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   -- 2001 Lake Windward Drive, Alpharetta, GA 30005 770.442.5783
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Staff


Marcus Rutsche

Adult Programs Director/ Associate Academy Professional

 

Marcus was a top junior from Sydney, Australia. He received a full scholarship from Div 1 Austin Peay State University, where he competed for four years. He was the team's Most Improved twice, scholar athlete, and was named MVP his senior year as their #1 singles and doubles player. Marcus graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Health and Wellness Promotion and has been teaching tennis since 1996 throughout Australia and the USA. With an impressive resume including coaching at The John Newcombe Tennis Ranch in New Brunfels, Texas and the New Albany Country Club in New Albany, Ohio, Marcus has also worked with Tennis Australia's talent identification program. Most recently he worked as travelling coach for WTA player Kat Bailey. Marcus is fitness Director at Windward Academy and runs the Home school conditioning program. He is USPTA certified (P-1).

 

 

Torrey Hawkins

Academy Co-Director

Torrey is one of the nation’s top developmental coaches. For the past 15 years, he has developed & worked with some of the best talent in Atlanta and around the Southeast. In addition to several years coaching around the South, Hawkins has had players at the Super National level for over 10 years, coached at all of the Junior Grand Slams, coached 3 years on the ATP tour, and gone to several WTA events. Torrey was an assistant coach at the college level (Emory University), and has had his own academy (Next Level Tennis Academy).
 He is PTR Certified at the highest level as well as High Performance & Sport Science Certifications. Torrey has been a presenter at the Tennis Teachers Conference in NY during the US Open and has presented for the USPTA. He has also worked closely with the USTA Player Development Program & has been invited to both of the USTA National Training Centers in Key Biscayne, Fl (now Boca Raton) as well as Carson, Ca. in conjunction with his players development.  
 As a Co-Director of the academy, Torrey works closely with Will Wright & Henry Darko in game style identification and development of the complete player. An expert on footwork and conditioning, he works with CES to coordinate the Fitness & Conditioning of both the program as well as of the individual players. He also heads up college recruiting for the academy & will work with all juniors and seniors looking to play tennis at the next level.
 Torrey grew up in Wichita, KS, where he competed in the juniors. He was a top ranked player in the state in singles and doubles and was a 2 sport (tennis & basketball) athlete in high school. He went on to be a 2 sport athlete in college playing for both Morehouse College (D-II) & Georgia State (D-II). Torrey lives in Alpharetta with his wife Aileen and their 2 kids, Xavier (12) and Anya (7). 

 

Henry Darko

Academy Head Professional

Henry was born in Accra, Ghana where he learned to play tennis as a junior. He was consistently ranked in the top of his age group and received a full scholarship to the I.T.F Academy in South Africa. Henry finished top 20 on the I.T.F junior singles world ranking and top 10 in doubles. In 2001 henry made the round of 16 and quarterfinals of doubles at U.S Open juniors, made the semifinals doubles at the Orange Bowl. Henry turned pro in 2004 and named to ghana's Davis cup team. He's been training at Windward and traveling all over the world participating in Futures and Challenger tournaments. He has achieved a career high singles A.T.P ranking 279 and 388 doubles. Since turning pro he has accumulated, in singles 6 future titles, semi-final challenger. In doubles two futures titles and one challenger title and number 1 Davis Cup player for Ghana.

Now full time at Windward, Henry helps with all aspects of the juniors.

 

 

Sue Jonnston

Associate Tennis Professional

Sue has been involved in Georgia tennis for over thirty years.  She was a top ranked junior player from Stone Mountain, Georgia.   Sue is a graduate of Georgia Tech where she played #2 singles and #1 doubles for the Lady Yellow Jackets.

Sue began her teaching as head pro at Atlanta Athletic and Racquet Club in Marietta, Georgia.  For three years she worked alongside Mike Leach, former tour pro and is currently Director of Tennis of Ponte Vedra Racquet Club in Florida.  Moving back to the Stone Mountain area she was head pro at Hidden Hills Country Club.  She is joining the Windward staff having been head pro at Summit Chase Country Club since 1993.  Throughout her extensive teaching career, she has taught hundreds of ALTA and USTA players producing over 50 city champions in both adult and junior divisions.   She also has worked with many advanced  junior  players who have gone on to play collegiate tennis.  Sue is still actively playing AA tennis on womens, mixed, and senior teams.

