Professional Tennis Staff

Tom Chorney - Director of Tennis and Head Professional

Tom has been with Cherokee since 1983. For over 20 years he has been a USPTA Professional and on the Prince National Advisory staff. He has coached junior players who have won more than a dozen Wisconsin high school singles championships and many Division 1 Collegiate players. His wife, Doneta, also teaches at Cherokee and their three children, Tilly, Shelby and Bailey are avid tennis players. Although tennis is his passion, he also loves playing golf. His biggest disappointment is not seeing his only hole-in-one go into the hole

Credentials:

Director of Tennis and Head Professional, Cherokee since 1983
USPTA Professional since 1987
Prince National Advisory staff since 1988
Wisconsin USPTA Pro of the Year, 1996
Wisconsin Tennis Association's Rollie Mueller Award winner, 1999
Coach, Wisconsin District Marian Wood Baird Cup Team since 1990
Coach, Wisconsin District Training Centers Member, Wisconsin District Jr. Competition Committee since 1990
Chairman, Wisconsin Tennis Association Sanction and Schedule Committee since 2009

Doneta Chorney

Doneta has been with Cherokee since 1991. She is also the head professional at Bishops Bay Country Club and has been for the last nine years. Doneta grew up in Waunakee, and even though there was no tennis team at her high school, she still managed to get a tennis scholarship to the University of Nebraska. She transferred to the University of Wisconsin-Madison for her last year and played on the tennis team. After graduation, she decided to make teaching tennis her career. In 2002, Doneta and her husband, Tom, were on the 10.0 mixed doubles national championship team. In 2003, she competed in the women's 35 and under tournament and got USPTA Player of the Year. In Doneta's spare time she coaches her daughters' basketball teams and provides transportation and support for their tournaments.

Pat Klingelhoets

Pat has been with Cherokee on and off since 1973. He grew up in Monona and played tennis for the University of Wisconsin-Madison from 1968-1972. From 1973 to 1979, Pat was the head tennis professional at Janesville Indoor Tennis and then became the UW Men's Tennis Coach from 1981-2005. Along with tennis, Pat loves to fish and hang out with his wife, Nancy, and their dog, Bogie.

John Miller

John has been with Cherokee since 1998. He is a certified USPTA professional and is the Director of Tennis at Hawks Landing. John is the USTA Junior Team Tennis League Coordinator and GMTA Sunday Morning Coordinator. He graduated from the College of William and Mary in 1989 and joined the Peace Corps for three years in 1990. Besides tennis, John loves mountain and cylo cross training and racing.

Jamey Vorlander

Jamey has been with Cherokee since 2000. He is a Madison native who attended Madison East High School. Jamey was the long time coach for Madison East High School's Varsity Boys' and Girls' tennis. He graduated from the University of Minnesota with a BA in political science. Jamey is a fun and passionate tennis professional determined to improve his players' tennis game. Besides tennis, Jamey is an avid biker.

Ben Bearjar

Ben is the newest addition to our tennis staff at Cherokee. He began with us in the summer of 2010 and has very quickly emerged as an especially patient and caring advocate of our youngest players. He was born in Woodstock, Vermont and grew up in Wausau, WI, where he went on to become a state-ranked junior player. Ben is USPTR-certified and has 15 years of teaching experience here in Wisconsin at the Wausau Country Club and Camp Deerborn, as well as in California at the San Francisco Tennis Club and the Orinda Tennis Club. When not out on the court, Ben loves to travel to exotic and far away destinations.

Hayley Homburg

One of our favorite star juniors for many years, Hayley went off to college at Eastern Illinois University, where she did a 4-year stint as a scholarship athlete. She then became the assistant coach at Northern Illinois University before deciding that she belonged back up in Madison. Hayley draws her experience not only from coaching Division 1 athletes at EIU, but from having been an instructor at Bishop's Bay Country Club, Whitewater Tennis Camp, the Greater Madison Tennis Association (GMTA), and by assisting Tom Chorney coach top level players at the Marion Baird Cup.

Hayley has incredible energy both on and off the court. She channels some of that energy by training for her next 1/2 marathon with her Australian Shepherd, "Harley" (named for the Harley Davidson she has always wanted, but decided she shouldn't drive!).

Jim Hurrish

Jim comes to Cherokee with over two decades of teaching experience. He's originally from Stevens Point, but arrives here from Peoria, Illinois. Having worked with pre-schoolers, Future's players and all levels in between, Jim has a diverse and extensive tennis background. He has also organized and run hundreds of tournaments and strung racquets for tour professionals.

He obtained a degree in Audio Engineering from Ohio State, and continues a life-long love of music. Jim has the mind of an engineer, with the heart of a musician. He has studied racquet repair, customization and racquet matching -- and enjoys providing this service.

A positive, skilled communicator, he looks forward to blending in to the Cherokee family. An avid reader when he can find the solitude, Jim is a collector of books and musical things. Best of all, Jim went to kindergarten with Tom Chorney, so how bad can he be?