Tennis found Geoff Garza at 13 years old. Until then, his main hobby was pulling rabbits out of a hat at children’s birthday parties.

Originally from Dallas, Garza has been a pro at the Amy Yee Tennis Center in Seattle for 14 years. He moved in January from Burien to Vashon Island, where he is now the head pro at the Vashon Island Golf and Country Club.

“I’m very proud to be a part of that team and I look forward to many years establishing and developing the tennis and pickleball program there,” Garza said.

Garza wanted to live closer to the people he instructs in tennis, and like many newcomers to the island, part of the draw was also finding a “beautiful cottage [he] couldn’t pass up” to live in, he said.

He’s played tennis all his life — through college and through his time as an actor and as a painter — a varied experience of arts and sports befitting of a life on Vashon.

Garza said he wants to support each person’s growth and love for tennis. “I love people and figure each person will show up as they do, and I welcome them with acceptance,” he said.

After a career as a master teaching artist with the non-profit Arts Corp, where Garza said he created improv and visual arts programming for youth in foster care, he was asked to lead a kid’s tennis summer camp in the Seattle neighborhood of Laurelhurst.

Any youngsters attending one of Garza’s kids camps would play games such as Alligator Alley, Star Wars, Rhino horn, Escape from Shark Mountain, and others. It was a great time, he said, and he began getting requests to host more camps and classes and clinics for kids and adults.

Now, he says, the Vashon tennis community has welcomed him with open arms.

“My coaching philosophy is simple,” Garza said. “The best tactics are sound mechanics and a mindset that embraces calm decision making. When I work with youth it’s all about instilling critical thinking, teamwork, and of course, fun.”

The Golf and Country Club hosts a skills and drills clinic every Friday and Saturday morning from 10:30 a.m. to noon. In addition, the club plans to host a mixed doubles clinic, a men’s night and a women’s night.

Garza also plans to lead the club’s youth summer camps, and to get certified to develop the club’s pickleball program. He also hopes to contribute to the theater community on the island.

“It’s an exciting time to be a tennis and pickleball player on Vashon, and I’m happy to be a part,” Garza said.

Marcy Rice is a board member of the Vashon Opera and Vashon Island Golf and Country Club. She volunteers with Granny’s Attic, Vashon-Maury Senior Center and the Vashon Care Network, among others, and plays tennis.