John Cavill

I was inspired to write this article after a conversation with a tennis parent last month who was asking about the pathway of a player and when is the best time for a junior to play full time. I have had many debates with many tennis coaches including those who have produced world class players, but what is interesting about this debate is that there is no definitive answer.

Like with many things in tennis and life, it depends on the person and their individual needs. In this article, I wanted to cover some options and how others have done it, along with my personal opinion having seen players follow various pathways over the years.

At the Global Tennis Team academy in Mallorca which is ran by Jofre Porter, technical coach to Rafael Nadal and coach to Moya, they have a very flexible system. Tennis players from all over the world visit there but those who live on the Island and play full time will get special dispensation from the school to go to the academy and train during curriculum time.

The players are usually from 13 years old when they do this and they may get 2 or 3 afternoons a week out of school so they can train in the afternoon and early evening. The tennis players who live on site at the academy are usually foreign or from mainland Spain and most are registered at the local Spanish school which they attend daily with time out for tennis.

The academy arrange all the transportation to and from school and Jofre’s girlfriend, Afiza, who lives on site makes sure that everyone is on top of their homework! There are some players which don’t attend school and they have a syllabus that they must follow online. There are then set times to submit work and contact time with tutors etc. via the online support but Afiza still keeps a close eye on them to ensure all is up to date!

How Global Tennis operates is quite similar to other academies although some of the larger ones, like Sanchez-Casal in Barcelona, they have their own school on site.

I think it is accepted that children from 13/14 years old need to be coming out of school for a certain number of hours each week to be able to put in the quality hours on court and do their fitness. The sacrifice might be that they have to drop a few subjects and do less exams when they are 16 but there are many players who manage to cope. I think that if you are a tennis player you have to have a high level of self-discipline and studying should be a part of a junior player’s job. At Global Tennis if they don’t keep up with their studies then they are asked to leave and I think this is a great ethos to set.

The highly debated area of junior tennis players playing full time is when they are 9 or 10 years old. Personally I think this is a bit too young but who am I to comment if there is a good balance within the player’s life. I feel that if they only do tennis and don’t go to school then they will miss out on the social skills and environment of mixing with people who don’t play tennis. A lot about being a tennis player is about being a well-rounded individual, so whatever is required to make that possible should be done.

The problems I have heard about with children leaving school and going full time at an academy from such an early age is that their group of friends outside of tennis is limited, they get bored with being in the same environment every day and that the variety of activities at an academy are limited. Ultimately this could lead to leaving the game.

I think that sometimes there is pressure or expectancy on parents to commit their child’s future so early and that when they see other players going full time so young, they feel they need to keep up. My personal feelings are that there is no major rush at 9 years old and that doing 20 hours a week at this age is likely to lead to boredom or burnout and the kids will be done with tennis by 14 or 15 years old.

I like to see junior tennis players stay in school for as long as possible and at 11 or 12 years old to start taking one or two afternoons a week to train at the club. I think that the crucial time to go full time is around 14 or 15 as the players will have the skills to manage themselves and the hours of work required to go as far as they can need to be around 20 hours so it’s unrealistic to fit this in and a full day of school in.

There are six tennis players in this year’s Wimbledon main draw that have come from the US college system. Education is important and the balance between this and tennis can be done. There are lots of people going to US college and then going to pro tennis, which I think is a great path to follow but it may not necessarily be for all.

If any tennis parent is looking at the options for their child to go full time then they should seek good advice from a coach or academy that will look at what is best for the child. It’s usually best to consult those who have been working with the player for many years as they will know the players best and have a much better feel for what approach to take.

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