Sue resides in Snellville with her husband, Steven, and their 17 year old daughter, Jordan, and 10 year old son, Britton.

 

 

 

Nick Jones

Associate Tennis Professional

 

Nick spent his junior playing career coming up through the Windward system. He worked his way through all the levels of Windward Tennis Academy, and while in elite, taught the select, high school, and advanced academies. He has trained and coached under Dave Power and Cannon Campbell for more than 10 years learning greatly from their experience. In high school, Nick played varsity all four years and was MVP his freshmen year when he went undefeated through the season. He was later given the title MVP again during his senior year. Nick graduated Cum Laude from the University of Georgia with a B.B.A. and a minor in Spanish. At UGA, he played club tennis all four years on the club team which was ranked 6th nationally at the time. Nick is a USPTA certified tennis professional.

 


 

 

 

 
 

 

 

Will Wright
Academy Director

Will grew up in Lincoln England, where he was consistently a top 10 national junior player. With 10 years experience teaching in Spain, England and the U.S, he is one of the top junior coaches in the South. As a USPTR certified professional he works closely with Torrey Hawkins and Henry Darko, in training our elite juniors, currently working with many top southern and national players. In the last two years, he has coached 12 players in the top 50 in the nation in their age group.

Will was selected as the 2007 and 2009 Georgia Davis Cup team coach. As director of the daytime program, his players have won 3 First Place, 6 Second Place, and 5 Third Place finishes in national championships. They have won eight National Opens. His EPG players have also won over 50 Southern and State Championships in the first Four years of the program. Will has built one of the strongest programs in the South. In 2008, he coached the Southern 14s team in international competition against Mexico, USA and Canada.
He played #1 singles and doubles for Jacksonville State University (JSU) for three years. As assistant tennis coach for the JSU Men’s Team in 2003 and 2004, the team finished second and first respectively in their conference and reached the Division 1 Regionals in 2004.

 

Patrick Shell

Associate Tennis Professional

Patrick is originally from Roswell, Ga., but has spent 6 years in Boulder, Colorado.  As a junior, Patrick held state rankings in both Alabama and Georgia.  He was number one singles and doubles on his high school tennis team for 2 years.  Patrick graduated from Auburn University in 1999 with a BA in Mass Communications.  He has been teaching tennis for the past 8 years in both Alabama and Colorado.  For Two years he served as the Director of Tennis at Hiwan Country Club in Evergreen, Colorado.  He also served as a teaching pro and Jr. Coordinator at Boulder Country Club for two seasons.  There he coached top state ranked players as well as nationally ranked.  Patrick has been a certified Professional through the USPTR for the past 8 years.

Patrick resides in Alpharetta with his wife Hala, step-daughter Samantha, and dog Sasha.   

 

 

Staton Helton

Associate Tennis Professional

Staton grew up playing tennis in Blakely, GA. He was the MVP of his high school team, losing only one match in four years. In junior tennis he was top 8 in Georgia and top 40 in the South in singles and was #1 in doubles in Georgia. He played collegiate tennis at Troy State University (Division I) in Troy, Alabama. Staton has been teaching tennis since 2003, having been an assistant pro at Altadena Valley Country Club in Birmingham, Alabama and West Lake Country Club in Augusta, Georgia. Staton is a USPTR certified professional.

 

Kevin Hayward

Associate Tennis Professional

Kevin was born and raised in Ann Arbor, Michigan.  In juniors, Kevin was consistently in the top 50 in the country and among the top 5 in the Midwest Section.  While in high school, Kevin put together a 95-1 record, winning 2 National All-American Awards.  He was named the state of Michigan’s 1st ever Mr. Tennis (the award given to the states top senior player) and won 4 team state championships.   Kevin graduated from Western Michigan University where he was named the MAC (Mid-American Conference) player of the year as a senior.  He was the first person in school history to win four MAC Tournament Team Championships and also tied a school record with 19 consecutive doubles wins.  Kevin finished college tied as the fourth all-time in career wins. Starting in June, Kevin is now full time at Windward, working primarily with the juniors.