Meet the Team

Lee Childs – Head of Development

Lee is a former professional ATP tennis player who retired from the tour in 2007. He achieved a highest UK Singles ranking of Number 4 and was the youngest ever British Senior National Champion in 2000 and 2001. During his playing career, Lee achieved some impressive results including a win over seeded player Nikolay Davydenko at the Wimbledon Championships in 2003. Lee has represented Great Britain as part of the Davis Cup Team on five occasions and competed at the Wimbledon Championships in the singles, doubles and mixed doubles events for seven consecutive years. Lee also had a very successful junior career and was the Under 18 European Champion for singles and doubles in 2000.

He was ranked the No. 1 ITF World Junior Doubles Champion in 2000 and won the US Open Junior Doubles Championships that same year. Lee has been coaching since he retired from the tour in 2007 and holds the LTA Level 5 Master Performance Coaching qualification which is the current highest coaching qualification in the UK. As Head of Development, Lee will be using his wealth of playing and coaching experience to set the programmes and session plans for the Academy.

Kirsti Childs – Head of Administration

Kirsti is a qualified solicitor and worked as an in-house lawyer at Universal Music Publishing before starting her family in 2010. She holds the LTA Tennis Leader qualification. Kirsti will be your first point of contact for any ESTA related queries including bookings.

Jack Lane – Head Coach

Jack is an LTA Level 4 licensed coach and has been coaching since 2008. He coaches at the All England Lawn Tennis Club for the Wimbledon Junior Tennis Initiative where he works with children of all ages and abilities including aspiring professional players. Jack specialises in coaching junior groups and individuals of all ages and abilities. Jack is also qualified to teach Cardio Tennis for adults.

Ollie Butler

Ollie is an LTA Level 3 certified coach. As a junior he played for Surrey and went on to complete his first tennis qualification in 1992. Since then, he has been coaching in England and abroad at various clubs, centres and schools. Ollie has a wealth of experience coaching red level juniors through to adults, in both individual and group formats. He thoroughly enjoys seeing players’ progress and looks forward to seeing you on court soon!