Coach: John Shepherd Starting at the late age of 13 John moved rapidly to county level, representing Kent as an U14, U16 and U18 player, as well as playing in satellite tournaments in Europe and Australia. He began coaching in 1992 and has taken players up to international level, inc Jack Baker (ATP 52) and Miles Kasiri (ATP 80). As well as LTA coaching qualifications John has a BA and MSC in Sport Sciences, and has trained as a strength and conditioning specialist. He has been with West Heath (previously Edenbridge) TC since 1994.
Manager: Hélène Jackson (née Mellotte) Played tennis competitively as a Junior, and with Belinda Orchard
won the British Girls’ National Under-
16 Doubles title at Junior Wimbledon. Went on to study History at Keele and subsequently took an MA in War Studies at King’s College, London –
a no-
brainer for a future tennis manager! Hélène started coaching tennis at home, and after a spell at Edenbridge Golf Club moved to West Heath in 2001 –
today West Heath ranks as one of the leading tennis programmes in the South-East.
Coach: Martin Whitehouse Martin started his coaching career in 1994, and has a Diploma in Sports Psychology. He is a Senior Performance Coach at West Heath, and is also Head Tennis Coach for Sevenoaks School. In 2010 he captained the Kent U12 Girls County Cup team to the National Title, and in April 2011 won the Kent Coach of the Year Award.
Coach: Adam Harrison As a junior Adam was in a Kent County Squad for three years, and was awarded a school sports scholarship. After finishing Sixth Form Collegewith an Advanced GNVQ in Leisure and Tourism he went on to become a full-time tennis coach and gained the LTA coaching qualification. Adam has worked at West Heath since 2003, and he also runs the coaching programme at Leigh Tennis Club. What happened to the leisure and tourism, we wonder…
Coach: Dominic Cobby Pictured in his native Dormansland jungle, Dominic – better known as Dom -has always been passionate about sport. A loyal supporter of some-you-win-some-you-lose Crystal Palace, Dominic played tennis tor Crawley LTC first team while at school and is still a County League footballer with Felbridge. After taking his A-levels in 2004 he went straight into tennis coaching for West Heath and gained his DCA (Development Coach Award) the following year. He is currently training for the next step up, the Senior Performance Coach Award.
Coach: Adam Reavely Adam joined West Heath in 2012. As a junior he played County level tennis and was accepted for the qualifying rounds of the U16 Nationals. When injury at age 16 put an end to his playing career Adam started coaching part-time while still at school, and became a full-time coach thereafter. Adam has been fully-qualified since 2013, and in 2011 achieved a senior performance coach level.
Coach Howard Phillips has been playing tennis since age of 8, and started coaching aged 15 whilst still at school. After completing A-Levels in Physical Education and Psychology. Howard left school to follow a career as a full-time tennis coach. He joined West Heath in January 2012, has been working full-time since then, and says he is loving every minute of it! Howard is currently in the final stage of the LTA level 3 coach qualification, and is helping to run the Chipstead Tennis Club programme with Adam Reavely.
Coach: Sam Smith Sam joined West Heath in 2008 and is an LTA Level 2 coach. He recently took on responsibility for the coaching programme at Ightham LTC, where he is currently Club Champion, having beaten his brother Jonah in the final!
Also in the West Heath Team are Coaching Assistants Sarah Barron, Louisa Bryant, Jamie Christian, Isaac Hooper, Robyn Enslin, Kim Jones, Hannah Kinsey, Caroline Ogilvy, and Abby Watson.