Coach Developer Bios

HEAD COACH DEVELOPER BIO

ANDY SUTTON

Andy Sutton is a fully certified Coach 3 and Club Pro 3, a CAC Master Learning Facilitator, and a member of the Tennis Professional's Association. He is currently the Tennis Director at Unionville Tennis Club. Andy has been involved Coach Development since November 2006.

Andy's involvement in tennis grew from being a provincially ranked junior to teaching in summer junior camps and finally to a full-time career as a tennis pro. He has a wide breadth of experience having taught in the Parks & Rec stream, learning about community clubs from being the Head Pro at Rosedale Tennis Club, exploring the world of commercial clubs after spending 15 years with the Mayfair Clubs, and finally experiencing the private club realm as a Senior Professional at the Toronto Lawn Tennis club. He credits his love of seeing students excel as the prime motivation for choosing tennis as his career and feels that the range of experiences makes him able to tackle the role of Head Ontario Coach Developer.

COACH DEVELOPER BIOS

ISABELLA BASTON

Isabella is a certified Club Pro 2 and Coach 2 candidate with Tennis Canada, and a member of the Tennis Professionals Association. She is currently the U10 Program Coordinator and New Member Ambassador at The Boulevard Club, after working with ACE Toronto for four years. Isabella holds an International Bachelor's degree in Business Administration from the Schulich School of Business at York University, where she also competed and brought home 2 national titles and 4 provincial medals as part of the Varsity Tennis Team. Isabella is currently working on developing the first ever U6 tennis curriculum in Canada. She has also recently joined the Inspire Through Sport team, where she mentors girls in growing as tennis coaches and beyond. During her childhood, Isabella competed as a high-performance junior in Romania and was placed in the top 15 national rankings in the U10, U12 and U14 categories.

ROUBA BOUSHNAK

Rouba is a Tennis Canada Coach 2, ITF coach level 2 and holds an M.s in sports and physical education. After a successful career in Lebanon as a head coach and the school’s tennis initiative coordinator in one of the biggest schools in the country, Rouba moved to Canada in 2011. She currently works as the assistant Tennis director at the Ontario Racquet Club. She also leads some of the academy U10 performance programs. Rouba has a strong educational background and started using the progressive approach in Tennis almost 25 years when it was first introduced in Europe. After being part of the team behind the development of the “learn to Play” curriculum, Rouba became fully certified as a coach developer for the OTA. She is currently working on developing “kids’ tennis” which will be the first online course to be offered by Tennis Canada.

NIKKI CARNOVALE

Nikki Carnovale is a Tennis Canada certified Coach 3, Club Professional 2, and Club Professional 3 Candidate. Since specializing in high performance coaching, Nikki has started running the progressive tennis program at Peak Performance Tennis Academy. As part of her role within Tennis Canada, Nikki has travelled with top Canadian juniors to international events including Eddie Herr, Junior Fed Cup and the Open Super 12 Auray. She has worked with Ontario’s top players in the PTC Program and is involved in the coaching certification stream at Tennis Canada as a Coach Developer. She is also the 2021 Recipient of Rene Simpson-Collins Female Coaching Excellence Award. As a junior, Nikki was a top Nationally ranked tennis player in Canada. After having represented the country on the Canadian Junior Fed Cup Team and competing in various International events, she played university tennis for the York University Lions leading them to a National Championship. Nikki received her Bachelor of Commerce Degree from York University and is currently an Advanced Coaching Diploma Candidate with the Coaching Association of Canada. Nikkis is passionate about women participating in sports, specifically tennis. This has led to the creation of Inspire Through Sport, an organization designed to develop female leaders through coaching tennis. This program is integrated with the Tennis Canada Instructor Course where the participants have the opportunity to become Instructor Certified upon the completion of the program. Through Inspire Through Sport, it is Nikki’s goal to have tennis as the leading female sport in Canada.

ARTHUR CUENCO 

In addition to his role as a Coach Developer for the OTA, Arthur is a Certified Club Pro 2 and Club Pro 3 Candidate with Tennis Canada.  He is also a Wheelchair Tennis Certified Coach and a Certified Cardio Tennis Instructor.  He is a member of the Tennis Professionals Association and is also a PTR certified professional (since 1999).  He has been a Tennis Professional at the Ottawa Athletic Club, a Tennis Development Centre (TDC) since 1999, and has coached national level players.  He is also the official Physiotherapist and a coach for the Noble Tennis School.

In addition, he is a clinical manager and owns two locations with Professional Physiotherapy Centres in Ottawa and is a Certified Active Release Technique (ART) Provider and a member of the Acupuncture Foundation of Canada since 2000.

Arthur is heavily involved in the grass roots program for Junior Development.  He founded the Professional Tennis Institute (PTI) in 1992, is the Head Pro of four community clubs in the Ottawa area since 1994 and runs a successful summer camp at Mt Ste Marie (since 2004).  Arthur also received prestigious recognition from Stanford's Who's Who, an organization that empowers executives, professionals, and entrepreneurs around the world whose mission is to recognize successful individuals in multiple industries.

SCOTT HURTUBISE

Scott's tennis career started over 25 years ago in Ontario with a part-time position in a summer tennis camp and has taken him from seasonal community tennis clubs to year round commercial and private clubs. Scott has managed to make a career out of his pastime.

