RICHMOND AREA TENNIS INSTRUCTION 

Note: The RTA does not employ tennis instructors and cannot make specific recommendations.  To find a tennis professional in your area, please check the Facility listing:  www.richmondtennis.org/courts.htm  By placing a call to a facility near you, you should be able to find information on instructors, and pricing for clinics and lessons.

CRIS ROBINSON, Director of Tennis, Willow Oaks Country Club
Cris was born in Richmond and joined Willow Oaks in the fall of 2008 after eight years as head of the Robious tennis program. He played tennis at Clemson University for four years, and was an All ACC Team member in 1994-95. Cris is a six-time National Amateur Champion (1993-1995), as well as the 1993 VA State Clay Court Singles Champion. With over 12 years teaching experience, he enjoys teaching all levels.

CARL CLARK, Head Tennis Professional, Country Club of Virginia
Carl has been the Head Professional at CCV since 1998. Among his many achievements: Former #1 player at the University of Virginia, Former World Ranked Doubles player on the ATP Tour. Winner of 49 VA State Titles (Singles, Doubles, Mixed). Winner of 12 USTA National Titles. Winner of the USPTA National Player of the Year 2002. Treasurer, USPTA Mid-Atlantic Board 2007-08. Carl and his wife Lyn have three children: Kelsey, Hunter and Harper.

LAURA TUCHSCHERER, Tennis Professional, Willow Oaks Country Club
Laura joined the Willow Oaks tennis program in the fall of 2008 after three years with Robious. She was born in Wausau, Wisconsin, and was one of the top five Juniors in Wisconsin from 1984-1992. Her 10 years' experience includes teaching both adults and juniors at Van der Meer's, Martha's Vineyard, Salisbury Country Club and The Westwood Club.

JOHN DINARDI, Director, Tennis Academy of VA 
With over 14 years of professional experience, John DiNardi has spent much of his life immersed in tennis. His extensive background in Sports Science has helped him develop programs for both the amateur and seasoned professional. As a junior, John was consistently ranked in the top ten for the Virginia and Mid-Atlantic regions. He also spent two years as a professional tennis player. While attending Barry University in Miami, Florida, John was captain of the tennis team and deemed Most Valuable Player for the í93 season. John has traveled extensively throughout the United States and Japan teaching and coaching tennis. He served as the United States Tennis Associationís Junior Development Coordinator for Central Pennsylvania and coached Team Scandinavia. Johnís Intensive Training Program is specifically designed to propel the junior player to the professional level.  

JASON KINDER, Director of Tennis, ACAC
Jason grew up playing junior tennis at Briarwood (now ACAC).  He continued on to play Division I college tennis at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro where he received his B.S. in Exercise and Sports Science.  After college, Jason served as Briarwood's Head Tennis Pro for 5 years.  He returned to Greensboro where he was assistant men's and women's tennis coach and recruiter at the University and where he later was Director of Tennis at Sherwood Swim & Racquet Club. While there, he achieved back-to-back USTA 5.0 North Carolina State Championships and coached three State Champion USTA adult teams.  Jason was appointed coach of the Southern Tennis Association's USTA Junior Zonal Teams for 2002 and 2003.  Jason and his wife Cathy have a daughter, Caroline.

MATTHEW MAGNER, Director of Tennis, Robious Swim & Racquet Club
Matthew Magner played at Godwin High School, where he earned two state titles, was a three-time Virginia state champion, and was nationally ranked in the juniors. He played Division 1 soccer and tennis at Campbell University, and has been USPTA certified and teaching at Robious since 2005. He is a member of the PTR, is currently ranked in the top 15 in Virginia for doubles, and was a semifinalist in the 2008 Virginia state hardcourts in doubles.

SCOTT STEINOUR20, Director of Tennis, Salisbury Country Club
Scott played #1 singles and doubles for Old Dominion University then worked for Dennis Van Der Meer for 12 years teaching tennis in 18 different countries.  He holds numerous State Hardcourt and ClayCourt Men's open doubles titles.   Scott has been the Director of Tennis at Salisbury Country Club since 1998.

