Coosa International Tennis Academy is the year-round tennis training program offered by Rome’s Coosa Country Club. Offered to Darlington School resident students as an extracurricular opportunity, CITA’s Junior Performance Program enrolls highly motivated male and female student-athletes who share a common goal – to obtain a premier college-preparatory education and elite tennis training within a single, competitive program.

The only tennis academy in the state of Georgia with a boarding component, CITA is directed by Coosa Country Club’s head tennis pro, USTA High Performance Coach Freddie Rodriguez. He and his staff of certified coaches and performance training specialists have designed a training regimen that develops each participant to his or her maximum potential. This dedicated team of coaches is also committed to mapping out college recruitment strategies that fit each athlete’s unique academic and athletic abilities. Several players have even gone on to earn scholarships from Division I schools.

Darlington resident students who participate in CITA live in one of the school’s six student houses, three for boys and three for girls. The house system is the backbone of the family-like atmosphere at Darlington, developing strong student-faculty relationships. Fifty-five percent of the school’s faculty and staff members live on campus and provide invaluable support and interaction with students both in and out of the classroom.

Staff Bios

Leanne Mann, director of operations, has more than 20 years of coaching and teaching experience. She is a certified TOEFL instructor with memberships to both USPTA and USPTR. In high school, she was a 12-time All-State honoree and won two state championships in track and field. At the collegiate level, she excelled in tennis, cross country and track. She was a three-time All-American and finished second in the 1985 NAIA heptathlon, which later earned her induction into Campbell University’s Sports Hall of Fame. After graduating with dual major in communication and literature, she went on to become a 16-time North Carolina state cycling champion. Ranked among the United States’ top eight cyclists from 1988-92, she participated in both the National Cycling Championships and the U.S. Olympic Cycling Trials.

David Araiza, assistant director of tennis, was a top player in the Mexican junior rankings, earning a No. 1 ranking in the fourteens and representing his country in ITF tournaments around the world. He went on to play professional tennis, participating in several future and challenger ATP tournaments, and train with the Mexican Davis Cup Team. David came to the U.S. in 2006 on a tennis scholarship from Shorter University, where he earned All-Conference, All-Region and All-American honors as well as other team awards. He graduated with a degree in business administration and management and is currently pursuing his M.B.A. at Shorter University. David is head tennis professional at Coosa Country Club.

Juan Pablo Selle, a native of Santiago, Chile, is the director of tennis at Coosa Country Club in Rome, Ga. He is a USPTA P-1 Tennis Professional and a certified USTA High Performance coach with many years of experience as an assistant pro and former collegiate player at Shorter University. Most notably, as a junior he held a No. 2 ranking in doubles and singles in Chile, had a top 100 ITF ranking and earned a Chilean “Cristal” ranking, allowing him to play ATP qualifying tournaments. In college, he won an NAIA National Championship in doubles, was a two-time NAIA All-American and played in the NAIA National Championships from 1999-2002. Selle holds a B.A. from Shorter University and an M.B.A. from Berry College.