Telluride Racquet Club

Eric Fey: Director of Racquet Sports

EFEY@TELSKI.COM

Eric comes to the Telluride Racquet Club as a certified Elite instructor through the PSR (Professional Sports Registry) in Tennis, Platform Tennis, and Pickleball. He was previously the Director of Racquet Sports at The Ridgewood Country Club in NJ and the Orienta Beach Club in NY. Prior to his Director’s experience, he was an assistant at the New Canaan Field Club in CT. Eric originally comes from Chicago where he was born and raised. He graduated from The University of Illinois at Chicago and played D1 tennis all four years, captaining his final two seasons. He is second all-time in wins at UIC in singles, doubles, and combined wins and capturing the Sportsmanship Award for the Horizon League Conference in 2008. He graduated with a double major in Marketing and Entrepreneurship. He then worked corporately immediately after college for Babolat USA in Boulder, CO and Wilson Sporting Goods in Chicago, IL. After the corporate adventure he decided to get back to his true passion, being on court and teaching racquet sports. Eric has been ranked inside the Top 15 nationally in Platform Tennis and competed twice for the Region 1 President’s Cup team. He enjoys skiing, backpacking, backcountry skiing, biking, and camping.

Jovana Latinovic: Head Racquets Professional

Jovana Latinovic, a tennis professional hailing from Serbia, boasts a rich background in both playing and coaching tennis. Commencing her tennis journey at the age of 4, Jovana’s dedication led her to numerous achievements as a top-ranking player in Serbia #5, including representing Grambling State University’s NCAA D1 tennis team and earning MVP honors, as well as Athlete of the Week recognition.

Many years of coaching experience, she possesses a profound understanding of tennis tactics, technique, and a diverse array of drills aimed at honing players’ skills on the court. Her coaching philosophy emphasizes not only technical prowess but also the importance of fostering a positive and enjoyable learning environment. From coaching kids as young as four to mentoring recreational players and serving as a sparring partner for professionals, she has demonstrated a versatile coaching style. Fluent in multiple languages, including Serbian, Macedonian, Spanish, English and Italian, she brings a global perspective to her coaching approach.

Jovana excels academically, pursuing a double major in Computer Science and Mathematics with a 4.00 GPA, while also contributing to research projects such as the NASA “Building House on the Moon”. In her free time, she indulges in hobbies such as playing the piano, singing, swimming, chess, soccer and volleyball.

Ximena Bolanos: Racquets Professional

Ximena, an experienced tennis player and coach with a recent found love towards pickle-ball. Originally from Mexico, where she was born and raised, decided to come to the United States in order to pursue a degree while establishing a college tennis career.

Currently majoring in Environmental Studies alongside a minor in Coaching at Shepherd University, where she plays #1 doubles and #2 singles.

She enjoys wellness, being outdoors, and connecting with people. Her coaching mantra is falling in love with the sport and truly enjoying while getting better at it.

Dylan Cass: Racquets Professional

Dylan comes to the Telluride Racquet Club from Tallahassee, Florida where he is a junior in college at Florida State University. He has previously worked in Telluride and has been enjoying Telluride for 8+ years. Dylan was a highly ranked junior player in the Southwest region and in Florida. He played varsity tennis for Lake Nona High School in Orlando, Florida where he was the team captain all four years and a state finalist. Dylan comes from a tennis playing family as his father was the Men’s Head Coach at Texas A&M and the University of New Mexico.

Nate Abzug: Racquets Professional

Nate grew up in Minneapolis, MN, where he started playing tennis at 4 years old to compete with his 8 year old phenom sister. He went on to play tennis competitively in high school, being a 3x state runner-up. He brings a diverse sports background to tennis, having been the first quadruple letterer (tennis, alpine skiing, track, and soccer) at his high-school since the 1960s, and was lucky enough to compete in a total of 11 state tournaments during those 4 years. With that experience in competition, Nate understands the importance of the mental side of athletics, along with trusting muscle memory in intense moments.

Nate attended the University of Minnesota (class of 2019) where he majored in Neuropsychology and minored in Spanish, Economics, and Management. After Tennis didn’t work out in college freshman year, Nate stuck with the trend of trying new sports and tried out for the D1 Co-Ed Cheer Team. He spent 3 years on the team, earning a top 10 National rank each year.

After college, Nate traveled the country, camping in close to 80 National Parks before settling in Telluride mid-winter of 2020. He works as a Telluride Ski Patroller in the winter, with plans to apply patrol’s hands-on experience to Medical or P.A. school in the future. Nate brings 5 years of high-level competitive tennis experience and over 6 years of coaching experience to the Telluride Racquet Club. Nate spent two summers teaching introductory tennis to 4-12 year olds, and the next four summers running clinics and camps for high-level 15-18 year old juniors. He believes that having fun is fundamental to lasting athletic development. He also believes that witnessing self-improvement is fun. Nate seeks to share the love he has for Tennis with others and help them discover or hone a life-long sport. Besides Tennis, Nate loves any kind of outdoor challenge, most notably skiing, biking, camping, and fly fishing.

Hayden Cass: Racquets Professional

Hayden comes to the Telluride Racquet Club from Lake Nona, Florida where he was a ranked junior player and helped lead Lake Nona to its first ever state team final. Hayden is attending Florida State and majoring in the prestigious sports management program. Hayden and his family have been coming to Telluride for many years. Hayden loves to ski, hike, lift and mountain bike.

Elias Bahou: Racquets Professional

Originally from Long Island, NY, Elias grew up playing tennis competitively from a young age. He attended Bates College in Lewiston, Maine where he played D3 tennis his first two years, returning to NY both of those summers to instruct at Huntington Indoor Tennis.

His love for Telluride grew through the years making trips to visit his sister and her family in Ophir. In 2020, he decided to move to Ophir with hopes of making it his new home.

His love and passion for sports as well as people and teaching has led him to pursue instructing tennis, snowboarding for Telluride Ski & Snowboard School, and zipline for Telluride Canopy Adventure.

Elias feels so grateful to call these mountains home and to share the stoke with others!