USPTA Elite & PTR Professional. Luis was ranked in the top ten during his junior Tennis career in Colombia from age 8 to18. He was also ranked in the top 30 in South America at the age of 15 and played professional tournaments before moving to the United States. Luis started his college career at Shorter University in Georgia, where he qualified two consecutive years for nationals, was captain of the team and ended up being ranked #31 in singles and #13 in doubles nationally. That year, Luis won the coveted “The Champion of Character Award” by the NAIA.
After two years in Georgia he moved to New York City, where he graduated from Hunter College in 2013 with a Film and Media Studies degree. In his first season at Hunter, he won the conference championship and was named most valuable player. In 2012, Luis was named scholar-athlete of the year.
As a coach and manager Luis just finished a successful 2nd season at The New Canaan Racquet Club in Connecticut as the Tennis Director. At the New Canaan Racquet Club, Luis has led a team of professionals during a restructuring process that has elevated the club to new standards. The Club started a new 10& Under protocol and teaching system which had increased the junior participation and formed a High-Performance program with college level players. The adult USTA teams have almost doubled and is one of the clubs with more USTA and UTR tournaments in Fairfield County besides starting a new Pickleball program.
Luis worked for 9 Summers at the New Canaan Field Club, one of the biggest tennis programs in the North East. At this seasonal Club, Luis learned the ropes of the private club industry. The past two years he was the Assistant Director and Junior Coordinator. Luis had also been Men’s Coordinator, Women’s Coordinator and Events Coordinator. Luis has extensive experience with both adults and children. He has also coached in high performance programs in Bogota, Colombia, Camp Starlight in New York, Nike Tennis Camp in Amherst, Massachusetts and Kings Highway Tennis Club in Darien Connecticut.
Luis will bring all his energy, personality and discipline to grow the Buck Hill Falls Racquet Sports program.
Luis’ Journey to becoming a Tennis Pro
Everything started when I was about 5 years old. My dad took me to watch him play the final of a prestigious tennis tournament in Bogota, Colombia. This tournament was a big charity event and only doctors could play in it. I remember how excited I was to watch my dad play, and I also remember how annoyed my dad’s opponent was with my chants and celebrations every time my dad won a point! My dad won that match and since that day, there was not another sport I wanted to play.
My passion for playing tennis was noticeable: I refused to play any other sports. When my parents would take me to camps, I would throw tantrums for hours until they took me back to the tennis club. At home, I would hit balls against all the walls and I just could not get enough. My passion for winning was noticeable too: When I started playing tennis matches at age 7, whenever I lost or was losing (not very often!) I would cry, hit my racquet and sometimes trash talk my opponents (which helped me win some matches). I had a complicated temper growing up, but tennis helped me to mature and control my emotions and energy positively.
Around age 10 or 11, my tantrums and misbehavior on court went away and I dedicated more and more time to tennis. Consequently, I started getting positive results. I represented my city, my state and then my country as well. Tennis was my priority throughout high school. After I graduated high school, I played some professional tournaments, but then I decided to go to college.
In 2009, I came to the United States to play college tennis. I had a successful career, and I was ranked #32 in singles and #13 in doubles nationally. Every summer throughout college I had a tennis summer job. After I graduated college, I briefly pursued a career in film, which was my major in college. After some time, I decided to go back to my life passion of tennis!
