My life has been focused on sports especially my love for tennis and having gained my professional tennis coaching and personal trainer qualifications I soon embarked on a career as a coach working for some of the regions sports coaching groups. But I noticed that something was missing, the personal touch, the professionalism and the fun! With this in mind I formed Excel Sports and now live and breathe my passion every day.
As well as coaching I have also competed in several major tournaments that have seen results including being a ITF Junior World Ranked and winning the ITF Juniors Doubles with my then partner, Aisam Qureshi (Current Top 100 ATP Touring Professional).
Razib Reza Khan (Raz)
Operations Manager - Sports & Recreation
Raz is a regular rainassance man. Having taught cricket, tennis and basketball in the U.A.E since 2003, he also has a over a decade in experience in Summer Camps in Dubai. In addition to that, Raz has completed his education in Environmental Biology and joined Excel Sports as the new Operations Manager, taking care of all the 'Sports and Recreation' activities. We at Excel Sports strongly believe that by bringing his vast knowledge and experience in sports coaching coupled with a passion for the environment, Raz will help take Excel Sports along with our clients 'to the next level.'
Vastly experienced in playing profesisonal cricket, Raz has played international cricket for sides like Bahrain A.C.C at the Darjeeling Cricket Club Annual Sixes Tournament and and pioneered a new style of coaching called 'The Complete Cricketer.' This move proved a success with Raz coaching teams like the Bangladesh Ambasador's XI at the 2009 SAARC Cup and the University of Wollongong in Dubai who under his coaching achieved their first ever triumph at the Nissan Gulf Cup 2007, the biggest and most prestigious inter-university tournament held in the U.A.E.
Along with his international expertise in cricket, Raz is also a PTR qualified tennis coach, earning a 'Professional Level' rating in several disciplines specializes in turning beginners into intermediates in record time. Along with mantaining the high coaching standards demanded by Excel Sports, Raz also manages to infuse the correct dosage of 'fun' into his lessons to encourage his students young and old to look forward to their next meeting.
Raz introduced the concept of 'ball recycling' into Excel Sports along with other 'Green' initiatives which are small steps, but steps in the right direction as far as our environment is concerned.
Jennifer Schmidt
Tennis Professional/WTA Touring Coach
Born and raised in Austria, Jennifer qualified as a Professional Tennis Coach at the Graz & Austrian Federation and is registered for the highest current tennis qualification in Austria.
Having served as Head Coach in Austria and spells in Spain, Jennifer has also won numerous tournaments and has a impressive list of achievements that include; competing in the ITF World Junior U-18 and later in the WTA championships. Winner of tournaments in Bahrain and Algeria plus having played against and beaten some of the top WTA ranked professionals including, Anna Chakvetaze, Danira Safina, Sarah Peer, Sybille Bammer and Sania Mirza. Jennifer brings a refreshing new approach to the game and way she teaches her students, two reasons why she is both one of our most popular coaches and a key member of our team.
Jennifer is Excel Sports seasonal tennis pro since September 2006, due to her travelling commitments with the WTA touring professionals.
Paul Espie
Tennis Professional
Paul has recently joined Excel Sports after a very successful professional tennis coaching career in the UK. Paul has by far one of the most unique and admired teaching techniques we have ever seen and has made an immediate impact with students queuing to join his classes.
With a wide range of qualifications Paul has an outstanding record in coaching that has resulted in three of his students reached at top 20 in Great Britain Juniors and one reaching R-16 at Junior Wimbledon in 2006. Paul has also competed in over 20 different UK County Championships, won the Junior County Doubles Championships in 1991/2, won the Senior County Mixed Doubles 1999 and serve as Head Coach at 3 UK Clubs including David Lloyds UK.
Tanya Volkova
Tennis Professional
Having qualified as a professional tennis instructor, Tanya spent most her coaching time in the Ukraine and the UK where she developed her skills and overall passion to teach others the joy of the game.
Tanya has an amazing history that includes being the current UAE National Ladies Tennis Champion wining two titles in 2006, she was ranked in the top 20 European U-18 between 1996 and 1998, has played against Svetlana Kuznetsova, Vera Zvonareva and Kim Clijster in her junior tennis career.
Jenni Stowers
Gymnastics Head Coach
Jenni joined Excel Sports as professional Gymnastics Instructor in early 2006 and has since developed a very loyal following of students who have found her teaching techniques inspiring and fun..
With a Level 1 coaching qualification in Gymnastics from Western Australian Gymnastics Association, Jenni has worked a Head Coach for several organizations and has an enviable list of achievements and experience. Rep Australia in Utah State Gymnastics Championships USA-1981, the World Championships Russia-1981, the Australian Gymnastics Championships (3rd)-1981 and Australian Rep at the New Zealand National Championships-1977, just to name a few.
Taariq Baalawy
Soccer Head Coach
Trained and qualified as a Professional Soccer Coach in the USA, Taariq is also a FIFA USSF Grade 6 Referee and qualified SEMSRA Referee – two qualifications that bring an additional twist to his already established training techniques.
With an enviable history Taariq has served as the SEMO Soccer Club Head Coach and Manager (from age groups 11’s to 15’s), played in state tournaments across the United States. 1997 – 2000, was a guest coach for community teams, boys and girls. 1998 – 2002 and assisted during soccer camps for all ages and technical abilities.
Taariq now runs the Excel Sports Soccer Academy and has already established himself amongst his students and within the local community.
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