Charles Akinloye is the Director of Tennis at the Trumbull Racquet Club. Charles teaches 80 to 100 hours per week, and sometimes he goes over 100 hours. This makes him the unofficial world record holder for the hours a director spends on the tennis court. He’s been at Trumbull for nearly 30 years and has seen thousands of students grow their game in Connecticut. You probably know some of them, such as former world no. 4 James Blake. If you believe a big part of who we are and what we know is derived from cumulative life experiences, then Charles is extraordinary.

Grit, passion, loyalty, and love. You will find these qualities in most coaches, but there is a very unique history behind Charles’s life that makes him a truly one-of-a-kind character. He was born in Nigeria and was growing up near a tennis club. Charles fell in love with the sport from watching people play tennis. But tennis was an exclusive and expensive sport, and Charles’s family couldn’t afford to pay for him to play. That didn’t stop Charles from getting his foot in the door. He began working as a ball boy there. He felt closer to tennis and needed to play tennis somehow. So Charles and his friends used their ingenuity and contacts at the local slaughterhouse to get the shoulder bones of cows. They would clean them and make paddle racquets to hit the ball with. Later, Charles and his friends learned to build paddle racquets from wood. Still, tennis needs to be played with strings.

The tennis club in his neighborhood occasionally hosted tournaments. As we know all too well from watching John McEnroe flip out, tournament players vent. There’s a lot at stake, and as the pressure builds, some players take it out on their racquets. That’s how Charles got introduced to his first racquet with strings. A tournament referee took a cracked racquet and gave it to him. Charles played with that for about a year before getting a proper racquet.

Charles’s passion for tennis didn’t go unnoticed. A coach began working with him and his friends. The coaching advice, combined with his passion and work ethic, made Charles unstoppable. He played his first tournament and showed great potential to the regional tennis federation. They invited him to train, and Charles kept working and getting better. Playing more tournaments and getting far. He became the top Nigerian junior and, at 17, joined the Nigerian Davis Cup team. He reached an ATP ranking of 630 before moving to the United States to play college tennis.

Charles coaches students from the age of 4 to 94. He believes coaches must put in as much effort as is expected of their students. His coaching philosophy is derived from three fundamental rules: (1) set goals; (2) be dedicated; and (3) “hard work will always secure your success.”

In addition to his stellar coaching and playing experience, Charles holds an MBA from the University of Bridgeport and raised three children with his wonderful wife. Their two daughters played as numbers 1 and 2 in Trumbull High School, and his son is an R&B musician.

A native of Connecticut, Scott is a former Division 1 college player for the University of Rhode Island. He spent ten years as the Director of Tennis at the Weston Racquet Club and brings over twenty years of experience teaching juniors and adults at the local, district and national level.

Scott is a USPTA certified P-1 professional with experience as a junior program coordinator, USTA league coach, pro staff trainer, adult clinic coordinator and USTA tournament referee. Scott has played exhibition tennis with Ivan Lendl, Murphy Jenson, Luke Jenson and Tom Gullikson.

Born and raised in New Jersey, Alison competed at the high school, junior college, and college levels, and is a former Middle States junior player who competed in sectional and national tournaments.

She is a graduate of Rider University where she played #1 singles and doubles for two years. Prior to Rider University, Alison played #1 singles and doubles at Mercer County Community College. At Mercer, she was a two-time first singles National Champion and was named first team All-American for two years. In 2016, she received her USPTA professional rating certification and has experience working with players of all ages and levels.

Alison comes to us most recently from Windermere, Florida. She is happy to be back in the Northeast closer to family and to be involved in teaching the game of tennis.

Nobby is from Kenya, where he achieved a high level in junior tennis. He represented his country in the Davis Cup and the All-American Games in Egypt, where he received the Bronze Medal in Men’s doubles.

Nobby loves to coach tennis at all levels from beginner to tournament level competitor. A goal of his, is to see his players reach the international competitive level.

His hobbies include playing tennis for fun, watching good movies, traveling for tennis, site-seeing and experiencing different cultures. He enjoys listening to West African and country music. He and his wife Lynnet have two daughters, Nicole and Noreen.

Gustavo learned to play tennis at 4 years old and move to Brazil at age 16 where he was able to train and win several tournaments. He became a professional in singles and doubles at ATP with a ranking of 1616 in singles and 1361 in doubles. In 2019 ASA Miami, he was national runner-up playing number two in the lineup and ITA National champion.

Danail Banov comes to us from Varna, Bulgaria. He is trilingual in Bulgarian, Spanish and English. Danail graduated from Cardinal Stritch University in Milwaukee, NAIA Division and received his Masters from Nicholls State University in Thibodaux, LA where he was on the tennis team and assisted the Head Tennis Coach with team management, practice planning and player development for the Division 1 program. He traveled with junior players on the ITF tour. His highest UTR was 12.5. He was Assistant Tennis Coach for Montauk Tennis Club in Montauk, New York, coaching both adults and juniors to help improve their technical skills.

Danail is passionate about tennis and is proud of his communication and motivational skills to help enhance conditioning, adaptability and team work in players of all ages.