Ben Griffin - Head Coach
07866 553842
LTA Senior Coach - Level 4
Ben has 20 years of full-time coaching experience. He started his coaching career as Deputy Head Coach of 'DC Tennis Ltd' in North Somerset before moving to South East London and the prestigious Blackheath Lawn Tennis Club where he held the position of Senior Club Coach for 12 years. Ben then established 'Griffin Tennis' in January 2021 when he relocated to Gloucestershire and took on the role of Head Coach at Chalford Tennis Club. Since then the Coaching Team at Griffin Tennis has continued to grow as has the Coaching Programme at Chalford with a substantial and sustained increase in the number of players participating across both the adult and junior sides of the programme.
Ben also coaches in South Cerney, Gloucestershire, where Griffin Tennis has run the Junior Coaching Programme at Cerney Lakes Tennis Club since March 2022.
Griffin Tennis has recently expanded further and begun delivery of the Coaching Programme at a third venue, Fairford Tennis Club, where Ben became Head Coach in March of 2024.
Ben teaches juniors and adults, individually and in groups across various formats, and equally enjoys working with beginners through to high performance nationally ranked players.
As a player himself Ben was in the Hampshire County Team throughout his junior years and he trained and competed at Regional level, South of England. Later, whilst studying Philosophy at The University of Birmingham, he played for and captained the University Men's Tennis team.
Bjorn Merrett - Coach
07711 804175
bmfittness19@gmail.com
LTA Coach - Level 3
Bjorn has been an integral part of the Griffin Tennis team since its inception early in 2021 and he holds the position of Club Coach at Chalford Tennis Club. He has 11 years of coaching experience, previously coaching for the MTI Tennis - Plus Academy. He qualified as a Level 3 coach in 2022 and teaches juniors and adults, both individually and groups. Bjorn runs the high-energy Cardio Tennis sessions at Chalford as well as the popular Saturday Drills sessions.
As a junior Bjorn started playing at the age of 4, being coached by Neville & Andy Pegg at the Riverside Club Tennis Club Gloucester. He competed at county level.
Nicola Keller - Coach
nicolarooks@hotmail.com
07716 012420
LTA Instructor - Level 2
Nicola achieved her LTA Level 2 Instructor qualification back in 2015. She specialises in the teaching of racket sports at Cheltenham Ladies College where she has been a PE teacher for 15 years. Nic was appointed Chair of Chalford Tennis Club in February 2024 and, as well as being a fantastic coach and role model, she volunteers a great amount of her time towards the successful running of the club.
Nic played at county level in Essex as a junior, and she contines to play at a high standard whilst captaining the Ladies A team at Chalford.
Tom Cooper - Assistant Coach
t.cooper27@outlook.com
LTA Assistant - Level 1
Tom successfully completed his LTA Level 1 Assitant qualification in January 2023 and is now actively working towards completing his Level 2. Tom enjoys assisting the lead coaches during some junior group coaching sessions and on holiday camps.
He loves to compete and is a strong club player having regularly attended training sessions when he was a junior on the Coaching Programme at Chalford.
Jason Sharp - Assistant Coach
sharpjason@mac.com
LTA Assistant - Level 1
Jason completed his LTA Level 1 Assistant course in December 2023 and, keen to quickly progress his learning, is already working towards his Level 2 qualification down at Bath University. After a long break from tennis he was inspired to pick up the racket again and embark on his coach development after enjoying teaching his kids to play tennis!
Jason represented his school and his county of Leicestershire when he was younger and he's now a strong club player rediscovering his love for tennis.