Meet Our Team
Richard Crowell
executive director
Richard Crowell is the Executive Director of Philpott Children’s Tennis, a charity established in 1985 and running programs in 18 priority neighborhoods in Toronto. This role allows Richard to pursue his passion of working with youth and developing leadership skills through sport.
In addition to his current position Richard teaches Sport Management at Humber College, he is the president of Field Hockey Ontario and has recently completed a Masters Certificate in Project Management with the Schulich School of Business.
Prior to his role with Philpott Children’s Tennis, Richard worked with Tennis Canada for twelve years as the Director of Community Tennis. In addition to his work in community tennis, Richard also established a university national tennis championship, managed Tennis Canada’s partnerships with their Provincial Tennis Associations and was the fitness coach for Tennis Canada’s provincial and national U12 teams working with many of Canada’s top prospects.
Richard is currently married, living in Vaughan and enjoys playing hockey in the winter and tennis, golf, baseball and cycling in the summer.
Andy Sutton
Coaching consultant
A Tennis Pro for over 30 years, Andy is currently the Tennis Director at Unionville Tennis Club, the assistant Head Professional at the Donalda Club, and a consultant with ACE Academy after serving as the Head Pro at Mayfair Parkway and Mayfair East. In addition to his 18 years in various roles at Mayfair Tennis Clubs, Andy has also been Head Pro at Rosedale Tennis Club, and a Senior Professional at the Toronto Lawn Tennis Club. He holds the highest level of Tennis Club management certification as a certified Club Pro 3, and also holds a Coach 3 coaching certification, with Tennis Canada. In addition, Andy is the Head Course Facilitator for the Ontario Tennis Association. Andy teaches the Pros how to be Pros. Andy was a past member of the Board of Philpott and is now the Head Coach and is extremely gratified to see the great work the charity does bringing tennis to inner city youth. He loves the resulting benefits to their lives.
In a recent interview with Tennis Canada, Andy shared his thoughts on coaching and advice for young Tennis Professionals. He explained that his ultimate goal in coaching is to help people “develop a love for the game and make them play better. Because the satisfaction from improving is intoxicating…” Andy’s enthusiasm for Tennis and his positive coaching style create an environment for coaching excellence. Described as a “true professional” by Tennis Canada, Andy “puts the players first” and brings a high level of engagement and focus to each coaching session. He regularly mentors and teaches aspiring Tennis professionals, in addition to coaching high performance and recreational players.
Stephan Harris
HEAD Program Manager
Stephan is Head Program Manager of Philpott Children’s Tennis. Stephan has been playing tennis his whole life since his dad, Clyde Harris, was his coach. Back in his training days, he played some OTA matches and received multiple tennis awards from his high school.
He has been involved with Philpott since the summer of 2015. He started as a volunteer for the leadership program but was then hired as an assistant coach later that summer. Stephan continued with Philpott Children’s Tennis and became a certified coach in 2016. By 2017, Stephan became the head coach at the Oakridge site and he was there until 2019 where he was then promoted to the supervisor of the east site.
Upon graduation, Stephan accepted the role of Head Program Manager for Philpott. He now overseas all aspects of Philpott’s program delivery.
Stephan is very passionate about giving back to the community by helping shape the children of the future. ” We don’t just teach them how to play tennis, we also teach them how to be people.” His favorite quote to mention when asked about Phipott is: “It is all free. All you need to do bring is your water, shoes, and a smile”.
Ricky Chee
west Site Supervisor
Ricky Chee is the West Site Supervisor for Philpott Children’s Tennis. Ricky joined the Philpott coaching team in 2009 at the Malvern site. He received his Tennis Instructor certification in 2004 and has a great passion for tennis. His daughter, Jessica, and son, Kito, played tennis together since they were young.
Ricky continued to be a part of the Philpott team and was promoted to Supervisor. Many enthusiastic volunteers got the chance to go through his tennis training to improve their tennis skills off-season at the L’Amoreaux Tennis Center. This role allowed Ricky to pursue his passion of working with young volunteers and help them with tennis and leadership skills.
