Ben Hestley sports a United States Professional Tennis Association shirt while boating in New England. After a national search, the former Pell City resident was named director of tennis at the Druid Hills Golf Club in Atlanta.

Ben Hestley enjoyed playing recreation league baseball, basketball, and football, but it was as a sophomore at Pell City High School that he decided to give tennis his full attention.

“I started playing when I was 12, and, by far, it was the sport I was best at,” he said from the Druid Hills Golf Club, where he now serves as director of tennis.

Formerly the head tennis pro at the downtown Atlanta country club, Hestley spent three months as interim director before being chosen for the post after a national search.

“I oversee the club’s entire tennis program, which includes junior and adult leagues and tournaments, the food and beverage operation, the pro shop, and maintenance,” he said.

Hestley graduated from Pell City in 2000 and received a degree in sociology with a minor in business adminisration from the University of North Alabama in 2004.   

Since his parents, Russell and Alice Hestley, moved to Wedowee, he doesn’t often get back to Pell City, where his grandparents, Ben and Neva Hestley, still reside.

He does retain fond memories of his hometown, particularly as a developing tennis player.

“Sarah Stewart really brought me up,” Hestley said.  “She helped me get a scholarship to Central Alabama Community College, and from there I went on to play at the University of North Alabama.  I also had the opportunity to be on the 18-and-under Junior Olympic team she coached.  That was the tipping point in my tennis career.  It was also a springboard for me to get a college scholarship.”

Stewart, Pell City’s director of tennis and a past  Alabama Tennis Pro of the Year, coached the team to a top showing in the competition at Newport News, Va., in 1998.

“I’m looking at my plaque as we speak,” Hestley said.  “It was one of the first things I put up in my office here at Druid Hills.”