About Us – Discover Our Story and Mission
Our Main Ideas and Values
Baseplay Tennis was founded in 2017 with the goal of bringing high-quality tennis coaching to Singapore’s local and expat communities.
We strive to deliver the best results for our students, whether it involves teaching beginners the game’s fundamentals or pushing competitive players to reach new limits.
Apart from our coaching methodology, we believe that having fun in our lessons and establishing a great personal relationship with our students are key fundamentals in achieving the best results on the tennis court.
Meet Our Founder
Here’s my story to give you a real understanding of who I am and why I have chosen this tennis path:
(AGE 3-7)
Early morning Friday 7th October 1994 I first entered this world. I was born at the Sussex Hospital in South England. Brother to Robert and Nadia Lee, and the third and last son to Anna and Peter Lee.
Born into a sporty family, I started my tennis journey at the Pavilion & Avenue Tennis Club in Brighton & Hove, United Kingdom, at the age of 3.
Following my older siblings, I would sit at the side and play throw and catch with the tennis balls or try to roll the ball with the racket.
At the age of 4, I started in the mini-red classes at the club and would play in red ball competitions. Tennis is truly a wonderful family sport which can put your children in excellent situations to meet new people and socialise.
We used to spend the whole Saturday or Sunday at the club. Where they would set up activities for the kids, organize league tennis for the adults, and have the clubhouse available.
It’s crucial to introduce kids to a club environment where they can create their own tennis community to thrive.
Around the same age, my parents also thought it would be good to complement tennis with other sports. I was in Gymnastics (helps strength and flexibility) & swimming (helps balance the body), and some football (great footwork training).
It was only until I was around 10-11 that I left all other sports and just focused on tennis.
Pictures from my early days
My dad was so into tennis that he would take us to see the pros at Wimbledon & Roland Garros when we were kids. Amazing opportunity to watch world-class tennis just a 2-hour train ride away in London or a short flight to Paris. I’m yet to see the US Open & Australian!
AGE 7-12 – Transition to Spain
When I was aged 7, my family made the decision to move to Spain in order to pursue fluency in a second language and play tennis pretty much full-time in the sunny weather. (As we all know, the weather in the UK doesn’t always allow for much outdoor sport!)
At first, the thought of the move was scary. Having only been in Spain for the summer holidays, with limited knowledge of the language, I was enrolled in a Spanish state school in the local village. Let’s just say English was not widely spoken!
A vivid memory is one of my first days entering school with my British school uniform. All the other kids had no uniform at all, making me stand out even more!
My dad decided a move to Spain would be necessary for my siblings and me to play professional tennis. He bought some cheap land and constructed two tennis courts and a practice wall to start a small tennis academy.
He also encouraged us to take lessons from other coaches and at different academies in Spain.
There were around 3 tennis clubs 10-minute drive away from our home. All with clay courts and hard courts which ran kids’ programmes, tournaments and leagues.
We sometimes would travel further to academies like JC Ferrero Equelite Tennis Academy in Alicante, Sanchez Academy and Bruguera Academy in Barcelona. We would also drive all over Spain for tennis competitions.
AGE 12-16 – Understanding what the world of tennis can give
Throughout my time in Spain, I experienced training at some world-renowned academies such as the ones named above. I had some of my best battles on clay!
While growing up, tennis allowed me to have a different circle of friends. I spent time at the club and at tournaments making new tennis friends because few of my school friends played.
During these years my brother and sister started competing more on the international junior ITF tour and WTA tour, with my father travelling with them.
Both of them managed to obtain a few points and a ranking which allowed them to receive full scholarships to Division 1 NCAA universities in Texas, USA.
(https://www.itftennis.com/en/players/robert-lee/800283531/gbr/jt/s/overview/)
(https://www.itftennis.com/en/players/nadia-lee/800253014/gbr/wt/s/overview/)
When my siblings were at home it gave me a great opportunity to practice with them as a sparring partner.
