By Emilio Sanchez CEO and Founder of Academia Sanchez-Casal
INTERVIEW WITH HECTOR RUIZ, NEW ASC NANJING TENNIS DIRECTOR
This year, we celebrate 20 years in Barcelona, 6 in USA and 3 in China. Reaching these milestones made me think of all the ways my team has contributed to Academia Sanchez Casal’s success. Thanks to them, Academia Sanchez-Casal and our tennis teaching system have become recognized everywhere we go. To commemorate this, I want to share a series of stories about the people who have helped us get to where we are today.
Let’s kick off this new series with Hector Ruiz, people in the tennis industry might know his name, but some may not. Hector started playing tennis at just 8 years old, he trained in Sanchez-Casal Barcelona for many years and reached a career-high ranking of 205. Then, at the age of 25, he transitioned from playing tennis to coaching. He went through all of our coaching programs and has gone on to work with us for the next ten years; first as a coach, then as a traveling coach and finally as the traveling team coordinator. This past April, he opened a new chapter in his career, he became the new tennis director of Sanchez Casal Nanjing. Having someone leading the project that has the ASC Identity imprinted in his DNA is not only a huge opportunity for him, but also for ASC.
Nanjing has been an incredible endeavor. On top of the Academy lies a beautiful natural park surrounded by forests and palaces of the Ming dynasty. The place is majestic, only one and half hour from Shanghai by train. And believe it or not, it has been our biggest challenge. We started with almost zero players and have slowly started to grow. It won’t be an easy adjustment for Hector, he will have to overcome the cultural and language barriers and different mentalities. He will also have to teach his players about tours and how to compete internationally (something that hasn’t happened there before).
Learning to lead a team of 4 international coaches as well as Chinese coaches will be a new challenge, but he will succeed. Hector is ASC. And ASC is what it is thanks to people like him who care for the students and help them become the best version they can be. It is truly humbling to have a great group of people around me. Hector has been a part of ASC from the beginning, his loyalty, his way of doing things, and his determination put him in a position that he can enjoy today. He is very well prepared and I am sure he will continue on the path that Daniel Sorribas opened two years ago, with incredible success.
Emilio Sanchez
CEO and Co-Founder of the Academia Sanchez-Casal
