Business Profile: Hassan Bani Saaid
Title and company: Director of tennis, JRC/The Alaska Club
Services: Bani Saaid offers private, semi-private and group tennis lessons, as well as clinics for specific ages and skill levels. He also organizes tennis leagues and tournaments at the club, and hosts tennis socials once a month.
Private lessons cost $40 per hour and focus on perfecting one skill, Bani Saaid said. He also offers a private "hitting with the pro" session - with no instruction - for $30 per hour.
"Generally the private lesson is a repetition thing," he said. "We work for an extended period of time on one thing."
He doesn't have one particular teaching style he adheres to in either the private or group lessons.
"I've always been big on the fact that everybody's different," Bani Saaid said. "It depends on what the student is capable of doing. Obviously advanced and beginner players are different, so we try to approach each player differently."
Groups that opt for semi-private lessons usually pick one skill to improve upon as well. Clinics, which can be paid for by the month or the single session, have titles that reflect their focus: "The Foundation," "Doubles Only" and "Tennis Adventure I."
Bani Saaid organizes six tennis tournaments a year, and helps organize two tennis and racquetball club tournaments a year. He also teaches a tennis class at the University of Alaska Southeast, and would like to expand the club's tennis program for kids. One of his goals is to form a traveling tennis club at the high school.
Biographical information: Bani Saaid grew up in Louisiana and began playing tennis at the age of 12. He was ranked in the state of Louisiana in high school, and was certified by the U.S. Professional Tennis Association to teach the sport at the age of 18. Certification involved tests on teaching and playing the sport, with a written portion and a stroke analysis test, Bani Saaid said.
He played briefly in college but soon took a job as the tennis professional at KPR Tennis, a club outside of New Orleans. He moved to Juneau to take the job of director of tennis at the club 3 1/2 years ago.
Family: Bani Saaid lives in Juneau with his wife Kellie, three cats and a bird.
Quotable: "I've always liked working with the kids more. Here I tend to work more with the adults, and we're very pleased with the adult program here. At this point our goal is to expand the kids program because it's pretty small."
Contact information: Bani Saaid can be reached at the Valley JRC/The Alaska Club at 2841 Riverside Drive. The phone number for the club is 789-2181.