At this age, sometimes tennis life became a bit too much. If I would lose a match my head would go down and I didn’t want to play anymore.
Back then I was too emotional on the tennis court. Seeing my other friends from school pick up different sports/activities I would want to join in and it would take away from my tennis training.
At the point, the thought of becoming a tennis coach, or coaching in Singapore or Asia had not even crossed my mind!
AGE 16-18 – Work hard, play hard
In Spain, after graduating from high school at the age of 16 you have the choice of whether to continue your education or not. I decided to continue with a Spanish Baccalaureate (IB) course at night school.
I received a special letter from the tennis association granting me permission to attend an adult school and train during the day.
My days consisted of early morning tennis training, lunch, physical training, and then into the school from around 6-11 pm. I got the bus to town in the evening, and my classes were great fun as I met people from all circles of life.
Some students had young children and wanted to continue their education. Some students had stopped studying at 16 in order to work and were coming back to their studies.
This period was also tough for me. I couldn’t get a high enough ranking in order to obtain a full tennis scholarship to the US. US Tuition fees are simply too expensive.
So at this point, I already knew that I wouldn’t have what it takes to play professionally and make a living from going on tour. I decided to continue my education in the UK and start a bachelor’s degree.
AGE 18-23 – Back to my roots
Thinking that I had left tennis behind and was ready to transition into college life and excel at university. I unexpectedly came across the tennis society on my first day while going through the fresher’s fair. This I would soon discover was to become the best part of my next 5 years in the UK.
Jon Disley had returned from completing 2 years at Hofstra University in New York, on a tennis scholarship and was starting up the tennis club at Anglia Ruskin University.
In exchange for coaching the team and actively participating in the university sports faculty, the university was supportive in funding my official coaching courses through the Lawn Tennis Association.
During my Bachelor’s degree (3 years) Jon and I promoted our team from 4th to 2nd division.
It was an amazing experience, as the team progressed we obtained more funding from the University. This allowed us to tour the UK and play against other teams.
Once Jon graduated, I was offered funding to complete my Master’s degree and be a sports coordinator at the university running the team. Coach Jon followed a move to become a tennis coach in Singapore.
As a part-time coaching job, I worked at David Lloyds in Cambridge. This gave me a great variety of students to teach and learn more skills under the guidance of experienced coaches.
While becoming a certified coach I had to work a set number of hours supervised by senior coaches in order to qualify and be awarded the certification.
I would work weekends at the local club and was teaching a couple of students frequently. During one of the years, I took 2 performance players from the UK to Spain to experience 2 weeks of intensive training and tournaments.
One player (pictured below) won his age group in the tournament.
I have a Bachelor of Marketing and a Master’s in Information and Technological Studies.
AGE 23 – PRESENT – Impart my gift of tennis teaching to the world (Tennis Coach in Singapore)
After graduating I was offered a coaching position in Singapore. Coach Jon had recommended me for the job and I was excited for my first time ever visiting Asia!
I found it very easy to adapt to life in Singapore and really enjoyed coaching here. After 2 years I decided it was time to go at it solo and set up Baseplay Tennis Academy. As a tennis coach, Singapore has a lot to offer.
My coaching philosophy is similar to the Spanish methodology. Tough training coupled with a clear focus on developing the correct technique from an early stage in one’s tennis career.
My teaching method has been moulded by my experience through my years on the court. What I have learnt from top professional players, recreational players, national coaches and physical trainers.
Baseplay Tennis Academy caters to all ages & abilities. We have beginners of all ages, performance juniors playing SPEX tournaments, JTTL and STA tournaments, and WITS and LTS teams.
After this fulfilling journey, I am now proud to say I am a full-time professional tennis coach in Singapore & Asia.
On the side to my coaching I enjoy keeping my blog up to date and other channels, you can find the links here:
– Youtube
– Tennis Blog about Asia
– Tennis Racket Reviews
– Tennis Fitness Topics
