About Us

Alabama's Court Elite Tennis Academy

Charles ”Flip” Phillips founded the Academy in 1996. The Academy was primarily established to train serious junior tournament players, but now provides instruction for players of all ages and ability levels. You will find that the majority of all high level players produced in the Birmingham area have been developed or are currently in our Program.

ACE is the only Elite program in the state of Alabama with the results to prove it. ACE has developed, produced and coached players from the beginning level to the Pro Tour. Our Staff is second to none in the State of Alabama for the number of players that have been developed into Champions. ACE is the only Junior Development Program in the state to have Champions in the following events: Men's & Women's USTA Pro Circuits, Men's & Women's NCAA team and Individual Champions (Ga Tech & UVA), ITF Junior Circuit, Super Nationals, National Regionals & National Opens, Southern Closed & Southern Opens. We have had over 75 former players who went on to play college tennis and several that have made it to the Pro Tour. Several ACE players have received the BG12s Southern Closed Sportsmanship Award and one of our players received the prestigious DeWitt Redgrave III Male Junior Achievement Award for the Southern Section. Our staff has over 100 years of coaching experience and success in the tennis industry, with the hardware to prove it!

Phillips was head professional at Birmingham Country Club and Maryland Farms Racquet Club in Nashville and also trained many of the nation’s top juniors while serving as a director at the prestigious Nick Bolletieri Academy. Standifer’s resume includes director of tennis experience in Jacksonville, FL, Birmingham, AL,  Corpus Christi, TX, and Atlanta, GA.

Our goal is for our students to learn that through work, sacrifice, commitment, self-discipline and dedication any goal in life can be achieved. We strive to project a high standard of moral values and ethics that is not only applied to tennis but to everyday life. We develop these qualities by propelling the student past their comfort zone. Therefore, the student realizes that the limitations they have are only the ones that they set on themselves. Another goal is for our students to learn how to control their minds, whether it may be their emotions, concentration or any other mental obstacle in their path. Most importantly, we want to impact our students’ lives in a positive manner by giving them the opportunity to realize their potential not only in tennis but also in life.

Misson Statement