Our Team

Academy Director / Owner

Chris Canady

Chris Canady has built a successful coaching career in New Zealand and the United States, across multiple levels of play, and numerous leadership roles.

Before starting Level-Up Tennis, Chris worked with two highly distinguished tennis academies:

• Director of Tennis at Tucker Tennis Academy (TTA) in Oklahoma

• Director of Player Development at LTP Tennis Academy in South Carolina

Prior to this, Chris spent eight years in Auckland, collaborating with Dwayne Cleugh to grow Sparta Tennis into New Zealand’s largest and most successful tennis academy. During this time, Sparta won 50+ age group national championships between singles and doubles. 

“I’m absolutely thrilled to be back in New Zealand, and especially to join such a fantastic club like Browns Bay Racquets Club. My coaching journey has been incredibly rewarding and eye-opening. It’s given me a renewed appreciation for everything New Zealand has to offer, both in my career and personal life. I’m excited to make Browns Bay my long-term home.”

Academy Coach

Briar Preston

Academy Coach

Ben Holmes

As a junior competitive player, Ben won multiple North Harbour and Auckland age group championships, leading to being ranked in the Top 15 nationally in all age groups.

Continuing his competitive career, Ben earned a tennis scholarship to Bluefield College in Virginia, USA. After completing his freshmen year season with an undefeated 11-0 win streak, he was awarded: 

• Freshman of the Year honours

• All-Freshman First Team 

• All-Conference First Team for the Appalachian Athletic Conference.

As Senior Coach for Level-Up Tennis, Ben specialises in tournament-level players, advanced adult players and junior players progressing towards competitive play. 

Club Coach

Isabella Pejcic

Club Coach / Club Coaching Manager

Lauren Pomfrett

During her time at Westlake Girls High School, Lauren was selected for the exclusive, high-performance programme, Cygnet, for top competitive athletes, where she represented her school in tournaments and inter-school competitions.

Lauren is active in her tennis community, with roles such as:

• Love Tennis Youth Lead Ambassador

• Lead coach for Friday Junior Club Night and Junior Hot Shots

• Browns Bay Racquets Club Committee Member

As Club Coach for Level-Up Tennis, Lauren specialises in group and private coaching of beginner to intermediate level junior and adult players. 

Additionally, Lauren brings her unique skill as Club Coaching Manager, responsible for the operations and marketing for club coaching programmes at Level Up Tennis. 

Club Coach

Johnny Zhang

Johnny is passionate for a wide variety of sports, and on his first visit to New Zealand, he found his love for tennis. During school, Johnny competed in both junior and senior tournament teams.

At Level Up Tennis, Johnny provides a unique skill of specialising in:

• English and Mandarin fluent tennis lessons

• Providing a strong foundation of proper tennis technique

• Tailoring lessons to suit individuals and their personal tennis journey

At Level-Up Tennis, Johnny specialises in private coaching for beginner junior players in either Mandarin and English.

Junior Coach

Luca Monteleone

Luca is a dedicated player with a strong foundation of technical and tactical skills. Luca competes in the Premier Boys league for Junior Interclub in the Tennis Norther Region,

With a Coaching Assistant Course qualification, and the ambition to work towards his Development Coach Level 1 qualification,
Luca is committed to improving his coaching knowledge and practice. 

Luca believes that the right balance of challenge and fun builds love for tennis, and is what led him to begin coaching.  His goal is to inspire players to stay engaged in tennis and to continously support their improvement.