Academy Staff
Bobby has been the head pro at Wallace Park since 1992. A long time resident, he grew up playing tennis in Oakville. Bobby was lucky enough to be selected as a "Futures" prospect at the age of ten and received high level coaching at no cost for his initial season. From there, he went on to be a highly ranked Provincial and National junior before attending the University of Arizona and the University of Alabama (Birmingham) on an athletic scholarship. While in University his team won their confernce Championship and were ranked in the top 20 of NCAA tennis schools. Bobby played a variety of professional events as well as professional team tennis in Germany. In 1993, Bobby returned home and was ranked #1 in Ontario in the Men's Open category. Over the course of his playing career Bobby has been fortunate to have competed against two NCAA Champions as well as several top 10 world ranked professionals.
Bobby's coaching career has included producing several National Champions, Provincial Champions as well as working with top 10 world ranked international juniors and WTA professionals. He started the Oakville Academy of Tennis in 2000 with his partner Natalie Armitage. The Academy has produced many champions from a grassroots level as well as sending many players off on NCAA Division 1 Athletic Scholarships.
Bobby brings both coaching and playing skills to the tennis court. He is committed to grassroots tennis and making tennis the sport of a lifetime. Bobby feels that "tennis should be fun and made accessible to all people".
Natalie is a Tennis Canada certified Level III coach. She grew up in a tennis playing family in the Lorne Park area of Mississauga, ranked consistently in the top 10 in Canada in the U14, U16, U18 age categories. Clearly, a talented , natural "south paw", she received a full scholarship to the University of Hawaii. Natalie has been assistant tennis pro at Mississauga Golf and Country Club and a teaching pro at the Ontario Racquet Club. With the philosophy "Have racquet, will travel", she also taught tennis at the Palm Meadows International Club in Australia. Nat has been the teaching pro at Bronte Tennis Club since April of 1996. She is the driving force behind the revival of the Oakville Junior Tennis Championships, relocating it to Bronte from 1998-2005. Nat has also done Provincial coaching and travelled with Under 12, 14 and 18 Provincial teams. She began the Oakville Academy of Tennis in 2000, with partner Bobby Armitage. The Academy has produced several National and Provincial champions along with many players receiving Division 1 NCAA scholarships.
She is popular with players of every age, offering clinics and private lessons to all and sundry, whether 7 or 70. Her combination of gentle persuasion, positive reinforcement, and unrelenting encouragement, work wonders with both young and young-at-heart.
Bruce is a Tennis Canada certified Club Professional 1, he began coaching with the academy in 2012 and started working full time at both Bronte Tennis Club and Cedar Springs in 2016. Bruce enjoys working with students of all ages and levels to teach the fundamentals of tennis. He is very involved in the academy’s high performance groups, adult programming, and kids programming. He received a division 2 scholarship to Brevard College in North Carolina. Bruce is available for private or group lessons or as a hitting partner for those looking to improve their game through point & match play.