Aaron Petersen - Director of Tennis

Aaron was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He had a racquet in his hands as soon as he could hold one, thanks to his grandparents. Most of his junior tennis years were spent in Chapel Hill, NC. He graduated from Queens College in Charlotte, NC where he played #1 on the team all four years and achieved a national ranking of #34. He was voted MVP and Team Captain during his years at Queens. Aaron was a tennis professional at Dunwoody Country Club, in Atlanta, GA. and most recently Forsyth Country Club in Winston-Salem, NC. Aaron moved to Boone to be at Deer Valley one year ago.

Aaron is a USPTA Professional and Master Stringer Technician. He is married to the Pro Shop Girl and has four kids. He watches George Lopez, plays the drums, will challenge anyone to a game of Ping Pong, AND, he will get his wife a 4-wheel drive car before next winter.

Christine Vanard - Assistant Pro

Christine was born in Princeton NJ and moved to Winston Salem where she started playing tennis at age 12. She played junior tournaments and played for Mt. Tabor High School. She was ranked #4 in North Carolina in 2006. Having just completed her junior year at Lees McRae College in Banner Elk, where she is majoring in Sports Management with a minor in Business and Psychology, she is working toward being a Director of Tennis.

This year she played #1 singles and received First Team All Conference for a third year. In her freshman year, she was named the Conference Carolinas Freshman of the Year. This is Christine’s second year here at Deer Valley. She enjoys snowboarding, music, and giving Aaron a hard time. She loves to read and is completely Team Edward. Her favorite color is pink. She always eats her French fries and dessert first. If you have any take out ketchup packets, please donate to the Christine Ketchup Box.

Shaun Sumner - Assistant Pro

Born and raised in Burlington, NC, Shaun, at the age of 12, learned to play tennis from his dad. As a Junior in high school, he finished 38 in the South and 197 in the Country and won a high school state 3A championship in doubles in 2005 for Burlington Williams High School. After high school, Shaun was the assistant pro at Hanes Park in Winston-Salem for 2 years and spent time trying to qualify for futures and playing prize money tournaments. During his college career at Lees McRae, he played number one his freshmen year and number two his sophomore, junior, and senior year. Was named MVP freshman year and was team captain his sophomore, junior, and senior year. He was also named All Conference all four years and All Tournament Team his junior and senior year. Shaun has spent time as the Assistant pro at Blowing Rock Country Club, Hounds Ears Country Club, and Beech Mountain Club. Shaun would love to coach tennis at a college. His favorite player is Lleyton Hewitt. He loves hot weather. We are keeping him in the frozen mountains as long as we can!!! His energy and enthusiasm for tennis is amazing!