Our Story
This story does not start on a tennis court.
As a kid, I was a total sports junkie. I played anything and everything, and I drove my family nuts, playing ball in the house and planning out my major league baseball career. It was all sports, all the time.
When I was 12, and a tennis racket found its way into my hand, I fell in love immediately. Tennis was joy, and I soon found myself racking up thousands of hours of practice, with the same intensity I put into my other sports.
By the time I was 14, I was the number one ranked junior in Northern California, and before I knew it, I was a tennis player. There was no turning back at that point, and ever since then, tennis has completely shaped my life.
my Playing Career.
My days battling as a top junior, and later in the collegiate and professional circuits taught me a ton. I got acclimated to the competitive tennis world: the tensions and nerves, triumphs and disappointments, the lessons learned, even the politics—it all got absorbed.
Tennis was my lens into the world, showing me the many parallels between sports and life. This learning curve ultimately inspired me to get into coaching, where I could share my own experiences to help others.
My Path into Coaching.
Following my playing days, the transition to coaching was immediate. I’ve always been glued to the tennis court, and I love people, so it was a natural progression for me.
For over a decade now, training tennis players has been my livelihood. I’ve been more than lucky, traveling the globe and working with players from all walks of life, including (but not limited to) many of the best players in the world.
I’ve taught in nearly every imaginable setting, from country clubs, to resorts, to academies; from private lessons to team practices; and from absolute beginners to top ATP and WTA players. I have seen it all.
Working with all of the “tennis subtypes'' has made me comfortable teaching in nearly every setting. Simply put, there is very little I haven’t seen on a tennis court.
Starting The Morning Crew.
Even though I’ve been a tennis coach forever, it wasn’t until my son Liam arrived that things really started to connect. When Liam came into the picture in December 2020, something strange happened–my love and drive for sports kicked into overdrive. It was like I was a kid again, the familiar joy of tennis taking over, stronger than ever.
This is when I came to look at my role as a coach with new eyes. I understood that tennis was my opportunity to help people–not just with their games, but in life. I looked at what tennis had done for me, and knew I had a chance to make a positive impact in others’ lives, using tennis as a vehicle. Around this time, it finally became clear to me what I wanted to with my life:
I wanted to be a coach.
This is when The Morning Crew was formed. The Morning Crew is me doubling down on my role as a coach, and is aimed at helping players develop on and off the court.
Why the “Morning Crew”?
The Morning Crew stands for myself, my son Liam, and my dog Abby. When Liam was born, the three of us got accustomed to early mornings on the move, taking daily walks before sunrise. I started calling us the “Morning Crew,” and the term stuck.
A “rise and grind,” proactive attitude is central to the Morning Crew, and carries over to my approach on the court. Liam and Abby are the true backbone of the Morning Crew, and are major inspirations for what I do. On most days, you can find Abby on court with me, either co-coaching or sleeping in the sun.
The Morning Crew is based out of Northern California, but we travel wherever the tennis world needs us. On any given day, you can find us on a local court teaching, at a national junior event, or on a practice court at the BNP Paribas Open, training with a pro player.