Susan Wadsworth
Director of Admissions and Public Relations

Susan Wadsworth is the Admissions and Public Relations Director for the Weil Tennis Academy. She was born and raised in Massachusetts and moved to California in December of 1997. Susan graduated from the University of Maine with her Bachelor's of Science Degree in Child Development/Family Relations with a concentration in Social Services and is currently pursuing her Master's Degree in Business Administration.

Susan has been a Preschool Teacher, a Director of Child Care Centers and before moving to CA, she opened a Child Care Center in Tewksbury, MA and took it from it's inception to a successful profitable center which is still in operation today. In CA, Susan directed a child care center and then moved on to directing various programs in two local school districts before moving to Oak View and beginning her employment at Weil.

Susan can be contacted at:

Sherine El Sakka
Finance and Residential Director/Boys Dorm Parent

Sherine was born and raised in Egypt in a tennis loving family where her dad taught her and her brother and sister how to play and were all to become national champions.

In January 1984, after graduating from high school in Egypt, Sherine joined USL in Lafayette, Louisiana as a freshman on a full scholarship to play for the tennis team. In May 1984, for family reasons, she went back to Egypt where she attended the American University in Cairo. In 1986, Sherine got married and joined her husband, Khaled Ismail, then studying for his PHD at MIT, in Boston, MA. She attended Northeastern University on full tennis scholarship and graduated with highest honors in December 1988 with a degree in accounting and management. In April 1989, her first child, Ahmed was born in Boston. In the summer of that same year, her husband graduated from MIT and they all moved to NY where Sherine studied and passed her CPA examination. In December 1990, the family went back to Egypt, and in February 1991, their second son, Moustafa, was born.

Sherine and her husband have helped their boys learn tennis and compete in Egypt were they were both top national juniors. In their search to provide them the best possible opportunity and from their past experience in the US, they decided to send them to California, where Ahmed, has been a student at the Weil Tennis Academy since September 2004 and was then joined by his brother in August 2005.

Before joining us, Sherine's work experience was in the accounting and administration field were she started as an accountant at Monitor Co. in Boston and at Al Kerr Accounting in NY, then as a senior auditor at Price Waterhouse in Cairo, then as the Finance Manager at the Federation of Egyptian Industries, and finally, for the past 3 years, as the Finance and Administration Officer at the UN World Food Programme Regional Bureau in Cairo.

Sherine hopes that while at Weil she will be able to provide the students with a supportive environment that can help them maintain a balance in their daily life and at the same time achieve their maximum potential.

Jeanette Espinoza
Executive Assistant

Jeanette Espinoza is the Executive Assistant for the Weil Tennis Academy. She was born and raised in Ojai, California, graduated from Nordhoff High School, and went on to study psychology at the University of California, Los Angeles. She recently graduated from UCLA with her bachelor's degree in psychology. During her time at UCLA she also minored in Applied Developmental Psychology and interned with one of her professors where she practiced behavior modification with autistic children. She hopes to return to Los Angeles to continue working with her professor until she is ready to apply for graduate school.

Jeanette can be contacted at:

Mary Gregory
Girls Dorm Parent

Mary was born in Montana and raised in Ojai and Ventura and has sisters in Anchorage, Alaska and Rosarito Beach, Mexico. She retired from the county of Ventura in 2003 where she worked as an assistant to the Commander of the Pre-Trial Detention Facility and in the Drug and Alcohol programs within the Behavioral Health Unit. She moved to Louisiana in 2004 to be near her daughter and grandchildren but had to move back to California after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita devastated Louisiana. Mary has traveled to all 50 states, Canada & Mexico but is drawn to the Jackson Hole, Yellowstone and Glacier National Park areas and returns to camp and backpack as often as she can get away. Mary is a graduate of The Technology Development Center in Ventura and a graduate of the Master Gardener Program at the Santa Barbara Botanical Garden’s. She planted a Victory Garden at Hansen Trust in Santa Paula which was used as a study tool for teachers in Ventura County. She is currently pursuing a degree in English. She is an active member of the Ventura Surf Club and former member of the Ventura Chapter of the Jaycee’s.

Her hobbies include surfing, hiking, skiing (water and snow) photography, music, gardening, baking, reading, and giving back to the community. She is looking forward to living at The Weil Academy and watching the young people grow into caring, responsible adults.

Mary can be contacted at:

Byron Mellon
Executive Chef

Byron was born in Los Angeles, California to a Russian father who left his homeland after the Bolshevik Revolution and a Mexican mother who left her country when her family was ousted by Pancho Villa. At an early age, Byron began educating his palette with a varied international cuisine.

Byron Mellon started his career in foodservice at the age of sixteen. He tested the waters in many different aspects of restaurant work, from cashier to waiter, but eventually found passion in the kitchens of the world. While working his way up from a cook for the Intercontinental Hotel Corporation to a full fledged Chef, Byron received a Hotel Operations and Food Service Certificate from the University of Hawaii.

Byron trained for nine years with international chefs from cultures such as Asia, Europe and South America. He then transferred to the Intercontinental Hotel Corporation's Latin American Division. He worked as a Sous Chef in South America, a Banquet Chef in Miami, Florida and as an Executive in Manzanillo, Mexico. After five and a half years of cooking around the globe, Byron returned to Maui, Hawaii as Executive Chef and Food & Beverage Manager at the Maui Sun Hotel.

But as we all know, everyone eventually returns to Ojai, even those inclined to travel the world. And so Byron moved back to Ojai. Byron, still taking a break from the stress of running international kitchens, delighted the students and staff at Thacher School as their Sous Chef. Next, Byron operated his own restaurant and catering business in Ojai.

Byron joined the staff at the Weil Tennis Academy four years ago as the Executive Chef and Food & Beverage Director. "I enjoy doing what I do best - preparing and serving meals to an energetic and enthusiastic crowd."