Coolum coach serves up another win

Coolum Tennis Coach Jamie Fletcher has notched up his second consecutive win in the 40/45’s category at the recent 2011 TSQ Sunshine Coast Seniors Championships at Tewantin.
The 44-year-old cruised to an easy win over three younger competitors in the men’s singles event, which he also won in 2009. Last year Jamie won the doubles event with Alex Bijkerk from Sydney.
In his quarter-finals match, Fletcher defeated Aaron Besch 6-0, 6-1, followed by a 6-1, 6-0 win over Matt Hoole in the semi-finals. A late start to the finals match meant that both opponents battled it off in the heat of the day, with Jamie (number 4 seed) overcoming fellow Queenslander Ross Blackley (number 3 seed) 6-3, 6-3.
Jamie picked up a tennis racquet from a young age when his father owned a tennis centre in Sydney. In 1980 at just 13yrs old, he was the No.1 ranked player in Australia and the No. 4 ranked player in the 16yr age group.
At the age of 16, Jamie received a scholarship to the USA to compete throughout America.
Apart from his work as head coach at Coolum Tennis Club, Jamie’s career highlights include coaching the top ranked juniors in USA at the world class Dennis Van Der Meer Tennis Academy, followed by a two-year stint in Quebec where he was the head Professional at Gray Rocks Golf Ski & Tennis Resort.
Jamie, a Level 2 Advanced Coach, (TCA) has been coaching at the Coolum Tennis Club for eight years. He has a clientele of over 100 children and Adults taking lessons.
The Sunshine Coast Seniors Championship was held at the Tewantin Tennis club from 17-19 September. It is part of the International Tennis Federation Seniors Circuit which consists of more than 280 tournaments with 20,000 players taking part each year.