Hey, I'm Huk/Hook/Hukaatai,

The founder of Hooked on Tennis. I've had 17 years plus of coaching experience and would describe my style as fun and energetic! I love working on the technical development of a player in a fun and engaging way, as well as helping to develop healthy friendships within the sport.

If you would like to read more about my tennis journey, check out the brief overview below:

Tennis has been a massive part of my life since I was 5 years old. I began my journey at Waimairi Tennis Club as a Waimairi Primary School student and I was “hooked” from the moment I got my first racket. The early years of my tennis taught me a lot about perseverance and surrounded me with like-minded kids, many of whom are friends of mine to this day. I always keep this in mind with my approach to coaching. I believe all athletes should enjoy their time on the court first and foremost!

At the age of 12, while in Year 8 at Cobham Intermediate School, I enquired about coaching as a job with my coach, Robin Legge-Hunt. I was extremely young; however, most of my peers had far more access to lessons than I did, so I saw it as a great opportunity to get more hours on the courts.

I started my coaching career during Year 9 while attending Christchurch Boys High School. This, alongside playing, gave me a fair bit of time on the courts. However, I spent more time training for football as I showed promise as a goalkeeper. My preference would have always been tennis; however, financial barriers meant football was the better option. During this time, I played with, worked with, and watched plenty of amazing players and coaches. Waimairi saw a new head coach in Stu Chalmers, who worked incredibly hard to get the club to an amazing place. At its peak, we had 41 junior teams and 16 senior teams at a club with 7 courts! I have formed my own style of coaching based on the lessons given by Stu and some of the other amazing mentors I have had over the years.

Post-high school, I stopped playing but continued coaching while attending university to study commerce and law, although that wasn't always successful! With my love of coaching, any hours that were offered up were prioritized over lectures. I consistently told myself I’d catch them up but never got back to it. Between a coaching life and a social life, there was never much time. Although coaching was a priority, I made it through to my final year of university, at which point I expressed interest in turning tennis into a full-time job. This interest led me to being employed as the competitions coordinator for Tennis Canterbury. I dropped out of uni with 3 papers left and took on this role on top of my coaching at Waimairi. This role saw me running the competitions I used to play in as a junior and saw me pick up the racket to play again—a decision that has been incredibly rewarding and beneficial to my coaching.

Throughout my time coaching, I have worked with all types of players with all types of ambitions. From players with big dreams to players looking to keep fit and have a run around, my approach is to work with the player to find a style that suits the way they like to train. Each player is unique and has their own style. My job is to help you understand your style and get the most out of it!

I also have a passion for working on building sibling bonds within the sport. Having grown up with two siblings who both played tennis, we had our fair share of arguments at the courts over the years. However, as adults, we enjoy heading down to the courts for a hit when we get the chance. Over holiday periods, when I have space, I'm more than happy to take siblings for a joint lesson to start working on the positive relationship a bit earlier!

If you have read this far, thank you. I could go on for pages and pages, but this is a brief overview of my coaching career to date. I look forward to having you as a part of my tennis journey.