High Performance Coaching Staff

Head Coach and Tennis Director, Mohamed Badran is originally from Cairo, Egypt, where he was ranked Top 5 in the country as a junior player and won a Gold Medal for Egypt in the Arab Games. In 1995, he received a scholarship to train at an academy in the US, where he trained with other internationally top ranked players.

He earned his Bachelor's Degree in Business & Logistics from the Arab Academy for Science & Technology in Cairo, where he began his coaching career with top juniors at the Heliopolis Club, including Ahmed Ismail, whom he sent to Weil Academy in 2005.

Coach Mo joined Weil's coaching staff in 2006 and immediately began working with the Academy's top national and international junior players. Mo was the first coach to work with the great French American, Maxime Cressy when he first moved to the United States from France. Mo led Max to win his fist USTA tournament in the US and helped him reach many semifinal titles in the ITA Summer circuit in 2014, win the Boy’s 18’ singles title at the 2014 Los Caballeros Junior tournament, Northridge Matador Junior open and many more! Max also participated in Weil’s college placement program and was recruited by legendary coach, Billy Martin for the UCLA Men's Tennis Team on scholarship in 2015! Max reached top 10 in the country and is now top 30 in world according to the ATP (Associates of Tennis Professionals).

Coach Mo also coached:, Ahmed Ismail, who reached Top 5 in Boys 18s in So Cal, represented Southern California on the National Champion Jr. Davis Cup Team, Patrik Fabian (Slovakia, Top 40 ITF); Monica Turewicz (USA, Top 50 ITF/Duke University); Lucas Da Silveira (USA/Brazil, Top 10 So Cal Boys 18s/Brown University); Sasha Solonin (Top 10 So Cal Boys 18s/Pepperdine University); Armando Soemarno (Indonesia, Top 50 ITF Doubles/University of Oregon).

As College placement advisor, Mo has helped place student-athletes in ivy school league colleges every year since 2010

Head Coach Charly Irie joined the Weil Tennis Academy coaching staff in 2008 after graduating from Fresno State University with a Bachelor's Degree in Mass Communications & Journalism (Public Relations). He competed for the Fresno State Bulldogs Men's Tennis Team from 2004-2008 on a tennis scholarship, where he played in the top four of the lineup.

He is originally from Abidjan, Ivory Coast, where he began playing tennis at the age of ten. He achieved a junior career high ranking of #67 ITF and #1 Junior in Ivory Coast. He is also proud to have represented his country as a member of the Ivory Coast Men's Davis Cup team since 2003.

During his junior career, he had the privilege to compete in prestigious junior international tournaments such as Wimbledon, Eddie Herr and Orange Bowl. While a junior, he also compete against top ranked ATP players such as Richard Gasquet, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Rafa Nadal and Marcos Baghdatis. Coach Charly has won several junior championships around the world including an ITF Grade 2 in South Africa and was a finalist at the 14 & Under 2001 African Champs.

He has four brothers and two sisters and is married to Eszter Irie.

Coach Charly can be reached at iriecharles@yahoo.fr.

Coach Juanjo is originally from Cáceres, Spain, He studied Sports Science for five years at the University of Extremadura in Spain. He has his Spanish tennis coach certification from RFET (Spanish Tennis Federation) as well as his tennis fitness certification from ITPA (International Tennis Performance Association). He specializes in tennis training and tennis fitness training.

Coach Juanjo has played tennis since the age of five in Spain. He has worked as a tennis and fitness coach in Cabezarrubia Tennis Club (Spain), Lleida Tennis Club (Spain), Juan Carlos Ferrero Professional Tennis Academy (Spain) and in Schuttler-Waske Professional Tennis Academy (Germany) as an intern. He has a well-rounded background in coaching junior and professional tennis players and he brings his vast experience to Weil Tennis Academy.

Coach Juanjo can be reached at jjclimentr@gmail.com.

Pedro is originally from Puerto Ordaz, Venezuela, where he was ranked in the top 10 in Venezuela from age twelve through sixteen. Pedro came to the U.S. in 2009 to study and play for Ventura College and had great success, winning the 2010 California State Community College Team Championships, as well as taking the state doubles title with his twin brother, Juan.