Besides Philpott Children’s Tennis, Ricky works with a few different community tennis clubs. Ricky was the captain in a community tennis intercounty league and engaged in friendly and competitively double matches every summer.
Ricky believes that sports can help us to learn to focus on tasks on hand, as well as improve our physical and mental health. Ricky will continue to work for this amazing charity organisation and get more kids within the community the chance to play tennis and learn the five core values of Philpott: Respect, Honesty, Courage, Cooperation and Sportmanship.
Stephanie Chen
EAST Site Supervisor
Stephanie first came to know about Philpott Children’s Tennis as a mom! Both of her boys particpated in Philpott programs and earned their coaching certification through the Philpott Leadership Program in partnership with TSLP. While her kids learned tennis, Stephanie also became interested in the game and she decided to take up the sport; determined to show her kids that moms can learn new tricks too! Everyone at Philpott was inspired by Stephanie’s energy and enthusiasm for the sport and so we welcomed her into the Toronto Sport Leadership Program.
Before you know it, Stephanie was a certified coach. She quickly took on a leadership role within Philpott and now she mentors many coaches through her roles with the girls Leadership program, the Philpott Leadership program, and her role as the East Site Supervisor.
Harshavi Patel
SUMMER YOUTH ADMIN / Head Coach
Harshavi is currently working as a Summer Youth Administrator and Head Coach for Philpott Children’s Tennis. She started her tennis journey in 2019 through the first-ever Girls Leadership Program. Since then, she has been working with Philpott to continue developing her playing and leadership skills.
Harshavi first picked up a racquet at the Girls Leadership Program at West Humber and later moved to TSLP at l’Amoreaux. She was the first girl from the Girls Leadership Program to get her Instructor level certification in Spring 2022. Through her experience with the sport and Philpott she was inspired to pursue a career in education. She hopes to become a teacher and inspire others along the way.
Additionally, Harshavi is an admirable role model to other girls and students in the program. She recognizes the importance of being a female player and hopes to continue encouraging, and inspiring the youth around her. “I have gotten so many amazing opportunities through Philpott and I am so grateful to be part of something that brings such important change.”
Kimberly Pallarca
communications coordinator/head instructor
Kimberly Pallarca is the Communications Coordinator of Philpott Children’s Tennis and has been involved with the charity since 2007. She is responsible for media and communications, including the development of their new website and all promotional material. She also assists with fundraising events; Kimberly was the lead of the Philpott Clinic featuring Bianca Andreescu and Kiki Bertens at the 2019 Rogers Cup Draw Ceremony held at Ten X Toronto.
The first time Kimberly picked up a racket was in the Philpott Summer Program Malvern site in 2007. After a few years of volunteering, she received her Instructor Certification through the Toronto Sport Leadership Program in 2014 – the first year a female graduated from the tennis program. She has been coaching for Philpott since 2015 at sites such as L’amoreaux, McGregor, NYTA, and Malvern, the very own courts she learned tennis on. Nearing the end of 2018, she took on the role as a Communications Coordinator.
In addition to Philpott Childrens Tennis, Kimberly is the Head Coach for junior tennis programs at Charlottetown Tennis Club and previously, Armadale Tennis Club and Thompson Park Tennis Club. She also worked for the Ontario Tennis Association Inner-City Tennis Program. She loves to work with charities and has coached for multiple United Way tennis fundraising events. She has also been a volunteer for Tennis Canada since 2013 as a member of the Rogers Cup Tennis Matters and Promotions Committee and assisted with celebrity fundraiser events, such as the Raonic Race for Kids Fundraiser and the Donalda Celebrity Challenge.
Kimberly understands the importance of representation in tennis and recognizes the responsibility she has as a female coach to empower young women and to inspire her students to never stop learning. Kimberly is very grateful to be a part of this amazing charity that provided her and many others the opportunity to learn tennis.
