LTA announces 50 Local Player Development Centres as part of 10-year vision for Player pathway
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The Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) today named 50 tennis centres across the country that will act as Local Player Development Centres (LPDCs), marking the next milestone in the development of the new ten-year Performance Strategy for tennis in Britain.
The new player pathway is specifically designed to enable the best British players to train and compete regularly with one another at every stage of their development, and the LPDCs provide an important first step on the clear route from beginners’ mini-red level tennis to major tournament success. With the opening of the LPDC network, high potential junior players from the age of seven will receive support and opportunities to play the sport locally.
The LPDCs will provide affordable, high-quality local training for young children, with those with the greatest potential able to progress their tennis development at one of 11 Regional Player Development Centres (RPDCs).
The next stage of the pathway is progression to one of the two recently-named National Academies at Loughborough University and the University of Stirling, which will provide new, world-class holistic development of high-potential British players in transformative, full-time, residential, training environments. The pathway ends with a Pro-Scholarship Programme for those players with greatest potential selected between the ages of 16 to 24 who are capable of reaching the world’s top 100 and beyond.
The LPDCs and RPDCs will become operational from September 2018 while the National Academies will open 12 months after.
The new performance strategy is led by LTA Performance Director Simon Timson and aims to make Britain one of the most respected nations in the world for tennis player development. The entire player pathway will be underpinned by investment in a specialist coaching workforce for every age and stage of the pathway and a clear player development philosophy, as well as a focus on players’ physical and emotional wellbeing.
To support the new Performance Strategy for British Tennis, the LTA has formed its first-ever Performance Advisory Group comprising of Jamie Delgado - coach to Andy Murray and former professional player; broadcaster and former British No.1 Sam Smith and Tim Henman, a four-time Wimbledon semi-finalist and former world No.4, who will support the LTA in continually reviewing and evolving the performance strategy. This panel of experts will play a critical role in helping the LTA understand the perspective of aspiring players and better enable the Performance team to plan and deliver programmes that will allow talented players to fulfil their potential.
LTA’s Chief Executive Scott Lloyd said: “We are delighted to announce our 50 LPDCs that represent the first step on a seamless player pathway and will create opportunities for young players to develop their tennis talents.
“This is the latest development in the implementation of our new Performance Strategy, which marks a step-change in the LTA’s approach to developing a pipeline of future tennis champions.
“With the success of British players in recent years, tennis in Britain has had a huge boost and we have seen great potential in our young players during the first week of Wimbledon. We now want to create more success with a new strategy that has been designed to help create future British tennis champions, who we hope will continue to inspire others to play, watch and enjoy the sport for generations to come. “
LTA’s Performance Director Simon Timson said: “We recognise one of the biggest challenges in creating a seamless development pathway for future British tennis champions is establishing high-quality, accessible playing centres for young children and getting them onto that player pathway from mini-red / mapping out a clear route from Mini-Red level onwards. Our new Local Player Development Centres are the first step on the pathway that will give aspiring future champions the opportunity to progress to Regional Player Development Centres and onto National Academies.
“It’s our ambition to make Britain one of the most respect nations in the world for player development. LPDCs will provide inspiring coaching to kindle young players’ passion for tennis and nurture their potential as people, players and performers. These exciting training environments will help children fulfil their potential and progress to the regional stage of our pathway for champions.”
The 50 LPDCs by LTA region are:
East
- ATA Cambridge at Hills Road Sports & Tennis Centre (Cambridgeshire)
- Batchwood Golf & Tennis Centre (Hertfordshire)
- Bucks Indoor Tennis Centre (Buckinghamshire)
- Compete Tennis (Redbridge)
- Corby Tennis Centre (Northamptonshire)
- Culford School (Suffolk)
- Easton & Otley College (Norfolk)
- Gosling Sports Park (Hertfordshire)
- Halton Tennis Centre (Buckinghamshire)
- Maidenhead Lawn Tennis Club (Berkshire)
- Riverside Tennis Club Bedford (Bedfordshire)
Midlands
- Ashby Castle Lawn Tennis Club (Leicestershire)
- Boston Tennis Club (Lincolnshire)
- Grantham Tennis Club (Lincolnshire)
- Inspire2Coach at The Shrewsbury Club (Shropshire)
- Inspire2Coach at Warwick University (Warwickshire)
- Leicestershire Tennis & Squash Club (Leicestershire)
- My Tennis Ltd Nottingham (Nottinghamshire)
- Tipton Sports Academy (Staffordshire)
- Wolverhampton Lawn Tennis & Squash Club (Staffordshire)
North
- Bolton Arena (Lancashire)
- Graves Health & Sports Centre, Sheffield (Yorkshire)
- Hull Nuffield Health Tennis Academy (Yorkshire)
- Ilkley Lawn Tennis & Squash Club (Yorkshire)
- Manchester Tennis Centre (Lancashire)
- Northumberland Tennis Academy (Northumberland)
- Robin Park Tennis Centre (Lancashire)
- Thongsbridge Tennis & Fitness Club (Yorkshire)
- Widnes Tennis Academy (Cheshire)
Scotland
- Aberdeen Tennis & Squash Centre
- Adam Brown Tennis Academy Ltd
- Borders Tennis Centre, Galashiels
- Prestwick Tennis & Fitness
- University of St Andrews
South East
- Bromley Tennis Centre (Kent)
- Canterbury Tennis Academy (Kent)
- Pavilion & Avenue Tennis Club, Hove (Sussex)
- Sevenoaks Tennis Centre (Kent)
- Surbiton Racket & Fitness Club (Surrey)
- Sutton Tennis Academy (Surrey)
- Tennis Eastbourne (Sussex)
- The Parklangley Club (Bromley)
- Virgin Active Chiswick Riverside Tennis Academy (Middlesex)
- Woking Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club (Surrey)
South West
- Delta Tennis Centre, Swindon (Wiltshire)
- Exeter Tennis Centre (Devon)
- Taunton Tennis Centre (Somerset)
- Team Bath Tennis at University of Bath (Avon)
- The West Hants Club (Dorset)
Wales
- Swansea Tennis Centre
