Teaching Pro Spotlight: James Ciuffo
With the two-weekend 54th Annual Northridge-Matador Junior Open Tournament officially completed, longtime Cal State Northridge women’s assistant coach James Ciuffo is now ready to turn his focus on the next event he will direct.
Entries for the Northridge Fall Classic Open money tournament close on Oct 2. The following is the link to enter:
https://tennislink.usta.com/Tournaments/TournamentHome/Tournament.aspx?T=219534
Seth Stolar won the Men’s Open title last year.
Ciuffo said the past two weekends have been on the warm side, but nothing compared to the 115-degree days he and the players suffered through back in mid-July in another USTA Designated junior tournament.
“We had to front load the mornings and played later in the day,” Ciuffo said.
Ciuffo has been a loyal assistant women’s coach for the Matadors for more than 20 years, and is head coach Gary Victor’s right-hand man. “I do a lot of scouting and recruiting and we are always looking for good, home-grown and local talent,” Ciuffo said.
A naturally gifted athlete, Ciuffo played baseball in high school instead of tennis before switching sports while a student at Cal Lutheran University and playing under longtime Kingsmen Coach Mike Gennette.
In 2001, Ciuffo helped lead the Matadors to the Big Sky Conference Championship and a spot in the NCAA Tournament.
He earned his bachelor’s degree in business from CLU in 1996. Prior to attending Cal Lutheran, Ciuffo attended Pierce College in Woodland Hills and graduated from Taft High School. He is also a member of the United States Professional Tennis Association.
Ciuffo and his wife Shelley have a daughter, Angelina.
“I plan on staying at Northridge for a long time,” Ciuffo said. “As long as Coach Victor will have me.”