Tariq Simmons Tennis Biography

TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction and Biography Coaches Accomplishments

INTRODUCTION & BIOGRAPHY

Tariq Simons was born February 27th, 2001 in Bermuda to a Bermudian father, Ras Mykkal Simons and a Jamaican mother, Nathalee Simons (nee Johnson). He attended Purvis Primary School in Warwick, Bermuda before he and his parents relocated to Jamaica in 2012 to give him a better opportunity to pursue his dream of being a tennis professional.

Tariq’s potential to play tennis was discovered in Bermuda at a Simons family gathering. At age seven, he was trying his hand at table tennis when his father’s cousin, Brian Swan, noted that Tariq had good forehand form and mentioned to his mother that “Tariq should try playing tennis”. Tariq’s mother called the first name she saw in the telephone book ‘under Tennis Instructor’ Howard Cross.

Howard was the tennis pro at the Reefs Hotel in Southampton, Bermuda and arrangement was made for Tariq to start tennis lessons. He was immediately impressed with Tariq’s hand-eye coordination, motor skills, form and ability to absorb the instructions given in a short time.

Regarded as the best development coach in Bermuda, Howard spent 12 months training Tariq before putting him in his first tournament, the Coral Beach Junior Tennis Tournament. Tariq lost 4-0, 4-0, but his form and passion had been noted by all. Tariq won his first tournament, 6-3, 6-3 over Scott Redmond on April 7th, 2011. By the time Tariq left Bermuda for Jamaica, he was ranked number two in the boys under 10 and 4th in the boys under 12.

Tariq’s first coach, the late Howard Cross

Tariq spent the summer of 2010 in Jamaica and participated in the Russell Tennis Academy 2-week summer camp held at the Hilton Rose Hall in Montego Bay. Tariq’s parents wanted him to develop under the Richard Russell Tennis Academy Program, so they rented a home in Montego Bay in August 2012, in close proximity to the Hilton Rose Hall. Unfortunately, the Russells’ had relocated their Tennis Academy to Kingston.

Gary Gedallia was the new tennis pro at the Hilton and became Tariq’s new coach.

Richard Russell -Tariq - Lancelot Lumsden

Tariq won his first Junior Tennis Tournament in Jamaica in March 2013, defeating Richard Barnett in the under 12 boys Gas Pro Tournament at the Liguanea Club in Kingston. Tariq won 6-4, 6-3.

In 2014, Tariq’s tennis training and development moved from Gary and the Hilton to The Sea Garden Hotel on Gloucester Ave, Montego Bay under the guidance of coach Maureen Rankine.

Bermuda’s 2017 Junior Davis Cup team made history in El Salvador. Trey Mallory, Tariq Simons and Scott Redmond defeated Puerto Rico and Jamaica to win group E for the first time in Bermuda’s history and advanced to the play-off rounds. Bermuda placed seventh, over-all, Bermuda’s highest placing in the Junior Davis Cup.

Under the guidance of Coach Maureen between 2014 and 2018 Tariq had the opportunity to participate in the Nike tennis summer camps held at the Amherst College in Boston Massachusetts. Tariq’s progress was quite evident following each summer session. Following these camps, Coach Maureen was instrumental in organizing and facilitating a number of tournaments in different states, namely, New Hampshire, Connecticut, New Jersey and Florida.

In February 2017, he qualified for the Bermuda Junior Davis Cup team and played in El Savador in March. This was a great experience and the results proved Tariq was ready for a higher level of tennis tournaments.

On re-location to Bermuda in May 2018, Tariq completed a summer of travelling to several US states to play in tournaments, following 2 weeks of advance training camp at the Nike Tennis in Boston.

He returned to Bermuda in September and settled into the tasks of his academic requirement by enrolling into Care Learning Center where he completed his GED within a 2 month period he sat the exams and graduated in November with high grades, he enrolled into Bermuda College Associates in Science & Arts program and started classes in January 2019.

Simultaneously, he completes his classes and trains at Manders Tennis Management with Coaches Gavin Manders and Jovan Jordan-Whitter at the Fairmont Southampton Hotel tennis courts. The intense training allowed him

to participate in various local Open tournaments and he was successful in reaching semi and finalson several occasions.

Tariq qualified for the Bermuda Senior Davis Cup Team in May 2019 and travelled to Costa Rica in June to participate in the tournament.

The experience proved to be a great opportunity for him to make improvement on his mental game as the physical aspect showed vast improvement over the years.

Summer 2019 was a very productive period for Tariq’s tennis, he participated in three (3) ITF tournaments Bahamas, Jamaica and Antigua.