I was to make it full time and it would be very difficult on me financially. The option for me at that point was coaching, where you could earn an income, and officiating, so I pursued both.

3.
Who guided you with your values and morals?
My grandmother, she ruled her house with an iron fist but with a lot of love to. Back then it was a community of people who would raise kids. I could not do anything wrong, anywhere, and my parents not know about it before I got home. The people who would reprimand me who were not my parents I would be severely reprimand. So at very young age you get a sense of what is right and what is wrong. Of course I grew up in the Catholic Church and that helped a lot to form the base of who I am today.

4.
What are your other passions and hobbies?
Soccer, I love soccer. I’m an avid motorsports fan. I’ve always enjoyed fast cars, it keeps the heart young. It’s a passion of mine I like fixing cars, I like driving them. I do not race anymore; I did back in the day as a youngster. You look back in the day but you recognize that the real passion is not in to race them but to take care of them and drive them. I have a passion for teaching more than anything else. I love working with young people because I see them as being the foundation for tomorrow. That’s that my passion because it’s not just working with them with tennis, but teaching them life skills.

5.
Where did your passion for tennis come from?
It is strange but it devolved over time. Initially it developed over time. Tennis, unlike other sports, it takes so much to play well. It mimics life, in my opinion, you have to be out on the court alone or with a partner and with doubles it’s like a marriage you have to get along with your partner regardless you have to work with them. It requires a lot of concentration, focus, mental, physical, and emotional effort to play well. But more than anything else its constantly evolving and hence its always challenging, so what pertains today, not just equipment, but technique, tactic it’s always changing and tomorrow it will be something new. I’m intrigued by that.

6.
Who was your mentor?
There have been many along the way. People who have mentored me I can recall my grandmother. A Catholic Priest, by the name of Reverend Father Farrell, was a spiritual leader and he guided me. I was like many of the youngsters today, a bit wayward, not wayward as in a bad way, but just existing. He gave me direction, a compass, and guided me in my formative years, my teenage years, up until 24. Since then it’s been just the Bible.

7.
What did you do before becoming a tennis coach?
I worked in a chemistry lab, chemistry and physics. I’m a certified lab technician, that’s what I went to college for.

8.
What made you stop being a lab technician and start becoming a tennis coach?
Being a lab technician, especially in a high school setting, it became boring. I like it but I’m not passionate about it. It became a means to say, “Yes, I have a job.” Having a job, in my opinion, is not good enough, having a job you enjoy setting is what matters. While I was having a job in that setting I was able to impact kids academically, but there was so much more to life than just that. I was teaching the same syllabus every year so you’re doing the same things year end year out. It became monotonous, and I lost interest.

9.
Do you wish you would have done that sooner?
No, because I learned by doing I learned how I was and what I enjoyed. Io think that when you look back in your life you are where you’re suppose to be at that point in time. I think that when you trust in a supreme being, you will find that He puts you right in that situation where you need to be. I think that you learn lessons along the way. There is no regret because it was a learning experience.

10.
What sort of player are you?
In the younger days I was a serve and vollier because I did not have the patience to hit 10, 15 balls to win one point. As age I became more of a baseliner. Now I am a more of an all around player and I try to get to the net.

11.
Did you play collegiate? If so where at?
I did not play collegiate because there was no collegiate tennis in Jamaica. I instituted as part of schools. There is one major university, University of West Indies and a technical university, University of Technology (U Tech). I attended the technical university where I got my degree as a lab technician.

12.
Did you ever play on the pro circuit?
No, I played a few futures but didn’t make it all the way because of financial reasons, height, and I had to be realistic. I became a coach and official because I could make money that way. As an official I became certified tournament director and white badge chair umpire. I quit officiating because to keep qualified was time consuming and challenging with traveling with Davis Cup and Fed Cup teams.

13.
If you could redo any part in your tennis career what would it be?
I would start my own tennis academy because I have had the privilege to travel around the world and I have seen too many coaches, not just tennis, who are not motivated to improve the lives of the players and it’s more about doing it for the hour and the money. I would have an academy focused on the development of the players. There seems to be a loss of passion for teaching and just go through the motions. I want it to be more than a job. I want to wake up exuberated and make a player better on and off the court.
14.
What was your proudest moment as a player? Coach?
As a player it is hard to tell. My first match, walking on the court nervous, playing the number one in 18s and being 14, and almost beating him would have to be the proudest moment. After the match we shook hands and he said, “I can’t believe I won that match.” It showed me anything was possible when you tried to play well. As a coach it was being able to teach kids from scratch to tournament winners. Jeremy Hunter, Claude DeCarish were my first two major champions. Then I worked with Dominick Pagar, Tinesta Rowe, Elden Campbell, Kris Martin, and many other juniors (Davis Cup and Fed Cup players). Being the junior Davis Cup captain and going to the ITF tour. We almost beat Mexico and United States for a spot in the world finals. It made me see kids in a different light and what they can do when motivated. Being the National Schools Tennis Coordinator and being able to go and introduce tennis to remote places. I enjoyed being able to influence children as not just players, but as human beings.

15.
What is your highest priority when you coach a student? Like what they learn is most important?
To me it is most important to try and get students to realize their own possibilities. To be able to recognize no matter how challenging it is, it’s achievable if you put the work in. to be able to set a goal and accomplish it. Nothing is more rewarding than seeing a child grow into his or her chosen role. The money doesn’t motivate me; the student’s progression motivates me because if a student doesn’t realize his goal I failed as a coach. My top priority is for the player to set a goal and to work towards it as a player and as a person.

16.
What “style” of play do you teach your students?
Whatever suits their personality. Some people are aggressive, some are less aggressive. Some people are athletic others are not. To be themselves, then build a game style that works in that context. You have to tailor what you do on abilities and aspirations. You don’t go to the tailor and buy a suit in one size, you get it tailored for you. The same concept is with tennis.

17.
What have been some of your previous students accomplished?
Most of them in Jamaica go to the United States for a full or partial tennis scholarship, whether it is full or partial. Some earn a living from tennis; some are white badge chair officials, coaches, some employed at my summer camp programs. I like to see them grow and to represent Jamaica at both the junior and senior level as players, coaches, or officials.

18.
What does it take for a student to be successful?
A dream, hard work, intense focus, and unyielding commitment

19.
If you could coach ANY tennis player who would it be?
Younger kids because accomplished players have already been to the mountain top and are set in their ways. It is more rewarding to work from scratch and to reach the mountain top. I enjoy the 8, 9, and 10 year old's best. If you can inspire a child at that age to play a lifelong sport and excel at it- that’s what I would prefer.