Coach to Con Artist: Tennis Club Shocked by Actions of Former Head Coach

Known for its laid-back atmosphere, casual dress code, and frequent social events, the club was the last place anyone expected to see controversy.

Yet, concerns began to arise when the head coach repeatedly missed junior group sessions and cancelled lessons at the last minute. 

Upon being approached by club management, he cited hospital appointments for serious physical health issues as the reason for his absences.

In the past, the club had even allowed him to return to his home country to seek support for mental health struggles. 

He returned, claiming he had recovered, and while health issues weren’t unexpected, his ongoing absences raised red flags, prompting the club to monitor his behaviour more closely.

The situation escalated when members and coaches noticed clients lingering around, apparently waiting for private lessons that the head coach had failed to attend. 

Club leadership scheduled meetings with him to discuss the absences, but the coach only offered vague assurances, saying he had

“a couple of issues here and there, but nothing important.”

But as the investigation continued, two alarming discoveries emerged.

First, the coach had been selling prepaid lesson packages; a practice uncommon among coaches at the club. He took payment up front for packages such as 10 lessons, yet repeatedly failed to follow through. 

Secondly, he had been approaching clients individually, asking for personal loans and portraying himself as financially desperate, struggling to cover rent and buy food. 

He insisted that clients keep these transactions confidential, preventing the club and others from discovering the scope of his actions.

“When a couple of people confessed to this, the floodgates opened, and more than ten people admitted to loaning him money.” reported a club insider.

With rates between £40 and £50 per hour, he was expected to be earning a comfortable income from full-time coaching, yet his appeals for cash and frequent absences remained unexplained.

After additional meetings led nowhere, the club found itself in a difficult position. Coaches are not direct employees but work on contract, which complicated the club’s ability to intervene. 

While the club felt responsible for reimbursing clients affected by the lesson packages, legal advice confirmed that the club held no direct liability—coaches handle all transactions independently.

In the end, the club decided to compensate clients who had lost money through prepaid lessons. However, they could do nothing for those who had provided personal loans to the coach, totalling between £15,000 and £20,000, leaving these clients to bear the financial losses alone.

For a club so devoted to its community, this scandal has brought not only financial consequences but also a painful lesson in trust.