Peter Smith
Director

Peter Smith - Director

Peter graduated from Long Beach State in 1987 and played tennis for the 49ers from 1984-1987. Smith returned to Long Beach State to become the youngest Division I Men’s Tennis head coach at the age of 23. He served as the 49ers’ head coach from 1988-91. Since then he has gone on to coach collegiate tennis for 16 years. He is the only coach in the country to direct four different college programs to the top 20 and three into the NCAA Top 10. He has coached at Long Beach State, Fresno State, Pepperdine and USC. Peter’s coaching record includes 10 consecutive NCAA appearances and 11 “Conference Coach of the Year” honors and an overall coaching record of 307-151. He has coached 12 All-Americans. Peter has also worked with many pros, national junior champions (Glenn Weiner, Prakash Armitraj and Jamil Al-Agba) and has been the Associate Head Pro at Sierra Racquet Club in Fresno. He has also directed successful summer camps with thousands of enthusiastic boy and girls attending. He will be the Director of Beach Tennis and the Beach Tennis Junior Academy and will oversee the professional teaching staff at Billie Jean King Tennis Center. Peter lives in Los Alamitos with his wife Tammie, and three sons, Tanner, Riley, and Colter. He looks forward to further developing and expanding youth tennis in the Long Beach area.

Abigail Villena
Head Pro

Abigail Villena - Head Pro

“Aba” has been teaching tennis in Southern California for the past eight years. As a junior she competed in the USTA'S Southern California Section and earned a top 10 ranking. She was actively recruited nationally and chose to play her collegiate tennis at Ohio State University (89-92) on a scholarship. While at Ohio State, she earned All-American honors and was a Scholar-Athlete all four years. After her college career, she competed on the professional tour for three years before deciding to return to coaching in Southern California.

Abigail has worked with many top Junior girls developing their game and guiding them through their sectional rankings and national rankings before they moved on to continue their tennis career as scholarship players at top-ranked colleges and universities. Among these players are Lyndsay Kinstler(USC), Alison Ramos, Audrey Bulkley(LMU) and many up and comers. Since 1996 Abigail has served on the Wilson Advisory Staff. She now has the privilege to work beside Peter Smith as they increase local participation in junior tennis through the Long Beach Tennis Junior Academy at the Billie Jean King Tennis Center. Much of Aba's expertise revolves around teaching effective stroke technique to children and adults. She also enjoys training and mentally preparing tournament level players. e-mail: abalita10s@aol.com

Brett Masi
Assistant Pro

Brett Masi - Assistant Pro

Brett is a native of Southern California. He has grown up playing tennis here for over 20 years. He spent his collegiate career at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo where he remains one of the program’s all-time winningest players, finishing his career with a singles record of 60-29. He was named to the All-Big West Conference second team as a junior. Brett became a nationally ranked player, earning his highest career ranking of 38 during his senior season as a Mustang. In 2001, he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Recreational Administration. Recently, Brett has spent the past two years serving as the assistant coach for the Santa Clara University men and women’s tennis programs. He now joins Peter Smith as an assistant coach at USC. Brett is also extremely excited for the opportunity to be a part of the Peter Smith Long Beach Tennis Academy. He looks forward to sharing his passion and dedication with the junior tennis players of Long Beach.

Valter Paiva
Assistant Pro

Valter Paiva - Assistant Pro

After coaching at various tennis academies in Brazil, including the prestigious Sociedade Harmonia de Tennis and Club Athletico in Sao Paulo, Valter Paiva was awarded a full tennis scholarship to Hampton University in Hampton, Virginia. While competing in college tennis Valter was able to graduate with a Bachelor of Science degree in Marketing, specializing in Professional Tennis Management. While finishing his studies he also became the assistant coach for the Men's Tennis Team. He was responsible for designing workout programs and training routines to improve the athletic performance of the players. Having moved to Southern California, Valter has been coaching and organizing tennis clinics at the La Habra Tennis Center, the Anaheim Tennis Center and at Cerritos Regional Park. 

As a youngster Valter Paiva has been ranked in the national top 10 in Brazil, and when he was only 17 years old,  played on the professional circuit from 1995 to 1998. He also represented his state and was ranked amongst the top three players in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Valter brings his experience and education in tennis to his coaching, which is concentrated on teaching effective techniques and improving performance in adults and children.

Mika Maunula
Assistant Pro

Mika Maunula - Assistant Pro 

Mika Maunula was a ranked tennis player as a junior in his native Finland. During his exchange student year in California; Mika played for the Los Alamitos High School varsity team. Upon returning to California, Mika started teaching for the popular Los Alamitos Parks and Recreation tennis program headed up by Dan Mainzer’s Westcoast Tennis. He taught both adult –and junior classes, and directed many tennis camps in Los Alamitos. Mika has also worked as a Tennis Pro at the well respected Mike Nelson’s Tennis Academy at the Ridgeline Country Club. He has also coached with Dan Tibbetts at the Los Caballeros Racquet & Sports Club in Fountain Valley and for the City of Hermosa Beach Parks and Rec Department.

For several years Mika was the International Sales and Marketing Manager for several Southern California based sporting goods companies: Motiv Sports, Mission Hockey and Labeda in-line wheels with the sales exceeding a few million dollars. During the summer of 2005,  Mika had decided to leave the hectic daily world of business. Even though he still represents independently globally known brands such as Labeda, LeGolie International and ZeroG. “It has been great to be involved with tennis again and especially at Peter Smith’s fantastic Tennis Academy here at the Billie Jean King Tennis Center!” “We have a great staff, tennis pros and kids – of course!” 

Mika has a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing with a minor in Foreign Trade. Mika is also a certified athletic trainer. Mika used to play Team Handball for Finland’s National Team.  He is one of the all-time leading scorer’s in Finland’s premier league with 1,173 goals. Currently Mika is the head coach and leading scorer for the Los Angeles Team Handball Club ranked 4^th in the US. In addition, Mika has coached his son’s AYSO soccer teams with his wife and is currently coaching his son’s roller hockey team.