Pedro was then offered a full scholarship to play at Our Lady of the Lake University in San Antonio, Texas, where he majored in International Business and helped his team achieve an NCAA Top 20 NAIA team ranking for the first time in the school's history. After graduating from OLLU, Pedro worked as an assistant coach at OLLU for one year before joining the Weil coaching staff in 2014.

Coach Pedro can be reached at pedro_89@hotmail.com.

Coach Dominique is originally from Nottingham, England. She became a volunteer assistant coach at the age of fifteen, for numerous tennis clubs in the Nottinghamshire region. She went on to complete both her Level 1 and Level 2 coaching qualifications from the LTA (Lawn Tennis Association), at the ages of sixteen and eighteen respectively. From 2009-2011, Dominique went on to work at the Nottingham Tennis Center as an assistant coach for ages 2-50+.

She started playing tennis at the age of fourteen and quickly excelled to a higher level. Additionally, she joined after-school clinics, where she was picked up by high performance coaches who saw her potential, which led to her invitation to train at the Nottingham, Tennis Center's High Performance Academy. Following this, she received a full scholarship to train and study at Morehead State University (Division I) in Kentucky in the Spring of 2012. She earned her Bachelor's Degree from MSU in Exercise Science and worked as a personal trainer for various age groups and levels.

In 2015 and 2014, Dominique spent her summers at Weil as an assistant coach and residential counselor.

Coach Dominique can be reached at dominique.chante10@gmail.com.

Pedro Rodrigues is originally from Leiria, Portugal, where he was ranked Top 20 as a junior player.
Pedro came to the U.S. in 2010 when he was offered a full scholarship to play at Cumberland University in Lebanon, Tennessee. Pedro received his Bachelor's Degree in Management & Accounting from CU in May 2014. During his four years of playing for CU, he played top 3 in singles and #1 in doubles. He helped his team reach Nationals three consecutive seasons, and helped them reach a #6 NAIA team ranking, the highest in the school's history. Pedro was ranked No. 30 in the nation in singles, 10th in doubles, and earned 2nd Team All-American as a junior. After completing his degree, Pedro worked as an assistant coach for two years at CU, while completing his Master's Degree in Business Administration, before joining the Weil coaching staff in June 2016. He has his coaching certificate from Professional Tennis Registry and a certification from the Global Professional Tennis Association.

Coach Pedro can be contacted by email: prodrigues@weiltennis.com

Julio Pulido is originally from Caceres, Spain where he grew up playing junior tennis and was ranked as high as #5 in Spain under 16s. He received his coaching certification from the Spanish Tennis Federation and Spanish Paddle Federation at the age of 16. He worked at Escuela ACE in Spain as a tennis and paddle coach. He also directed summer camps and worked at Sportime Amagansett for 4 years (3 as Tennis Camp Director). He was also a private coach for several juniors in New York and spent time as a Master Pro at the John McEnroe Tennis Academy in NY.

In his competitive career, he spent 2 years at Oklahoma Christian University where he helped the program win the 2012 NAIA National Championships. After the OCU tennis program was cancelled, he transferred to the New York Institute of Technology. At NYIT, he played in the No. 1 position in singles and doubles. In his junior and senior years, he won two East Coast Conference Championships (2014 & 2015) and was named East Coast Conference First Team and Player of the Year in both years. Julio graduated from NYIT with a Bachelor's degree in Finance in 2015.

Julio continued his graduate studies at Baylor University and was one of the assistant coaches for the men’s team under legendary coach, Matt Knoll, from 2016-2018. The team was ranked as high as #3 NCAA Division 1. In 2018, he graduated from Baylor with a Master's in Sports Science.

Julio joined Weil Tennis Academy in 2018 and will assist in both the tennis and fitness programs.

He can be reached at jpulido@weiltennis.com.

