Serving Bridgewater, Brookfield, Danbury, Kent, New Fairfield, New Milford, New Preston, Roxbury, Sherman and Washington
(860) 354-7876
Our Staff
Dinesh Rajagopalan
Owner
Dinesh Rajagopalan was formerly the sixth-ranked player in India. He competed in the professional tennis circuit in the early eighties. Through the eighties he taught and played team tennis in Belgium. In 1989 Dinesh moved to the US and was appointed head professional at the Ivan Lendl Tennis Academy in Banksville, New York, where he worked for six years. The idea of owning and operating a tennis club was always his ambition and this became a reality in June of 1997 when Dinesh bought the New Milford Tennis and Swim Club from Suzy and George Kilberg.
Dinesh—who also works for National Iron Bank out of their Washington Depot Office as Vice President, Mortgage Lending—oversees all the operations of the club. Dinesh's two sons Jonathan and Alex both graduated from college with business degrees. Dinesh holds a master's degree from the Madras Presidency College, Madras, India.
Maria Merante-Palmisani
Club Manager
You will almost always find Maria at the Club, where she has been making sure everything is running smoothly for 23 years! As the Office Manager, she is responsible for creating the best possible experience for our members and guests. Feel free to say hello when you see her!
Tennis Pros
Martin Perry
Marty brings over 25 years of college coaching and tennis teaching experience to NWSTC. He is currently the head women's tennis coach at Vassar College. Marty was named the Liberty League Coach of the Year in 2022 in just his first season at Vassar. He has coached at a number of other colleges throughout his career, including an 8 year stint as the Head Men's and Women's Tennis Coach at the University of Chicago. While at Chicago he was a 3-time ITA National Coach of the Year, once for the men and twice on the women's side. He developed and coached a women's doubles team who captured back to back NCAA Doubles titles in 2009 and 2010. Marty began teaching tennis at the Van der Meer Tennis Center on Hilton Head Island in 1993; he began his collegiate coaching career at the College of William and Mary in 1997 where he served as the men's assistant coach for 4 seasons. Marty holds a Professional Rating with the Professional Tennis Registry (PTR) and is a USTA High Performance Coach. He has two sons who both play or played college tennis at Virginia Wesleyan University, near his hometown in Virginia Beach, VA.
Rob Howard
Rob Howard is currently the head men’s and women’s tennis coach at Post University in 2015. In 2014, he mentored ITA East Regional Singles Champions Liza Dubrovskaya and Martin Munoz. He played collegiately at Texas, and went on to a professional career in the sport, where he played out of the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy.
He currently resides in Ridgefield.
Pisey
Ung
Pisey Ung will be teaching at the club for a 4th season. She played first singles and doubles at the University of Rochester. She is currently the women's tennis coach at New Milford High School.
Michael Boucher
Associate Tennis Pro
Michael joins us for his third summer at New Milford Tennis and Swim Club as a tennis pro. He has headed our high school program for the past two summers. Michael is an Assistant Principal at Schaghticoke Middle School and he coaches tennis during the spring, summer, and fall seasons. He served as the Director of Summer Tennis at Danbury Grassroots Academy for 8 summers, a program that won the USTA National Youth Program of the year in 2019. Michael coached the Danbury High Boys Tennis team for three seasons from 2014-2016 and also coached the Shepaug Boys Tennis team for a season in 2021. He resides in New Milford with his wife Jen and his daughter Olivia.
Swim Instructor
Abigail Delgado
Abigail "Abby" Delgado was born and raised in Costa Rica. She has been a certified swim instructor since 2013. Since then, she has taught students of all ages and abilities and In 2015 she had the opportunity to be a coach assistant for New Milford Barracudas
She has also worked for Washington Parks and Recreation, Ridgefield recreation center, New Milford Fitness and Aquatics and here at New Milford Tennis and Swim club since 2019. As Abby likes to say, "It does't get old to feel so happy and proud every time I see my students achieving their goal to become a proficient and independent swimmer."
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