James Vaughan will manage Team GB’s Junior Tennis athletes at the 20th Maccabiah Games in 2017.

A rising star of the British tennis coaching set-up, Vaughan told the JC about his passion for coaching at last year’s European Maccabi Games in Berlin.

He is a former strength and conditioning coach and Lawn Tennis Association player with an LTA rating of 3.1. However, his real passion was pursuing a career in tennis coaching so he gave up his playing days and gained a Professional Tennis Registry (PTR) qualification. He is currently head coach at the Elms Tennis Club in Stanmore.

Vaughan said: "I was privileged to take the Team GB Juniors to Berlin where they did amazingly well. But we had a youthful team who were all younger than most of the other competitors. Israel is the tournament for us.

"The players will now be playing at the correct age with experience from Berlin. I'm expecting some amazing results. We've already seen some exciting players during the trials and it's going to be really difficult to choose six boys and six girls to go Israel as they all have been outstanding in what they have shown so far.”

Vaughan will be assisted by Sophie Conway in Israel. She has been working together with Vaughan at the Elms and been influential in assisting in the running of the Club’s successful Continuing Professional Development (CPD) for the last four years. She coached the aforementioned Aegon Tennis teams to their divisional titles during her time at The Elms as well as work with regional and national players.

Conway said: "It is an honor to be representing Great Britain and British Judaism in one of the most prestigious events in world sport and it will, I'm sure, be an unforgettable experience for all of us.

"I want to make sure that the young athletes and I will always remember our journey to, and during, Israel and I can't wait to get started."