Coach Beau is originally from Boulder, CO. She moved to California when she was 17 to attend the inaugural year of Weil Tennis Academy. She graduated in the academy’s very first graduating class. She now comes full circle back to Ojai as a seasoned and successful coaching professional. After graduating from Weil, Beau played Division 1 at Boise State on a full scholarship and was NCAA All American. She left Boise to pursue her professional WTA career. Beau was honored to be mentored by Martina Navratilova while on the tour. She achieved a career-high singles ranking of 532 and a career-high doubles ranking of 325. Beau won 8 WTA doubles titles before she went on to coach at Andre Agassi Foundation, Saddlebrook Tennis Academy, and IMG Academy.
At Saddlebrook Beau became the hitting partner for Monica Seles, Martina Hingis, and Justine Henin and went on to coach high performance juniors at IMG Academy for 8 years. She’s had the pleasure of coaching Whitney Osuigue (Junior French Open champion) and Shintaro Mochizuki (Junior Wimbledon champion). She’s been a USPTA P1 certified coach since 2009. Beau is passionate about helping students grow and develop, and is excited to share her passion and skills with the Weil Tennis Academy family.

Coach Beau can be reached at beau@weiltennis.com.

Fernando Martins, born in the city of Matão in the interior of the state of São Paulo - Brazil. He is 44 years old and has been a tennis coach for over 25 years. As a tennis player, he was state champion and was ranked 3rd in the annual Brazilian infanto-juvenile ranking. He played 1st class tournaments for a few years until he decided to dedicate himself to the study of Tennis. He studied physical education and physiotherapy during the 2000s. He worked in several clubs and gyms and, in the last 06 years, he has been conducting competitive training and preparation in partnerships in the city of São Paulo. Through his company, he performed technical monitoring work in national and international tournaments, performed technical corrections on video, made tactical planning for tennis players and several tennis clinics and lectures in cities in Brazil".

Fernando Martins can be contacted by email: tennisfernandomartins@hotmail.com

Priyank Soni (PK) is originally from India, but he started playing tennis in Indonesia at the age of 9 years. After graduating high school, PK decided to go to Spain to play semi-professional tennis for 2 years.

After Spain, he decided to pursue academics, which led him to Weil Academy for 3 months for its college placement program. He studied at Ashland University, a Division 2 school in Ohio where he majored in Business Management and minored in Entrepreneurship. PK played No. 1 in singles and No. 1 in doubles for the Ashland Eagles. He was ranked Top 15 in the Western region and earned 1st Team All American two times, back-to-back.

While in college PK got into fitness a conditioning and while studying for his undergraduate degree, he took other courses on the side which helped him achieve Fitness trainer certification from NASM ( National Academy of Sports Medicine).

In his senior year PK oversaw fitness for both Men’s and Women’s program from Ashland University.

After graduating from college, PK decided to pursue his passion in tennis which led him back to Weil Academy.

You can contact PK by email at Pk@weiltennis.com

Mitch Weil was born and raised in Ojai, California. Growing up with Weil Tennis Academy as a part of his life, he quickly developed a love for, and a deep understanding of, the game of tennis. He attended Gonzaga University, located in Spokane, Washington, where he majored in Classical Civilizations.

Mitch joined Weil Academy as a part-time assistant coach/summer activities director in 2016. After 4 summers of continuing to develop his coaching techniques, he’s very excited to join the Weil staff for the entire school year.

He wants to put into practice the same incredibly hard work he’s seen his parents, Mark and Jane Weil, employ over the last 22 years. This hard work will be shown coaching on the court, on residential duty in the dorms, assisting with college placement, and even teaching in the classroom.

Coach Mitch can be reached at mweil@weiltennis.com.

Catarina Zheng is originally from Porto, Portugal where she was ranked top 20 as a junior. She came to the US in 2017 when she was offered an athletic scholarship to play for Goldey-Beacom College in Delaware where she played #2 singles and #1 doubles. They won the conference and reached the NCAA Sweet 16 in 2019. During her junior year, she transferred to Southwest Baptist University in Missouri which was ranked Top 10 in NCAA Div. 2. There, she was ranked top 10 in ITA National double ranking and was an ITA All-American as well as the ITA Midwest Regional Doubles Champion beating the #1 seed. During her senior year, she made the finals of the ITA Indoor National Championships in 2021.