EDDIE PARKER, Director of Tennis, Raintree Swim & Racquet Club
Eddie has been in Richmond for over 18 years, and has been teaching and coaching at Raintree for the entire time.  Eddie and his wife Stacy have three children:  Kyle, Nicole and Kensington - all play tennis!  Eddie is a USPTA P1 and PTR Pro, and is a National Tester for the PTR.  He is also a certified High Performance Coach for the USTA.  He enjoys coaching the Mid-Atlantic Zonal Team for the Boys and Girls 16s, and working with Richmond's top junior players.  Eddie has played in twon national 5.0 level tournaments.  He won the Richmond City Doubles title with one of his students in 2002.

DAMIAN SANCILIO, Director of Tennis, Courtside West
Damian was a nationally ranked junior and scholarship athlete at the University of Virgnia, lettering all four years.  He was the Richmond City Champion in 1984 and 2006, as the State Claycourt doubles champion in 1987.  Damian coached the Kuwait National and Davis Cup tennis teams on three separate occasions for a total of 6 years beginning in 1988.   Damian has been the director of Courtside since 2002.  He is married to Jennifer, and has two boys- Damian and Roman. 

SEAN STEINOUR, Director of Racquet Sports, The Westwood Club
Sean attended high school in South Jersey where he graduated in '89.  He finished his last year of junior tennis ranked #18 in the United States. Under full scholarship, Sean played #3 singles and #1 doubles at  UNC-CH, where his team won the ACC twice, and where he was partnered with Don Johnson who won doubles at Wimbledon several years later. Sean finished one year ranked #7 in NCAA.  After several years of teaching at Van Der Meer on Hilton Head island and playing the satellite circuit, Sean took a staff professional position at the Westwood club in '95.   Between '95 and '05, Sean has won over 25 VA state singles and doubles titles as well as 7 Richmond city championships.

MIGUEL CASTRO, Head Tennis Professional, The Westwood Club
Miguel worked as an on-court instructor for twelve years with the Parks and Recreation department in Roanoke, VA before entering a more formal teaching environment as an assistant summer pro at Hidden Valley Country Club in Salem, VA.  Miquel then attended Virginia Tech, where he earned a B.S. in Mathematics, and where he worked with both the Men's and Women's Varsity Tennis teams as hitting and practice partners.  After graduation, he "looked for a compass and protractor to bring me happiness as a high school geometry teacher," but found disappointment with the lack of topspin he could create from a piece of chalk and a blackboard.  Since then, Miquel has served as the Resident Tennis Pro and Head of Junior Development at the Boar's Head Sports Club in Charlottesville for the past six years.   

MARK BERNSTINE, Director of Tennis & Fitness, Hermitage Country Club
Mark was born in Newton, NJ.  He played tennis at Virginia Tech from 1986-1990.
USPTA Certified since 1990.  Past President of USPTA Mid Atlantic Division.
Mark has been at Hermitage since 1996. 

JOE CAPPELLINO, Director of Tennis & Fitness, Dominion Country Club
Joe Cappellino is currently the Director of Tennis at The Dominion Club and has been there since 2002. Joe has been in Richmond since 1991 having worked at Raintree Swim & Racquet and Stonehenge Golf & Country Club prior to The Dominion Club. He is married and has two 6 year old boys. Joe played his college at Slippery Rock University graduating in 1987. Joe played #1 singles and #1 doubles for Slippery Rock 3 out of his 4 years and is second in career victories at the university. Since being in Richmond, Joe has competed sectionally in singles, doubles, and mixed doubles. He won the City Tournament in 1995 and has won numerous doubles and mixed doubles city championships. From 1992-2001 he was ranked in the top 10 in doubles and top 5 in mixed doubles having held down a #1 ranking in mixed doubles with partner Rachel Gale. During that time period he also had a top 10 singles ranking in Virginia while consistently being ranked in the top 5 in doubles and mixed. 

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