About Smith Stearns
The Smith Stearns Family
Led by Stan Smith, former number-one player in the world and former USTA Director of Coaching, Billy Stearns, one of the world’s top coaches, and B.J. Stearns, former top nationally and internationally ranked player and Academy Director, the Smith Stearns Tennis Academy is uniquely designed for individual junior player development.
Under Stan and Billy’s leadership, a staff of highly qualified coaches specifically trained in the Smith Stearns approach work one-on-one with committed young people to help them reach their full potential as players.
Meet our high performance coaching team.
Stan Smith
A former #1 world and U.S. player, Stan Smith won the U.S. Open in 1971 and Wimbledon in 1972. He represented the U.S. in the Davis Cup for 10 years, winning the coveted championship seven times. All told, he has won 39 singles titles and 61 doubles titles, most recently the 55-and-over title at the 2004 U.S. Open. Stan was Director of Coaching for the USTA Player Development Program, working with Lindsay Davenport, Jennifer Capriati, Todd Martin, Chandra Rubin, Mal Washington and Chris Woodruff, among others. He was coach of the 2000 U.S. Olympic Men’s Tennis team in Sydney, Australia. He is known for his ability to communicate clearly on how to improve technique, strategy, tactics and mental approach to the game – as well as for his legacy of sportsmanship and courtesy.
Billy Stearns
World-class coach Billy Stearns has worked with 24 All-American collegiate athletes, three NCAA doubles champions, and 111 State, National and ITF Junior titleholders. He has led six players to become Top 10 in the ATP and WTA tours, two of whom became Wimbledon Champions. Throughout his 25-year coaching career, he has set a pattern of motivating players to achieve their highest potential. Billy is known for his rare ability to quickly recognize a player’s strengths and weaknesses, and to analyze strokes and rebuild them until they are technically sound. His one-on-one attention focuses on proper shot selection, technically correct stroke production, balance, match play strategy, transitional game, confidence and anticipating the ball. Billy helps players exceed their perceived limits to reach their true maximum potential.
B.J. Stearns – Academy Director
The winner of 18 National Championships, B.J. Stearns attended the University of Texas, where he played #1 singles and doubles and was team captain. As a junior, he was a member of the U.S. National Team, won the Kalamazoo Doubles twice in the 16s, was Orange Bowl winner in the 12-and-under category, and won various other international titles in addition to his 18 gold balls. He has wins against accomplished players such as Paul Goldstein, Justin Gimelstob, Marcelo Rios, Gustavo Kuerten, Magnus Norman and Mark Philippoussis. In addition to his own career, B.J. has had a very successful transition into coaching as he has trained various state, sectional, national, and international champions, while also directing the academy on a daily basis. B.J. believes his students can achieve high levels of play while having fun. He believes that good tennis players need to be technically sound and also have a complete understanding of the strategy of the game.
Jolene Watanabe – Head Academy Coach
An 11 year WTA Tour veteran, Jolene Watanabe earned a career high singles ranking of #70, with accomplished wins over Jennifer Capriati, Brenda Schultz McCarthy, Iva Majoli, Amy Frazier and Chanda Rubin. She has played in 20 main draw grand slam tournaments, won 12 total ITF titles and 11 USTA National titles. Jolene was also the first female coach of World Team Tennis, when she coached the New York Buzz from 2003-2007. She is certified as a high performance coach by the United States Tennis Association.
Martin Sayer – Academy Coach
Martin comes to Smith Stearns having competed in the four junior Grand Slams, Davis Cup, and Asian Games Championships. Born and raised in Hong Kong, Martin played #1 singles and doubles for Radford University where he led them to their first three NCAA appearances. He was the four time Big South Player of the Year and was later named the tenth best athlete ever in the Big South Conference’s history. Martin went on to become the Radford men’s tennis assistant coach for two years whilst attaining his M.B.A.
Patrick Fediuk – Academy Coach & Fitness Specialist
Originally from Canada, Patrick played #3 singles and #2 doubles for Presbyterian College where he was an ITA Scholar Athlete for three years, and on the Big South All-Academic Team his senior year. His freshman and sophomore years, Patrick made the All South Atlantic Conference Team, and was a part of two regular season and tournament championship teams. Before joining Smith Stearns Tennis Academy Patrick worked as a teaching pro in Australia. With a passion for fitness, Patrick has obtained certification from world renowned fitness guru Pat Etcheberry, and currently works as our on-court fitness instructor. His enthusiasm and genuine attitude help encourage students to achieve more than they ever expected they could.
