With the exception of the Tennis Director, Holger Nickel, all instructors are independent contractors who set their own hours and their own fees. They are accredited with the club and a number of them have excellent credentials. Besides the number of instructors who are members of the United States Professional Tennis Association (USPTA) which certifies tennis instructors, Holger, Gretchen Maloney and Dave Luebbe are also certified as High Performance Coaches by the USTA.

Gretchen and Holger have been teaching at this facility since the fall of 1989. They have been recognized by the professional teaching organization (USPTA) as well as the USTA numerous times as outstanding teachers and coaches. They regularly coach teams at the local, district, sectional and national level.

Holger is also one of only roughly 100 tennis coaches in the United States certified and eligible to teach the USTA's Recreational Coaches Workshop

Junior Program
Apple Athletic Club is proud to have one of the most active junior programs in the country. Augmenting a successful junior group lesson program are tournaments, exchanges, trips to college matches, and visits and inspiration from former players now in the collegiate ranks. In 2007 and 2008 junior players were able to work as ball kids during the Tennis Channel Open in Las Vegas. Being on court with the likes of Lleyton Hewitt, Marat Safin, James Blake and the Brian twins was an incredible experience.

Former players (collegiate tennis)

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Apple Athletic Club ball kid group at Tennis Channel Open, Las Vegas, March 2008, with Lleyton Hewitt

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Coaches Tolland Whitlock and Holger Nickel with Apple Athletic Club ball kids and Wayne Bryan (father of the Bryan twins; number one doubles team in the world)

Apple Athletic Club actively supports the local High School tennis programs and through its personnel helps administers district tournaments for both the 5A and 4A classification. Local school programs have been extremely successful with both Hillcrest and Idaho Falls High School having won the State Championships as a team; several of the individual players have been likewise successful.

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Coaches Gretchen Maloney and Holger with Team Idaho at the Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs 2007

The Apple Athletic Club Tennis Facility provides the home courts for the "Competitive Training Center" Eastern Idaho program. This program is run in approximately 100 facilities nationwide in support of the USTA Player Development effort. Among others, former world number 1 Mats Wilander has been a guest coach in Idaho Falls.

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Team Idaho East with coaches f.l.t.r. Gretchen Maloney, Mats Wilander, Holger Nickel


Adult Beginning Tennis Lessons

Apple Tennis also offers beginning tennis lessons for adults. Instruction is 5 weeks long and are offered every other month. For more information contact the Tennis Facility at 529-0300.