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After an
extensive search and interview process, Club Manager, Rick Newman,
has announced the hiring of Mike Curran as Gulf Harbour's Director
of Tennis and Fitness. For the first time in Club history, Rick was
kind enough to engage the Tennis Advisory Committee in part of the
selection and interview process. From dozens of outstanding
resumes, Mike was a clear standout for the job.
Mike's
first day at Gulf Harbour was July 1st. He comes to us from
Grandezza Country Club in Estero where he managed their Tennis and
Fitness program. Mike is a USPTA/USPTR Tennis Professional with
roots here in Fort Myers, where he was one of the top junior tennis
players in Florida. Mike graduated from Fort Myers High School in
1991. He was one of the top singles and doubles players attending
Western Kentucky University, while majoring in Hotel, Restaurant and
Tourism Management. After college Mike became a teaching
professional, and has experience as the Head Professional at the
Landings, Director of Tennis at Vanderbilt Country Club in Naples,
and Director of Tennis at Longshore Lake in Naples.
We are
very fortunate to have 2007's, #1 nationally and locally ranked
player in Men's Open Doubles. In Men's Open Singles, Mike was #3 in
the state, and 4th in the country in Men's Open Singles for the
USPTA. Mike will be playing for Gulf Harbour in the Pro League next
season, and we can expect Gulf Harbour to be one of the host sites
for some of the matches.
Mike
spends his time off with his wife Tara and two children Jack and
Julia. Besides tennis, Mike enjoys golf, reading, and doing
anything with his family.
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Hand picked by Gulf Harbour's new Director of Tennis and Fitness,
Mike Curran, T.A. Niles has taken the position of Head Tennis
Professional at Gulf Harbour affective August 1st.. Originally from
Trinidad & Tobago in the Caribbean, T. A. Niles began his tennis
career under the tutelage of top New England Tennis Professional
Phil Gordon in 1975, and has taught tennis intermittently for over
three decades in Connecticut, Arizona, and Florida. He is currently
the
Feature Writer for Tennis at Suite101.com, and does contract
tennis writing and photos for a variety of organizations, including
the Lee County Community Tennis Association, USTA/Florida, and First
Serve.
As a player, after achieving the No.2 ranking in the USTA Southwest
Section's Men's 35 division in 2000, T. A. took a seven-year hiatus
from singles play. He began playing singles competitively again in
March of 2007, winning the Ultimate Tennis 5.0 division in 2007, and
the Ultimate Tennis 6.0 Championship in May 2008.
As of this writing, T.
A. is ranked in the top ten in USTA/Florida Men's 45 Division, and
the top fifty in the USTA National Men’s 45 Division. T. A. was the
first tennis player inducted into the
University of Hartford Athletic Hall of Fame on the strength of
a New England Championship at No.2 singles and going 20-0 over a
two-year period at No.1 and No.2 singles.
T. A. is a United States Professional Tennis Association (USPTA)
certified Teaching Professional who, most recently, was teaching at
The Club at Grandezza, and Harbour Isle Yacht & Tennis Club in
Estero and Fort Myers, FL, respectively. He is also a certified USTA/Florida
Clinician.
T. A. also brings a
wealth of academic teaching experience to his students, having been
a communication instructor at Arizona State University, and multiple
community colleges in Florida and Arizona. T. A. holds a Bachelor of
Arts in Communication from the University of Hartford in
Connecticut, a Master of Arts in Communication from the University
of Miami, and was ABD in Arizona State University’s Intercultural
Communication doctoral program before leaving Academe. |
