Meet Joshua Warrilow. He’s a pest.
But he’s also the most valuable employee you could have in a racket facility.
Not because he’s the best coach in the world. Not because he is clean-shaven and doesnt look like the quintessential scruffy coach.
But because he understands what the job actually is becoming.
Josh didn’t just stay in one place and get comfortable.
He moved. Hotels. Clubs. Different environments. Different client and management profiles each with different expectations.
He learnt that a great session in a members’ club is not the same as a great session in a luxury resort and that programming isn’t universal. It’s contextual.
He speaks multiple languages. Not just linguistically, but culturally.
He can adapt to guests, members, beginners, high-performers, and everything in between.
He doesn’t see himself as a “tennis coach.”
Or a “padel coach.”
Or a “pickleball coach.”
He sees himself as a “racket sports professional”.
Comfortable across all three.
Certified across all three.
Credible in all three.
He knows that the future facility and pro isn’t built around one sport. It’s built around engagement.
How?
He understands that his first priority is service, not serves.
He’s a hospitality professional first, a host.
A racket coach second.
Admittedly, that kind of attitude is a quality you can’t teach or train but it changes everything for how your facility feels.
Josh is also a rare combination:
Confident enough to believe he can conquer the world.
Humble enough to know he can’t do it alone.
He asks questions…. constantly….sometimes difficult ones that force a shift in thinking. That’s what makes him a pest – in the most positive way.
And yes — some of his ideas are further out than Artemis II.
But that’s the point:
You don’t hire people to keep things the same.
You hire them to push, test, and occasionally disrupt.
The key is not to shut that down — but to channel it.
Because behind that curiosity is something far more valuable: a genuine commitment to growth.
Not just his own…his sparkle spreads on the facility’s as well.
Facility owners:
If you’re still hiring based on single-sport coaching ability, you’re already behind. And, if you’re hiring just based on the quality of their game, you’ve missed what will really make your clients happy: coaches who know how to engage beyond the lines of the court.
Young pros:
If you’re only investing in one lane, you’re limiting your ceiling. Think less of what’s in it for you and more how everyone can grow with you. That’s how you become an MVP and that’s how you progress.
The future doesn’t belong to specialists.
It belongs to the Josh’s of the world: adaptable, creative, service-driven, multi-sport operators who understand that this is a people business first — and a sports business second.
(Originally published on LinkedIn)
