In the world of Canadian Tennis, the All Canadian Tennis Academy [now known as ACE] has been recognized as the top tennis development school for the last 40 years. Burlington’s ACE Tennis Academy was founded in Burlington and has been located at the Cedar Springs Health, Racquet & Sports club. The academy was founded in 1976 by former National Champion and Davis Cup team member Pierre Lamarche, a Montreal native and long-time Burlington resident.  

His level of play as a Junior Canadian Champion earned him a scholarship to Mississippi State University (MSU) where he was a standout as a member of the NCAA’s #3 ranked team. While enrolled in MSU graduate school he became the youngest head coach of a Division 1 team. This became his calling after 3 years of professional tennis. 

In 1976 Lamarche launched his highly successful “All Canadian Sports Management Inc.” company which specialized in sport facility management. Following his passion, he created these facilities tennis programs for children that had as a goal to develop personal excellence through the sport of tennis. These programs became the reference point for the development of national programs based on the All Canadian model. This knowledge was shared through participation in the development of a number of publications that became the reference material for Canadian tennis development.

Lamarche served as the initial Tournament Director for the Canadian Open in Montreal, as part of the team which developed Expo’s Jarry Park as the home of the Open. Pierre is recognized as a major contributor to the development of the sport and is regarded as one of the brightest tennis visionaries – not only in Canada – but in the world. He is a founding member of the Coaches Association of Ontario, the Canadian Professional Coaches Association, and the International Tennis Federation Coaches Commission. He served as a consultant for Tennis Canada (1988-1996) while helping shape the systematic approach to tennis development which has become the Canadian tennis trademark in elevating the performance of Canada internationally. During his association with Tennis Canada, Lamarche was also the Director of Coaching, the National Head Coach, the Davis Cup, and Fed Cup captain and Canadian Team Tennis leader at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.  

Globally from 1990-1998, he served as a consultant to the International Tennis Federation, as a member of the ITF Coaches Commission, as a speaker to numerous International Coach’s Conferences on all continents, and as a Course Conductor in various African countries. He also served as the Head National Coach for Tunisia 1996-99 while helping develop their long-term national tennis strategy.  
 
Lamarche and the All Canadian [ACE] programs have been associated with an Olympic Gold medalist, over 12 Davis and Fed Cup team members, and players who won more than 150 National Junior Championships. Lamarche feels that his greatest accomplishments are the more than 200 graduates who have received scholarships at prestigious American Universities and the over 100 former Ace players or coaches which are leading the development of the sport in the country.  

The ACE Academy attracts each year over 250 children locally, regionally, and nationally with many families moving to Burlington and joining the community. Parents make the move to Burlington and their schools to enroll their kids in the revered ACE Academy and the esteemed guidance of Canada Tennis Hall of Fame inductee (2004) and Rogers - Canadian Open - Hall of Fame inductee Pierre Lamarche.