Todd Tucker – Academy Coach & Future Stars Coach
Todd has over 20 years of teaching and coaching experience. His years of on-court tennis experience coupled with his classroom teaching experience at a nationally awarded alternative school gives him unique abilities in working with children of all ages. As a player he was a nationally ranked junior and played for a National Championship Junior College team earning All-Ohio status. Todd continued his education at Muskingum University majoring in Education as an Intervention Specialist. His coaching experience includes nationally ranked and collegiate All-Americans as well as being a travelling coach on the pro-circuit and the national junior circuit. Todd has also been a volunteer assistant coach for his brother Ty Tucker at the Ohio State University. His experience includes children of all ages as well as adults.
Derrick Spice – Academy Coach
Derrick was consistently ranked in the top thirty nationally as a junior, competing with players such as Andy Roddick, Marty Fish, Bobby Reynolds, Rajeev Ram, Robby Ginepri, and John Isner. He won two Ohio State High School singles titles and was recently inducted into Midview High Schools Hall of Fame. He went on to play college tennis at Wake Forest University where he set a record for most wins in a season, was Atlantic Coast Conference Rookie of the year and voted ALL ACC three years. Derrick also consistently served over 120mph. His top ranking was 17 nationally. He had 9 wins over top 30 players and led his team to four NCAA appearances, playing number 1 singles and doubles. Derrick has been teaching top ranked juniors for seven years in Ohio and is USPTA certified.
Danny Nash – Academy Coach
Danny grew up on Hilton Head Island where he graduated from Hilton Head Prep. Danny played collegiate tennis at Coker College in Hartsville, SC. While there he played #1 singles and doubles. Since graduating college Danny has taught at the Rock Hill Tennis Center where he helped run the Junior Academy. Since returning to the island, Danny has been teaching at Palmetto Dunes Tennis Center. In 2011, Danny coached the Hilton Head Prep varsity boys’ tennis team to a State Title, while earning Region and South Carolina Sports Report Coach of the Year.
Mark Freitag – Academy Coach
Mark is originally from Doylestown, PA. He was the #2 and #3 singles player for the College of William and Mary and the University of Pennsylvania. Mark taught 7 years at the Julian Krinksy School of Tennis in Haverford, PA. He is PTR Certified with a Professional rating. Mark joined Smith Stearns Tennis Academy in September 2009.
Meet our Support Staff
Carol McHugh – Academy Administrator & Admissions Coordinator
Kelley Stearns – Academy Administrator & Student Services Coordinator
Kelley was consistently ranked in the top ten nationally as a junior player and travelled internationally with the USTA to various trips across the globe including participation in the World Youth Cup. Junior highlights include doubles titles at both the Easter Bowl and Eddie Herr and singles runner-up finishes at the Eddie Herr International and the National Clay Courts. Before college, Kelley played some professional tournaments for two years, earning a WTA ranking of #570 and winning the doubles title in a $25,000 pro circuit event. Kelley then attended the University of Georgia on a full scholarship and helped the Bulldogs to two SEC Conference Championships as a player and another as a volunteer coach while also achieving top five national rankings as a team. As a senior Kelley played both #1 singles and doubles for UGA and was named the MVP at the SEC Tournament. She then completed her Masters Degree in Sports Management in her last year at UGA.
Kim Tavino – Strength Training
Kim Tavino has lived on Hilton Head since 1979 and been a personal trainer for over 20 years. She has certifications from the American Council on Exercise, Personal Trainer and Trainer for Special Populations as well as the highly acclaimed Titleist Performance Institute and Pilate’s Reformer and Mat Certification. She started working specifically with tennis players and has trained highly ranked men and women professionals as well as top college prospects. Tennis athletes now make up 75% percent of her clientele.
Larry Tavino – Strength Training
Larry Tavino graduated from Winthrop University, where he was an All-American and Academic All-American soccer player, earning a Master of Science Degree in Physical Education with a concentration in Kinesiology and Bio-Mechanics. He passed the National Strength and Conditioning Association exam and became a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist in 1992. He served as soccer coach and strength and conditioning coach at Winthrop from 1990-1992 before moving to Hilton Head to teach and coach in 1993.
Amy McNeal – Houseparent
Bennett McNeal – Houseparent