Staff

Our beliefs

Our coaching staff believe in intrinsic motivation and love for the game building as the key to sustained practice toward excellence. We are determined to maximize each young athlete's benefits as a person through the competitive tennis journey. Our goal within the sport for the athletes is to ultimately have #NoRegrets in terms of intent and effort.


ALEX JOHANSSON

DIRECTOR-coach

Philosophy: Tennis is the ultimate tool in development of a great person. The #1 goal I have for my students is to have no regrets when it comes to bravery and effort.

Experience:
2016: Video analyst for ATP players and Texas A&M Men's Team
Founder of RAQTS and Tennis Techie
2013-2016: Founder of Shark Tennis Academy
2008-2013: Co-Founder and Director of Player Dev. Premier Tennis Academy
2002-2008: Coach and Director of Marketing Denton DiLaura Tennis Academy
2001-2003: Asst. Coach Texas A&M CC Men's Team

Certifications:
USPTA Elite Professional
Swedish Tennis Federation Level 2

Racquet Fit

Hobbies:
Family time, Innovating, Skiing

Accomplishments:
Coached #2 National  12's girl (semi final Orange Bowl) 4 years, #1 18s boy in the country, #7 16s girl in Europe
Personally coached over 45 players (for a minimum of 3 years) to tennis scholarships at schools such as USC, UT, MIT, Rice.

Cres Lesser

Coach

  • Philosophy: 'Ever tried? Ever failed? No Matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.'
  • Year Started at Longfellow TC: 2022
  • Experience:

NCAA Ranked top 60 Division 1 at College of Charleston

Certifications:

USPTR Level 1


Hobbies: Surfing, Skiing, Travel, Trying new cuisines

Accomplishments:

National Champion in Chile

Ranked #12 in South America

MVP at College of Charleston

PEPI KATSOUPI

Coach

Philosophy: Fear no one but respect everyone. Focus on the journey and let the racquet do the talking as you reach your destination.

Experience:
2017– Present Assistant Coach , Men's and Women's Tennis, Babson College
2016-2018 Tennis Pro at Boston Sports Clubs
2008-2015 Teaching Pro at clubs in Indianapolis, IN and Greece.

Certifications:
B.S. Physical Education & Sport Science
USPTR Certified: 11 to 17 year olds
Hobbies:
Exploring new travel destinations, Making puzzles

Accomplishments:
Member of the Greek National team and competed on the ITF Women's tour.
2018 Conference Finals with both Babson teams
Developed nationally ranked juniors in Greece.

Coached ATP ranked players and top Juniors age 14 and under

Vi Nguyen

  • USPTA, Net Generation, High Performance, and APC- Accredited Profession Coach Certified
    1st year at Longfellow Tennis. Vi will be working at New Hampshire, Wayland and Natick locations
    Over 20 years of teaching tennis
  • Head Tennis Pro at BSC for 12 years- Coached USTA adult league (14 teams: 3 teams went to Nationals and 5 teams went to Sectionals), Northshore League Men (4 teams: Men A1 won the league last year), Women 11 teams: 4 teams won the league), and Junior (2 teams: Boys team make playoffs 3 out of last 4 years and came 2nd this year) – All teams either made playoffs or won the championships
  • Coached Austin Prep Boys Tennis for 5 years and guided the team to the North Finals for the first time
  • Coach children
    *Alan Nguyen – Got Academic and tennis scholarships to Assumptions College. Alan ranked as high as number 2 in 12s, number 8 in 14s and 15 in 16s in New England.
    *Anna Nguyen- Currently rank number 5 in 14s and number 14 in the 16s in NE and top 100 in the Nation for 14s. Anna ranked number 1 in NE in the 12s for more than 2 years and ranked as high as number 5 in the Nation in 12s. She won National Indoor Level 1 12s and under singles (Gold ball winner) and 5th in doubles. Anna’s doubles records are almost as impressive as singles (She won 14s Nationals Level 2, and finalist in 2 others)
  • Also coach many other high rank players around New England area
  • Northeastern University, Computer Engineering
  • Love to play tennis, reading (top read books: The E Myth, Outliers, Company of One, The Great Upheaval, How to Win Friends and Influence People, Make Your Bed, Plyometric For Tennis, Successful Coaching, Mind Gym), yard work, enjoy helping my wife cooking and cleaning ( her food is amazingly good), and we love to spend time with family at Bahamas Resorts

Danny Saltz

Coach


Danny Played 1 at UCLA in singles and doubles in 1983. The team won the ncaas in 1982. He reached a high ranking of 88 ATP (race rankings) in singles and doubles in 1984. Qualified and won the New Zealand open that year in singles . He had wins over Nastase, Fitzgerald, hooper, Sanchez, and Harold Solomon . He played against Lendl, Connor’s, Edberg, and Agassi. He began coaching after the tour , and has developed dozens of juniors for college level , and some pros . Vania king was a student who won 6 grand slam doubles titles . Recently Alex michelsen a former student reached 94 ATP and is the youngest male player in the top 100 at 19 yrs old . His children Caleb is a freshman on the Boston college mens tennis team , his daughter charly will play D-1 college tennis as well in the fall 2024.

Contact: dannysaltz@hotmail.com

Brian Lomax

Sport Psychologist, M.Ed. 

  • Ranked number 1 in New England 5 times and in the top 10 in the US twice
  • Assistant coach at Boston College
  • Sport Psychology Consultant for several athletics teams at Bryant University, Holy Cross College, Boston College and Regis College
  • Masters in Education for Positive Coaching (Sport and Positive Psychology)
  • Co-founder of a Positive Psychology program in Minnesota that prepares high school students for post-secondary careers and education
  • Consults with athletes in many different sports and teaches them to be mentally tougher in all aspects of their lives
  • Certified in Mental Toughness Training by the Human Performance Institute
  • USPTA Certified Tennis Professional
  • USPTA New England Rookie of the Year
  • USPTA Player of the Year three times

Jane Polley

Nutritionist

  • MS, RD, LDN
  • Registered dietitian and the nutritionist at Longfellow Sports Club
  • Teaches sports nutrition at Framingham State College
  • Guides athletes to create a high energy, sports nutrition eating plan by balancing food groups, fluids & treats for lasting fuel & for quick recovery