Meet and Faculty and Staff

Mike Murray
Director of Year-Round Tennis Program
Phone: 945-3151 Extension: 358
E-mail: MikeMurray@fcds.org

A native of St. Petersburg, Florida, Mike grew up playing tennis, becoming the first-ranked junior player in the state by age 12. Mike trained with Billy Stearns of the Smith Stearns Tennis Academy and became a highly ranked state and national player who trained and played with Mardy Fish, Andy Roddick, and other current professionals. At age 18, he finished his junior tennis career as the number-one player in Florida in his division.

Mike attended Wake Forest University on a full scholarship for tennis (turning down offers from the University of Florida, Clemson, and William and Mary). He played positions one to three for the Demon Deacons, leading the team in singles win as a freshman. During his sophomore year, he ranked as high at 60th in the country and went on to captain the team his junior and senior years.

After earning his bachelor's degree from Wake Forest, Mike worked in marketing at Raymond James Financial, but continued to compete in local tennis tournaments and to coach whenever he could find a student. He realized that tennis (and specifically, training and motivating young people) was his enduring passion, and left Raymond James to teach full-time at a Florida tennis academy shortly after earning his first professional ranking points by reaching the semi-finals of a futures tournament in Tampa. Mike is looking forward to working with the young tennis players at FCDS, bringing not only first-rate skills and a commitment to educating young people, but first-hand experience of what it takes to succeed in tennis at the junior and collegiate level.