RECS Pickleball Instructors

Tony Tollenaar

IPTPA Certified

Tony Tollenaar has been an accomplished athlete all of his life. He grew up competing in tennis and racquetball, played college baseball and has completed 4 Ironman Distance Triathlons. Over the past several years he parlayed his combined athletic skills into the sport of Pickleball, and today is one of the country’s premier instructors and a professional senior player competing in tournaments nationwide. His passion for sports in general, including his love of Pickleball, has allowed him to connect with the game in a big way and learn from some of the top players in the world.

Today, in addition to competing on the senior pro circuit, Tony is an IPTPA (International Pickleball Teaching Professional Association) Co-Director of Training/Testing Center and a Certified Teaching Professional. He currently resides in Tualatin, Oregon with his wonderful wife, Kim, and dog, Briar.

Jake Kane

IPTPA Level II Certified

Jake has been playing pickleball for roughly seven years, and teaching for around three. He started off being primarily interested in competing, and after achieving some local tournament success, began getting requests to help people figure out how to improve their own games. Over time, he eventually figured out that this was a bit better of a fit for him than competing, and has since been trending in the direction of teaching more and competing less, though he still sometimes plays the odd tournament or participates in USTA leagues for tennis. His favorite thing in a teaching context is seeing when a concept or skill finally clicks for somebody and they light up a bit because they understand something new.

Book with Jake in Tualatin

Steve Paranto

IPTPA Certified, Certifier

Steve has been teaching pickleball since the 1980’s. He has coached many national champions and won four National Championships at the 5.0 level. Steve has also won four World Senior singles championships. He has written instructional articles for Pickleball Magazine and Into Pickleball, and was inducted into the Pickleball Hall of Fame in 2019. Steve is also the only player to win at the highest level in six different decades. He loves working with all skill/age levels, he is especially strong giving fellow seniors strategies that will keep them healthy, energized, and able to play their best pickleball. Steve hosts the RECS Media Podcast, Pickleball Fountain of Youth. Listen wherever you get your podcasts!

Book with Steve in Tualatin
Book with Steve in Clackamas

John Bartlett

IPTPA Certified

John grew up in Whitefish, MT playing every sport he could get his hands on. While he mostly played basketball growing up, about 10 years ago he started playing tennis, quickly found pickleball and switched. Like most of us, he was immediately hooked. John has competed in many pickleball tournaments, but being an instructor the past year is what he loves most. Helping so many others fall in love with the game and improve as players. John believes that people are most likely to improve when they are having fun and celebrating success. He tries to make every student smile and keeps the energy high. In his spare time, you can find him spending time with his family or fly fishing for carp.

Book with John in Tualatin
Book with John in Clackamas

Lori D’Antonio

IPTPA Certified

Riley Hanks

IPTPA Certified

Riley is from Central Oregon. She has been playing sports her whole life with a primary focus on Tennis, which she played throughout high school and at the collegiate level. After college in 2022, she found pickleball and was immediately hooked. Riley has competed in many APP and PPA tournaments, most of her medals are from singles. Riley enjoys teaching players of all skill levels, ages, and backgrounds. She believes that people are more likely to perform best when they’re having fun. Focusing on building muscle memory and implementing key shots because it is more likely that players remember how they felt as opposed to what they were taught.

Book with Riley in Tualatin
Book with Riley in Clackamas

Tracie DeJager

IPTPA Certified

Tracie grew up in Lake Oswego playing lots of sports like Soccer, Basketball and Lacrosse at the high school and collegiate level. In pickleball she is a 2019 nationals medalist, rated as one of the top women’s players in the NW, she was rated as one of top 50 players in the world as an alternate for the MLP. She became a certified pickleball instructor in 2019 due to her love for teaching as well as wanting to spread her love for the game. Tracie describes her teaching style as interactive, with a good balance of mechanics to build muscle memory. Her goal is to leave every student with a fun experience, as well as new tools they can focus on while drilling to implement into their game.

Book with Tracie in Tualatin
Book with Tracie in Clackamas

Kevin Beeson

PPR Certified

Joy Leising

PPR Certified

Joy grew up in the midwest playing competitive tennis since she was 6 years old. She went on to compete at the collegiate level for Lewis and Clark College. Joy got the “pickleball bug” when she was asked to play a tournament in Canada, once she started learning how to dink, the next year she played in over 25 tournaments. Joy achieved gold in 2021 in both mixed and women’s 5.0 age 35+ doubles. She is ranked as one of the top PNW women’s professional players, achieving 15 national medals. Joy is able to meet players at any pickleball skill level, she listens to which areas her students want to improve and focuses heavily on technique and strategy. Helping them find new strengths in their game as well as developing new skills.

Book with Joy in Tualatin
Book with Joy in Clackamas

Paul Porch

IPTPA Level II Certified

Paul has been a teacher his whole life, his passion for teaching started at 16 as a water safety instructor. While teaching mathematics for over 30 years he played tennis, racquetball, badminton, and even some squash. In 2010 Paul’s knees encouraged him to discover the pleasures of pickleball where he had the good fortune to begin playing with and learning from Enrique Ruiz, Steve Paranto, Joy Leising, as well as many other excellent players. Paul has medaled at tournaments in six different states including the tournament of champions. He wrote the first instructional piece for the first edition of Pickleball Magazine. Paul acknowledges that everyone has different strengths/weaknesses, as an instructor he looks to identify those and tailor his instruction to complement the player so they can move toward their full potential as rapidly as possible.

Book with Paul in Clackamas