Brian Ruffner

Brian’s passion for tennis and love for teaching made a career as tennis professional “a natural fit.”

“I truly enjoy meeting new people and helping them learn a sport they will enjoy for a lifetime”, says Brian, who started teaching in 1982. “I am passionate about working with high performance juniors, taking them from tennis players to tennis athletes.” He develops and implements tennis developmental plans, teaches fearless mental   performance skills, tennis specific fitness as well as Cardio Tennis classes.

My philosophy is "Athlete First, Winning Second" and strive to help each student become motivated internally while having fun with the process. I believe that being a "winner" has nothing to do with the score but everything to do with how you prepare, conduct yourself and level of effort you give before as well as during competition.
"A good coach develops your game but a great coach improves your life." My goal is to touch every student's life in a positive way through tennis and a commitment to developing life skills.

This High Performance Coach is currently the Director of Tennis at LiveWire Tennis Academy in Lake Oswego, OR. Former Head Boy’s Tennis Coach at Lake Oswego High School. He is also the Executive Director of the Help Kids Play, a 501 (C)(3) non-profit organization whose mission to provide opportunities for all youth to learn the greatest sport of a lifetime, tennis.

His tennis background includes:

• Doctor of Psycholgoy (Psy.D.) - Sport and Performance Psycholgoy | University of the Rockies / Denver, CO (pursuing)
• Masters Degree (MA) - Education | Warner Pacific College / Portland, OR
• Bachelor of Science Degree (BS) - Physical and Health Education | Warner Pacific College / Portland, OR

• United States Professional Tennis Association (USPTA) Certified Tennis Professional - P1; Ambassador
• Professional Tennis Registry (PTR) Certified Tennis Professional - 5A | one of first 20 members internationally to receive the 5A rating of over 14,000 members
• United States Tennis Association (USTA) / USPTA/PTR  |  High Performance Coach
• Nationally ranked #5 in Men's Doubles (50's) by USTA, #1 in Men's Doubles (50's) and #2 in Men's Singles (50's) in Pacific Northwest - 2012
• USRSA Certified Stringer and Master Racquet Technician (MRT) | the only MRT in Oregon | Certification Tester for OR
• Team Prince National Advisory Staff
• Etcheberry Certified in Tennis for Strength, Conditioning and Movement. Trained with Pat Etcheberry in the philosophy and training methods comprising The Etcheberry Experience training system. Pat has trained Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi, James Blake, Justine Henin, Jelena Jankovic, Jim Courier, Marty Fish and many others tennis professionals and ranked juniors. Brian is the first person in Portland, OR to receive this certification.
• NESTA Certified SAQ (Speed, Agility and Quickness) Trainer
• NSCA Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist
• USTA Sport Science Certification - Level 1, 2-A, 2-B and 2-C
• Graduate of Vic Braden's Pro College and Dennis Van der Meer's Tennis University
• Certified USTA Tennis Official
• Lifetime member of USTA
• Certified Standard First Aid with CPR/AED (Red Cross)
• Over 25 years tennis teaching experience with 8 years as 6A High School Boys Tennis Coach
• Level 1 / Bronze Certified USTA Coaching Youth Tennis and Coaching Principles - ASEP (American Sports Education Program)
• Owner of full service tennis pro shop specializing in racquet customization, stringing, Prince equipment and clothing
• USPTA Top-10 point holder out of over 14,500 members in world for their Career Development Program - 2007

   

Brian teaches group and private USTA/Quick Start Tennis (5-12), Junior and Adult tennis lessons to beginners through Division I college players. He offers full time coaching services including electronic match charting services. He was a 11-14 year old Boys U.S. Tennis Coach for the Friendship Games, July 2007 in Holland. His son Austin played on the Boys U.S. Tennis Team for 11 to 14 year-olds.

In 2012, Brian was nationally ranked #5 in Men's Doubles (50's) by USTA, #1 in Men's Doubles (50's) in Pacific Northwest and #2 in Men's Singles (50's).

Brian’s career highlights include developing Elite Tennis Academy, which cultivated a group of committed athletes. The academy’s focus was building a complete student-athlete through development of tennis and life skills, and helping students mature both on and off the court. In addition to Elite Tennis Academy, he previously was employed at Lake Oswego Tennis Center, Portland Tennis Center, Cascade Athletic Club, Clackamas River Tennis Club, Rex Putman High School, Barlow High School and Tigard High School.

Brian received the CAP Fund Award for outstanding community service. He also co-founded a Fatherless Boys After-School Program that was partially funded by the Boys Club of America. He has excelled in business as a consultant with over 19 years specializing in business development in construction and other related industries.