MEET THE TEAM
Hugo Santos
Director
022 311 3216
hugo@seedtennis.co.nz
Head Coach at Te Atatu, and Mahurangi East Tennis Clubs
Beginners to Competition
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OVERVIEW
Hugo first began playing tennis as a boy because his father loved the game and it was an opportunity where the two of them would spend lots of time together. What was originally a hobby, developed into a full time extensive programme where Hugo would travel around Colombia competing. As a teenager, based in Florida (USA) Hugo trained with the USTA and competed with success in tournaments up to the age of 19.
Hugo returned to Colombia to study a Bachelor of Marketing Communications and manage the family advertising business at 20 years old. This provided extensive practical experience in the daily management of sales in business, marketing and communications which serves him well today.
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A desire for a change of pace brought Hugo to New Zealand and a fortuitous encounter opened the door to coaching as a profession. He discovered that this was his niche and is passionate about seeing people play and love the game the way he does. Hugo has now been working as a full time coach in Auckland, New Zealand since 2016.
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Hugo is currently working towards his second coaching qualification (Club Professional ITF Level 2). He has been significantly influenced by the coaching work of Nick Jacques, Mike Barrell, Miquel Crespo, and Judy Murray. He believes it is important to upskill and keep his professional practice new and fresh. He primarily works with juniors and adults in development programmes and has seen tremendous success as players completely new to the sport pick up the skills to play a game for life.
Hugo is married to Rose and they have two girls: Shiloh (6) and Selah (4). They live in Warkworth.
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COACHING STYLE
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A high-energy and fun approach to learning
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Prepares activities that engage and continually evolve to provide the right level of challenge and progression
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Positive and supportive manner that encourages the player to give things a go
QUALIFICATIONS
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ITF LEVEL 1
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Currently working on finishing ITF Club Pro - Level II
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Bachelor of Marketing Communications
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Postgraduate in Strategic Management
COACHING EXPERIENCE
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Head Coach at Te Atatu, Mahurangi East (Snells Beach), Tennis Clubs
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Small group junior and adult coaching programmes
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Introduction to tennis programmes in schools: primary and secondary
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Club tournaments, leagues, community matchplay events
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Holiday camps
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Private lessons with video analysis
CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
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Competitive Junior Hot Shots League
Oliver Gracewood
Senior Coach at Te Atatu Tennis Club
Beginners to Competition
Qualification: ITF 1
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OVERVIEW
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Oliver started playing tennis at age 13 and quickly grew to love the sport, competing for Rutherford College and training under Hugo at Te Atatu Tennis Club. Raised in Te Atatu, Oliver enjoys bolstering the local community through coaching.
Through the process of the Tennis NZ Junior Development Coach course, Oliver has had the chance to work with many great coaches and coaching developers who helped shape his philosophy. On court, Oliver delivers an adaptable and player-centred approach, developing technique through a tactics-based lens.
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As well as coaching, Oliver works with local musicians as a recording and gigging guitarist, and is completing a degree in mathematics at the University of Auckland with the goal of research in modern cryptography.
Jared Johanson
Coach at Te Atatu Tennis Club
Beginners
Qualification: Coaching Assistant Certificate
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OVERVIEW
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Jared was a top ranked junior tennis player for Western Bay of Plenty, representing the district at multiple
interprovincial competitions and competed in tournaments at local and regional levels. He also played senior
tennis for Tauranga Boys College.
As a coach Jared aspires to deliver fun, engaging, interactive coaching sessions that are always driven by a
tactical focus.
He lives in Te Atatu Peninsula, plays bass guitar and also works as a People and Capabilities Advisor for Odyssey.
Rose Santos
Administration
021 111 0746
Rose trained as a teacher and has worked with young people in schools, alternative education providers and event settings for over 10 years. She observed trends where young people lacked a range of close proximity positive role models and community support networks. This has fuelled a particular passion to be actively involved in easily accessible programmes for young people, like tennis, and to see negative statistics around health and wellbeing make an about-turn.
Rose’s prior experience in administration, programme planning and communications has translated easily into her current role at SEED Tennis.
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