Team Members

With over 30 years of playing and coaching high performance tennis, Kelly has quite an impressive track record!

> Won PIAA state singles title in '99 for North Allegheny
> Won USTA National Gold, Silver, and Bronze titles
> Held a top 10 junior ranking
> Played women's tennis for University of Texas Women's 2002 - 2006
> Assisted in leading the North Allegheny girls tennis team to 4 state team titles
> Coached many players to top Division I, II, and III schools

Karolina = energy.

Karolina has been coaching one way or the other since 2010.  A 2016  graduate of Grove City College with a degree in entrepreneurship, she has taught in both Pennsylvania and Hilton Head, SC.  Karolina currently leads our 10U program.  You’ll see her on court with our Aces clinics, on our summer camps, and running our 10U tournaments - look out for the girl with the bull horn.

Karolina’s superpower: doing everything everywhere, all at once, and accomplishing it all.
 

The kids call him Coach Barry.  We call him Bear.

Originally from California, Barry has been coaching for approximately 12 years.  In that time, he’s worked with Bill Bush (Andrew Agassi), Tim Pawsat (Jan-Michel Gambil), and most recently, Robert Van’t Hof (Lindsay Davenport).  Barry’s primary focus is developing high performance players - which is great, as he’s our Director of High Performance.  

Barry’s superpower:  the ability to curate a playlist you’ll never grow tired of listening to.    

Coach Christian joined us in September 2025. He is now our director and point person for all things adult tennis, as well as director of our developmental level tennis programs. Before joining us, Christian was Head Pro at Onteora Club in New York, Head Pro and Junior Coordinator at Southern Highlands Golf Club in Nevada, Head Coach at Argonaut High School, and a Tennis Pro at Plus 1 Tennis Academy in California. 

If he isn't on court, you can find Christian hiking, taking photos, rock climbing indoors, or playing a board game with friends. Christian is also a man of the community - seeking out volunteer opportunities to help people who need it! 

Caitlin has been with our company since January 2025. She came to us with a Bachelor Degree in Psycology from Grace College, as well as a Master Degree in Developmental Psychology from Liberty University. She is now our Operations Manager for Pure Tennis Academy and brings us a new perspective with the education she carries! 

When she is not here at Pure, you can find her cooking, playing pickleball, or hanging out with her friends and family. She likes to expand her knowledge on cooking by watching cooking shows and trying new recipes.

Be careful challenging her in tennis, she's a lefty! #CrossCourtCaitlin
 

Conor comes to us with four seasons of coaching experience at JTCC. Prior to coaching, Conor was a starter at Waynesburg University for his four years of college tennis. Conor has been a great addition to Pure Tennis due to his personaility and coaching style. 

Aside from his life of tennis, Conor enjoys hanging out with his friends and spending time expanding his handy man skillset by doing work on his house. Other times, he will be hunting and fishing during the appropriate seasons- sometimes during his travels! Conor has been to 45 of the 50 states, including both Alaska and Hawaii. Next time you see him, try to guess which 5 states he has left to see! 

Josiah (Jo) joined the Pure Team in January 2026. He is a recent Grove City College Graduate, where he played on the tennis team. He comes to our team alongside his other job, where he leads his church's youth group. When he isn't working, you can find Jo on the golf course, serving others, or playing a fun board game, ask him about Catan! 

A "fun" fact about Jo is that he broke his back in high school. But hey, he can still swing a club and a racket! 

Kathy’s whole family has been with PTA.  Her son learned to play tennis with PTA, her daughter worked the front desk for Pure, and she and her husband play here!  She’s been our Adult Coordinator since 2014, and within a couple years, started working with our junior players as well!  And as if that wasn’t already busy enough, she’s captain of multiple USTA teams!
Kathy bleeds blue & white.  She and Greg met & matriculated from Penn State University - her children are also PSU alums!  WE ARE!  PENN STATE!

Kathy’s superpower: baking the best cookies you’re ever going to eat.

Sammr has been with Pure Tennis since summer of 2025. Prior to joining our team, he represented India in the Asian School Games, was a Junior National Champion, and was a National School Games Gold Medalist. He played college tennis at Top 25, D1 school, Oklahoma State University, where he played line one singles and doubles. His highest UTR rating to date is 12. 

Outside of his tennis experience, Sammr enjoys traveling, exploring new places, and playing soccer. He considers himself a family man, valuing his family above most other things. A fun fact about Coach Sammr is that he has a pet turtle named Optimus Prime. 

Tim is also known as Coach Donut around here! He always brings lively energy and dozens of dad jokes onto our courts. 

If he's not at Pure Tennis, he's likely at home pampering his two cats, Hermione and Biscuit, doing crossword puzzles, or storing random knowledge in his mind to pull out later. Our Coach Donut is truly one of a kind!