About Us
Coach Darren Holt, CEO Advantage Tennis
Advantage Tennis, owned and managed by Coach Darren Holt, is the tennis management company for the town of Celebration. Coach Darren is also our head teaching pro and the Celebration High School Boys Tennis Coach. Originally from Sussex, England, and a player from the age of 7, he has taught for over 30 years, all over the east coast of the United States! Former Director of Operations for MG Tennis (overseeing Lake Cane Tennis Center, Ft. Gatlin Tennis Center, and others) he enjoys all aspects of the tennis industry; creating, promoting and teaching programs, giving private lessons, managing other tennis professionals, and he himself continues to play competitively! Coach Darren is skilled and experienced at teaching all levels of students, from the very beginner, to the college prospect and advanced ladies teams and is certified USPTA, CPR and First Aid.
Coach Darren and his family live right here in Celebration, where they all play tennis competitively and as a fun, family pastime!
Coach Innocent Modika
Coach Innocent Modika was born in Nigeria and was playing ITF tournaments by the time he was 14. He played at Hampton University and his team won the National Championships his senior year. He then moved to Bolletieri’s Tennis Academy in Bradenton where he started to train with the likes of Jim Courier, Pete Sampras, David Weaton, etc, and reached a career high of 487 in the world!!
After his pro career, he has since coached both college tennis teams and touring professionals! His extensive experience in both coaching and playing allows him the ability to grow players who wish to pursue this sport collegiately or professionally!
Coach Darren and Coach Inno began coaching juniors together back in 2004, growing programs at Ft. Gatlin from beginners to college athletes! Since beginning the programs here in Celebration, Coach Darren has been pursuing Coach Inno to join our team in growing this amazing sport. And last year, our dream team reunited!
We are so excited and blessed to have this partnership together again!! Welcome Coach Inno!!
Coach GianCarlo Escotto
Coach GianCarlo comes to Advantage Tennis with a substantial amount of experience in competitive tennis! At 16, he was number 3 in his home country, Dominican Republic, in the 18's division. He also reached the top 500 in the world for ITF, and for four years, he played on the Davis Cup for his country! When Coach GianCarlo moved to the US, he continued to play competitively in professional tournaments for prize money while beginning his career in coaching. Currently, Coach GianCarlo has over 10 years of experience in coaching, working for such prestigious academy's such as P3 Tennis Academy in NJ, ESTA academy, Nike summer camps, and most recently Montverde Academy. Another beneficial asset is Coach's ability to speak three languages; Spanish, English and Portuguese!
Coach GianCarlo is UPSTA and PTR certified and excited to help build the tennis programs here in Celebration!
Coach James Kober
Coach James was born and raised in London where he represented his county, Surrey and his region, as one of the top ranked juniors throughout Europe!. In 1991, he made the big leap to the US by attending the University of West Florida on a tennis scholarship where he captained the team his junior and senior years. The team were an NCAA powerhouse who were consistently ranked in the top 5 in the nation his full 4 years.
After graduating, James was appointed the tennis director of Holley-by-the-Sea, and it began his extensive career as a teaching professional and director of several prestigious tennis clubs throughout England! Coach James' pinnacle point in his career was creating and managing his own program, Kober 10S Academy, hosting over 350 juniors and high performance players!
Coach James and his family fell in love with the town of Celebration on one of many visits to the states, and this past year, moved his family in town and became an official resident in June 2021!.
Advantage Tennis is so excited to have Coach James join our illustrious team of teaching professionals, and the experience and enthusiasm he brings to our programs!
James holds the prestigious GPTCA ATP Tour Professional certification along with being a USPTA Elite Professional, a PTR Professional rated Pro and an LTA (UK) Accredited Coach
Coach Jamie Kober
We are excited to announce that Jamie Kober has joined our ever-evolving coaching team here at Advantage Tennis.
Hailing from London, England, Jamie comes with a wealth of playing experience being a top ranked junior in the UK, and even had the honor of playing at The All England Club in Wimbledon!
He has played many international events and has amassed numerous titles during his junior playing days.
His coaching career began very early, only 12 years old, when he began shadowing his Dad, James, at his academy in London.
Jamie has grown as a coach and now works with all ages and all levels using the Kober high energy coaching style!
Jamie's coaching career in the US started at the USTA National Campus at Lake Nona in 2021 where he worked with recreational to performance players of all ages and helped run national camps for the top ranked juniors in the US.
Jamie is USPTA & PTR certified internationally and also holds an LTA Accredited coaching certification in the UK.
Coach Julian
Julian Castro, (born April 13, 1994, Cali, Colombia), Colombian tennis player who won many junior’s (under 12, under 14 and under 16championships) and participate in other many ITF tournaments representing his country. Julian was the number 3 In his county for 2 years. Back in 2009 he won the SEGUROS BOLIVAR JUNIOR Championship in which he received an scholarship to go to the prestigious IMG ACADEMY located in Bradenton Fl where he was trained by the best couches of the United States.
Julian, who started playing tennis at age eight, became cali’s junior champion when he was 12. At the age of 18, he took a coaching course focused on children between 8 and 12 years old. Passionate about teaching, he started working as a coach at the TENNIS MASTER ACADEMY located in the city of Santiago De Cali where he was a coach for 2 years. his hobbies are going to the gym, flying RC planes, playing tennis and being in his flight simulator. On the other hand, his other passion is AVIATION, he graduated as a pilot in 2015 in Colombia.
In 2018, he left his country looking for better opportunities, finding a magical place called Orlando, Florida, where he settled with his family.
Coach Rachel Holt
Coach Rachel picked up tennis later in life, and instantly fell in love with the sport. As an All-State athlete in high school, her competitive spirit and drive for athletic achievement translated easily to the game of tennis! In her 13 years on the court, she has captained several league teams, has won State Championships and competed twice at the USTA National Championships in both doubles and singles. She loves competition and understands the pressure of a high stakes match!
Coach Rachel is the head coach of Celebration High School's girl's tennis team, and fitness coach for Advantage Tennis. Now, she is beginning the process of teaching tennis as well, sharing her passion with beginners!