Dan Kiernan has won the AEGON Coach of the Month award for February.
Dan Kiernan has been awarded February's AEGON Coach Award after all his work and success with Joshua Ward Hibbert.
Eighteen months ago, Dan moved from Edgbaston Priory Club to start up the SotoTennis Academy in Sotogrande, Spain. On receiving the accolade Dan commented; “This award comes as great surprise and I accept it with great pride on behalf of all the team here at the SotoTennis Academy."
It was in Spain where Dan started to coach Josh, who was ranked 450 in ITF Junior Rankings at that time. In January 2012, Josh reached the quarter-finals of the Australian Junior Open and won the boys doubles with his partner Liam Broady. Josh is now ranked at No.20 in the ITF Junior Rankings, with more to come.
Dan’s influence on these improved results has been remarkable and was acknowledged by Josh in his victory speech.
Dan added: "The 'buy in' from the players on the Academy philosophy is driven each day by every single member of staff and this has led to some encouraging results from our players over the last few months, hence why I very much see this a team award. Thank you to all involved in nominating and selecting this award. It goes a long way to inspiring and motivating us to continue all the hard work over the coming days, weeks, months and years. Play to Win.”
Mervyn Stone, Chairman of Warwickshire LTA also talked about Dan's success as a coach; “Dan is a very enthusiastic coach with enormous playing experience that he is able to communicate to inspire his players. The results that Josh has achieved are a telling tribute to Dan’s very effective coaching style and technique.”