Meet the team

Nathan – Head Coach

Growing up as a local Gold Coast boy, Nathan has been heavily involved in the Club’s coaching programs for over 10 years. As the Head Coach, Nathan has helped develop, co-ordinate and deliver a quality junior progam. Nathan has over 25 years coaching experience at all levels and is highly regarded in the area of junior talent identification. Nathan has coached a number of highly ranked juniors and many of his students have gone on to achieve scholarships in American Colleges.

Nathan is also a registered PE primary school teacher with Education Queensland and is familiar with all the latest teaching strategies used to educate today’s students. Nathan was voted Gold Coast coach of the year in 2006 and achieved a QLD ranking of 6 in singles in 2000.

Luiz – Club Coach

Born and raised in Brazil, Luiz started playing tennis at the age of 6. He quickly showed his passion for Tennis and by the age of 12 he was ranked number 1 in his state.  Two years later, at the age of 14, Luiz moved to another state to play in one of the major Clubs in his country. He was ranked in the Top 3 in the State for 5 years in a row and top 10 in the country for 3 years, having won numerous tournaments and holding an international junior ranking. In his late teenage years, Luiz started to spar with tour players including Brazilian Davis Cup players.

Luiz started coaching in order to save money so he could travel and play tournaments. Not much later he found his love for coaching and enjoyed sharing his knowledge with the younger generation. Luiz has over 10 years of coaching experience, including coaching in resorts and academies. While at the academies he helped players go onto U.S Colleges, Futures, National and Regional tournaments.

With Tennis Australia qualifications and Certificates in Fitness, Luiz started coaching at the Gold Coast Seniors Tennis Club in 2018 and has been there since, sharing his knowledge and passion for the sport with adults and the younger generation.

Luke – Club Coach

My name is Luke Spanner and I have been coaching for over 10 years and hold a Club Professional Certification. My coaching journey started in Tweed Heads where I grew up before taking on a major role at Somerset College as Head Coach. I was at Somerset for over 7 years. During this time, I also worked overseas in Las Vegas for a year helping a junior program with their pathways.

While I was at Somerset, I had the privilege of representing the Gold Coast as a Company Member for Tennis QLD for 2 years helping shape tennis in the Gold Coast and QLD. After leaving Somerset in 2020, I took on the challenge of running my own business in northern NSW and have done so for the past 4 years.

A little bit about myself, I’m a diehard sports fan. I love all sports especially NRL and AFL. I’m a Penrith Panthers and Sydney Swans fan. A fun fact is I used to be a VFL boundary umpire!

Simona – Club Coach

Born and raised in Prague, the Czech Republic, Simona began playing tennis at the age of 8.  At the age of 10 she began playing tournaments and by 17 had progressed to be one of the top 15 players in Czechoslovakia. A back injury at the age of 19 caused Simona to stop competitive tennis so she embarked on a coaching career.  In 1998, Simona moved to Australia to study English, married and continued her coaching career.  Simona has represented Australia in the 45s ITF World Seniors Tennis Teams event, winning the Australian 45+ singles title in 2019 and the 50+ Australian mixed doubles title in 2020.  She continues to play and compete at the highest level in Seniors Tennis in Australia and brings with her 35 years of coaching experience. Simona enjoys coaching all age levels, from beginner to advanced, creating a fun and enjoyable learning experience for her students.

Tony – Club Coach & Stringer

Growing up in Caulfield, Victoria, Tony started playing tennis at a very young age and was part of the Caulfield Grammar School when they won the APS private schools competition throughout Melbourne. As a young adult, Tony moved to Sydney to learn the tennis coaching trade and ended up coaching at various clubs for over 20 years. Tony was a club pro at Tennis World, River Road Tennis & the Neutral Bay Club. He also worked with John Alexander managing several tennis events.

Tony has been at the GCS Tennis Club for the past 10 years as a player, member, coach and re-stringer. Tony is highly regarded as one of the best racket re-stringers on the GC.