The namesake of Tompkins Tennis, Richard has over 30 years of experience developing high-level competitive juniors. In the past 15 years, he's produced over 30 local juniors who have achieved a top ten national ranking.  Richard has also coached several players at the junior and adult grand slams!

There are few coaches who can match Richard’s energy or intensity levels on the court, and he has a gift for transferring those same traits to the students who work with him.

Sofia Zaprianov is a native of Northern California and an alumnae of Tompkins Tennis. She was ranked #1 for Northern California for both the Girls 16’s and 18’s Doubles Divisions. Sofia was also ranked top 40 nationally for both the Girls 16’s and 18’s Doubles Divisions. She was the #74 recruit on Tennis Recruiting Network. Sofia played Division 1 college tennis at Miami University and Samford University on full athletic scholarships. She was named an ITA scholar-athlete in 2022 and held a 6-1 record in conference singles matches for Samford University.

Steve Ward was born in San Francisco and competed for Canada Junior College and the University of Oregon.   Steve previously worked as Director of Racquet Sports at Bay Club Crow Canyon, Director of Tennis at the Crow Canyon Country Club, Director of Tennis at the Modesto Swim and Racquet Club and Assistant Tennis Professional at the Fremont Hills Tennis Club in Los Altos, California. Steve is currently competing on a national level in the 60's division.

Sandy Tompkins is responsible for the academy's fitness and strength programs. She is a certified Personal Trainer, Sports Nutrition Certified, as well as TRX-certified. Sandy works one-on-one with juniors and adults in developing their off-court fitness programs. 

Specializing in tennis specific conditioning, Sandy has also worked as a fitness trainer with both junior and professional tennis players competing in college and grand slams.

Akbar Mamirov hails from Uzbekistan and moved to the United States in 2011. Akbar was a top ranked junior in Northern California and played Division 1 College Tennis at Saint Mary’s College. Prior to joining the Tompkins Tennis team Akbar coached for both the Nike and CA Berkeley summer camps.

Those experiences helped Akbar realize his passion for coaching and helping players maximize their potential.

Joey Tscherne was born into a tennis family with both parents being top coaches and founders of the Sylmar, California based non-profit organization, Neighborhood Junior Tennis Program (NJTP).   Joey began competing in tournaments at an early age and was a highly ranked junior in Southern California.

Joey received a full scholarship to the Metropolitan State University of Denver in 2015.   He played number one singles and doubles for the university.  Joey received the ITA Senior Player Of The Year for the South Central Region in 2019.  

Prior to joining the Tompkins Tennis coaching staff Joey worked with Peter Smith, Head Men's Tennis Coach for the University of Southern California (USC).

Born and raised in Hayward, California, Aerial trained at Tompkins Tennis throughout her junior career finishing up #1 in every age group (10's-18's) in Northern California and was ranked top 5 in the United States (16's divison) and top 10 (18's division) .

After playing professional tournaments starting at the age of 17, Aeriel decided to accept a full scholarship to the University of Texas at Austin although she had offers from prestigious universities such as UC Berkeley, UCLA, and University of North Carolina. 

While competing for Texas, Ellis was the incoming Freshman of the Year in the Texas Region, a 2 time All-American, and received a National Sportsmanship award her junior year. 

Aeriel feels she can help players best by helping develop strategies and patterns they can rely on to help win singles and doubles matches, improving stroke consistency, and maintaining a positive attitude.