After completing her bachelor's degree in International Business, Catarina coached at the John McEnroe Tennis Academy in New York. In 2021, she completed her master’s in business administration while competing for the University of Louisiana.

Coach Catarina can be reached at catarinazheng@gmail.com

Antoine Richard is originally from Laval, a city just outside of Montreal in Quebec Canada, and recently joined the Weil Tennis Academy Coaching staff in 2021. He currently represents the Academy as a professional player competing on the ATP/ITF pro circuit as well as being an assistant coach, helping the up-and-coming players on the court here at Weil. Antoine started playing tennis at the age of 12, became one of the top-ranked juniors in Canada, and eventually achieved an ATP ranking of 1008 in singles and 963 in doubles. Antoine also competed at Xavier University of Louisiana for two seasons, where he played #1 in singles and doubles, reaching the NAIA Nationals Finals as well as being ranked among the top five players in the Nation in 2017-2018.

Aside from competing and coaching on the court, Antoine is also a Licensed Practitioner of NLP and Hypnosis and has studied personally with Dr. Richard Bandler, the Co-founder of NLP himself and one of the most recognized Hypnosis teachers in the world. Antoine is very passionate about mindset, performance, and personal well-being and is applying those principles in his coaching to help younger players thrive on and off the court.
Antoine can be reached at arichardcoaching@gmail.com

Savannah is a 2022 UC Davis graduate with a B.S. in Global Disease Biology and Minor in Global Studies with an emphasis in Latin America. She began her studies at UC Santa Cruz where she competed on the NCAA Women’s Tennis Team as #4 singles and also in doubles with Amy Jensen as head coach. She competed in the Ojai 118th Annual Tournament in 2018 for Division III Events in singles and doubles. Her highest USTA junior ranking was #2 in the state of Alabama before moving to California. She represented the Northern California region in the World Team Tennis Junior Nationals hosted by Billie Jean King in San Diego in 2013. Weil is a special place for Savannah as she got to spend two incredible weeks as a camper during her junior career in addition to her primary home academy called Spare Time in Sacramento, CA.

Her coaching experience began as a volunteer when she was 15 at her home academy in Sacramento and her first position was at Natomas Racquet Club teaching junior clinics in 2016. She continued teaching throughout college, especially during summers at various programs in NorCal. She began as the Future Stars Director at Gorin Tennis Academy, Granite Bay in Summer 2019 where she organized camps and helped with the high-performance group. After graduating from Davis, she coached at Redmond Tennis Club just outside of Seattle, WA for Summer 2022 where she taught a wide range of ages and levels.

Besides playing and coaching, Savannah has a great love for travel, creativity, and song-writing. She had the opportunity of living in Mexico for an extended period where she volunteered at various projects promoting sustainability and conservation including the organization called Menos Plastico es Fantastico en Mahahual, MX.

You can contact Savannah by email at savvytennis@gmail.com

Stacy Margolin Potter, M.A., C.E.D.S., was a professional tennis player from 1977-1987. With victories over many Top 10 players, she reached a world ranking of No. 18. While attending USC, she won the National Collegiate Singles Title as a freshman. She was also a member of the USC team which won the NCAA title the following year, playing the #1 singles position. Coming off the tour, Stacy coached the women's tennis team at Pomona College. She then completed her studies at UCLA and received her Master's Degree in Clinical Psychology from Pepperdine University. Stacy worked at Rader Institute for 12 years as an Eating Disorders Counselor and is now a Certified Health Coach.

Presently, Stacy resides in Ojai, CA and operates Balanced Eating & Lifestyle Coaching, specializing in nutrition, eating and exercise behavior, weight loss, stress management, body image, lifestyle and motivation. She also performs body composition testing, weight training sessions and fitness consultations.

On the physical side, Stacy and her husband, Ian, operate "Trails By Potter," a hiking, climbing and biking tour service throughout the Ojai Valley and Ventura for the past fifteen years. www.hikingojai.com

Stacy continues to be involved in the tennis world through occasional coaching and charities. She enjoys yoga, running and living the Ojai life for eighteen years.

Stacy can be reached at stacy@stacypotterhealthcoach.com.

www.stacypotterhealthcoach.com

www.hikingojai.com