Julie Shiflet Davidson is a PTR certified tennis professional with over 17 years of experience from Virginia Beach, Virginia. As a junior Julie was the top player in the Mid-Atlantic section at the age of ten and throughout her entire junior career. At the young age of 14 Julie won the National Easter Bowl Championships and became the youngest player ever to win the girls 16’s National Clay-Court Title. The very next summer Julie set another junior record by winning the event again for two back to back National Claycourt titles. Julie played in her first professional tournament at age 15 and competed in many professional events including the US Open, the Family Circle Cup and many other WTA tournaments all over the world.

Julie went on to play number one at the College of William and Mary and led the team to the CAA title as well as a national team ranking of 14 in her freshmen year. Julie was an All-American and finished her freshman season ranked number 7 in the country, earning CAA player of the year. After her freshman year of college Julie turned pro and was ranked as high as 180 before she suffered a career ending shoulder injury in 1994. After retirement, Julie went back to the College of William and Mary to receive her Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology.

Julie’s passion for the game as well as her experience makes her an excellent coach for players of all ages and levels. With a strong background in Psychology as well as a personal training certification from the National Academy of Sports Medicine, Julie is able to sculpt complete players capable of playing at the highest level. She has coached at Regional and National Training Centers around the country and worked with several top-ranked Mid-Atlantic and nationally ranked players who have gone on to receive Division 1 College scholarships. Julie is an optimist and a motivator who loves to help players reach their true potential.

Ryan Davidson is a PTR certified tennis professional with with over 13 years of experience originally from Charleston, South Carolina. Ryan moved to Virginia Beach at the age of 15 and as a junior was ranked as high as number one in the Mid-Atlantic and as high as five nationally competing in all of the summer and winter USTA National events as well as the International Orange Bowl Championships. After a very successful junior career Ryan was offered a full scholarship to Virginia Tech where he was a contributing member of the most successful tennis team in Virginia Tech history. After college, he competed on the men’s professional tour as well as in several National Open events.

While Ryan has had a very successful playing career, his passion lies in teaching. He has a strong knowledge of strategy and stroke production and has an eye for fixing technical flaws. He has coached at Regional and National Training Centers around the country and worked with several top-ranked Mid-Atlantic and nationally ranked players who have gone on to receive Division 1 College scholarships. Ryan’s passion for the game is contagious and his training regimen balanced on hard work and fun has proven successful for hundreds of junior players.

Gary Garner is a USPTA and PTR certified tennis professional from Virginia Beach, Virginia. Gary has been teaching tennis at VBTCC for almost 35 years and has played a huge role in the development of tennis in the Hampton Roads Community. With the assistance of Dave Howell, Gary started Virginia Beach’s first tennis academy and organized the area’s first Virginia Beach Tennis Patron’s Pro-Am, an event that ran for four consecutive years and generated over $40,000. The success of the Pro-Am made it possible to offer programming designed to help juniors and adults at all levels, a series of futures and satellite tournaments, and scholarship funds that help to finance travel expenses for the Elite State and Mid-Atlantic players which is still in effect today.

Gary has a vast and impressive teaching career which includes time studying under Dennis Van Der Meer, the title of Virginia State Head Verifier, and experience sending several varying levels of USTA teams to district, sectional and national titles. Most recently Gary spent 3 years coaching a nationally ranked junior in Newport Beach, California who went on to play for UCLA, the number one tennis program in the country at the time. During this time Gary had the opportunity to travel around the world and work with some of the most well known coaches in the world including Robert Van Hoft (Lindsey Davenport’s coach) and Phil Dent (coach to Taylor Dent, Maria Sharapova, and Robbie Ginepri). This experience has given Gary invaluable experience and insight into the game at the college and professional level. While Gary’s teaching resume speaks for itself, it his personality and emphasis on having fun that makes him an excellent coach for all ages and skill levels.

John Atiso is a USPTA and PTR certified tennis professional with nearly 30 years of experience from Accra, Ghana. John started playing tennis at a very early age and had a very impressive junior career, holding the number one ranking in Ghana for over five years. Among other impressive accomplishments, John represented Ghana in both the Davis Cup and the Olympics. From the ages of 16-25, John played professionally in many prestigious events including the Arthur Ashe Tennis Tournament as well as the All-African games and achieved professional tennis rankings as high as 178 in the world.

In the midst of an impressive professional career, John moved to the United States to accept a scholarship to Hampton University. John played number one for all four years and helped lead the Hampton University team to many distinctions including a trip to the NCAA finals. Upon graduation from Hampton University, John accepted a position at VBTCC and he has been teaching here ever since. For 27 years John has been at VBTCC training players of all ages and skill levels.

Bob Delgado is a tennis professional with over 50 years of teaching experience originally from Southern California. Bob had a very successful junior career that included a number one ranking in Southern California, a number two ranking in the United States, a number one doubles ranking in the US for over two years, and participation in many prestigious national events including the US Junior Davis Cup Team. Bob went on to play for the University of Southern California where he won a national championship and was an All American.

On top of a very successful playing career Bobby has sculpted many players into both nationally ranked juniors and professional tennis players as a coach. This list includes many local tennis celebrities including our very own Julie Shiflet Davidson, Bill Brock, John Hill and Michael Duquette. In his 50 years of coaching Bob has coached State Champions, National Champions, Zonal Team National Champions and even Leigh Thompson who was ranked as high as 26 in the world.