Scott has an Honours B.A. in French and English, is a certified Tennis Canada Coach 3 and Club Pro 3, a Master Racquet Technician through the U.S.R.S.A., as well as a Coach Developer with Tennis Canada.

Currently holds the position of Tennis Director at GSM Tennis Club, he has been featured in the Toronto Star, and Toronto Life Magazine once deemed his programs "Best in the City". Scott is a two time Canada Games Coach (2009 in P.E.I. and 2013 in Sherbrooke) and has represented Canada as a Coach at the World University Games (2013 in Kazan, Russia).

His love for tennis and teaching can be seen every time he steps on court. While he has had many successes coaching at both the provincial, national, and international level, he is equally as passionate about the moment when a child or adult hits their first tennis ball.

JEAN LANDY

Jean is a fully certified Level 3 Coach and a current member of the Coaching Association of Ontario as well as the newly established Tennis Professionals Association.  She has been a Coach Developer for the past 10 years and is involved in both the development and implementation of the coaching certification program at the Instructor Level.  Jean's love for tennis can be seen in her enthusiasm and dedication to coaching development and grassroots initiatives at the local and provincial level; certification courses are just one way that she gives back to the sport that has provided her with much success and enjoyment (in fact, Jean met her husband on the tennis courts).

Jean's career in tennis began in Scarborough at Heron Park Tennis Club, where, as a junior competitor, she was ranked provincially and nationally.  She still enjoys competitive play, and participates in daytime and evening inter-club leagues as well as O35 Senior provincial tournaments.  Her professional career in tennis spans some 25 years; he breadth of involvement has helped many aspiring juniors attain university scholarships while at the same time encouraging newcomers to the sport to develop their skills and to integrate successfully into their club environments.

Jean also has a strong sense of community involvement and, among many positions, has volunteered on the executive of her local community summer club; in addition, she has assisted in hosting numerous provincial and national events, including several U14 Junior Nationals events and at the Ontario Summer Games ('94).  A Head Tennis Professional many times over throughout the province, Jean is now a full-time mother.  She, and her husband Rob, now have two wonderful girls (who share their parents' love of sport and the outdoors, if not yet for tennis).

N.B. Jean was recognized in February 2011 by Tennis Canada with a special Coach Developer Award for her consistent demonstration of excellence in the area of facilitating certification courses in Canada.

Petya is a fully certified Tennis Canada Coach 2. She has been involved with tennis for over 30 years. Currently she is the Tennis Director and Head Tennis Professional at Credit Valley Tennis Club. Previously she was the Junior Director at Donalda Club where she was responsible for organizing, teaching and overseeing the entire junior program. In the past, Petya has assisted in developing the Tennis Canada Instructor and Club Pro 1 course manuals. She has also contributed to the development of several U10 juniors as part of the NTC program. Petya has had very rewarding junior career. She has been ranked as high as #1 in Canada and has a total of 5 National tiles in both singles and doubles. She was also ranked as high as top 70 in the world. As a recipient of a full Athletic Scholarship at UCLA, Petya graduated with a double major in Sociology and African-American History. She was a two-time All-American athlete and finished her university career as the number two ranked doubles team in the nation. Her playing experience has provided her with the platform and tools needed to pursue a successful career in coaching. Petya has also earned her Bachelor in Childhood Education, which has given her an even better understanding and insight into dealing with students. Petya is certainly passionate about the sport and she strongly believes that every person is capable and able to surpass their own expectations. Petya has worked with people of all ages and levels. She truly enjoys coaching tennis and believes that tennis is not only a great sport but an amazing vessel in developing well rounded individuals off the court, as well. 

CRAIG MERCER

Craig has 18 years of coaching experience and is currently the Tennis Director at Toronto Tennis City and ACE Tennis, Toronto. He holds a Master of Sports Management from Bond University in Australia, is a Tennis Canada Coach 3 and Club Pro 3, and was a Provincial Coach for Team Ontario from 2013-2016.

As a former top level junior (#3 in Canada, #1 in Quebec, #1 in Atlantic Canada), Canadian Men's Open player #19, and #1 player for the University of Toronto, Craig has coached Provincial and National Champions and has extensive experience coaching players of all ages and levels.

Known for his passion for the game, Craig says he is involved with coach development because he hopes to inspire people to pursue a professional coaching career who will help grow Canadian tennis to new heights.

BRIAN MYERS

Brian is a fully certified Club Pro 2/Coach 1.  He is a member of the Coaching Association of Canada as well as the Tennis Professional Association.  He has been involved in the certification program since 2003 and has been a Coach Developer for the past 4 years.  Brian grew up playing and teaching at the family orientated Southampton Tennis Club, one of North America's largest not for profit clubs.

He played junior tennis both in Ontario and the U.S. achieving Top 20 provincial and state rankings.  Brian has more than 20 years of experience in teaching and coaching all levels of players, in 4 different countries, at a variety of private, commercial and community clubs and resorts.

Brian was the Head Professional at the Southampton Tennis Club for 6 years and the Assistant Director of Tennis at Timberlane Athletic Club for 7 years.  Combining travel and tennis has kept Brian's love of tennis alive, and being involved in the certification program allows him to give back something to sport that has given him so much.