Sounds like there's an enormous tennis cultural gap between France and the UK, built up over generations ( an aside - are there two nations right next to each other, save for a bit of water, anywhere that are so different generally ? )

Take a hell of a bridging ( easier to bridge the Channel ), but some inroads need to be made.

But for football, playing or watching, time and distance is regularly no object.

The Optimist wrote:

---

I believe that HPCs have killed recreational adult singles play in UK tennis clubs.  Before their formation, good juniors developed whilst playing all and sundry at their clubs as well as outside events.  They would play team events in various ages for their clubs, gradually moving into the adult teams.  Obviously the really strong older juniors moved into county and national training but the bulk of youngsters found their level within a club and became club players of varying standards.  A steady stream of competitive young tennis-playing adults.

Now, any child who shows any interest in regular competition is whisked off to an HPC as soon as possible in the hope that there is a new GS champion in the making.  HPCs are all about results and looking to a professional career and ultimately most children leave after a year or 2, feeling they have failed and generally disinclined to pick up a racquet again.  

Previously, they would have found their level within a club and carried on playing and competing at that level and in that environment as young adults.  Now, most juniors who show promise and are competitive are lost to the sport completely by the time they are 15/16.

 

---

Yes I would whole heartedly agree with that.  Whisking them off to HPCs is to the detriment of the other youngsters at the local club who loose their best practice partners, so the general and much larger participation pool declines in talent.  While 95% of the HPC players will burn out and give up before the age of 18, feeling as if they have somehow failed.

I gave up at 15 when I realised I wasn't going to be a world beater, getting regularly beaten off a 12 year old and 10 year old - turned out to be not too bad players those too! One of them winning the Orange Bowl a couple of years later.

Then I rejoined the tennis world aged 25 and have now had 8 years of horrendous club politics, short-sighted committees, inflexible club rules, tournaments cancelled due to low entries, an unweilding focus on doubles and social nights, players unwilling to play down ratings-wise...etc etc etc.  So when Andy Murray won wimbledon I was inspired and decided to do something about it!

 

Actually if anything upping partcipation levels and improving the core structure could more lead to champions than vice versa.

Just, again, using France as an example, but there are HPCs there (or their equivalent, in different guises) and the best kids do get syphoned off to them. (I don't think money tournaments can replace them as top HPCs provide coaching, gyms, physios, dieticians - i.e. the whole training package).

But the French kids at the HPCs still have to belong to a club (if you don't belong to a club you won't get a licence and be able to play tournaments at all) AND this isn't just an admin thing because the kids will go back to their clubs on a Sunday and play team tennis for them. Most of the HPCs are weekly boarding varieties so the kids go home at the weekend and so will go back to their home club and play there at the weekend. (Doesn't apply to everyone, of course, and there's no official requirement but because nearly everybody wants to play the league tennis - only chance to play high-quality team tennis, with team spirit, with team captains coaching them in match-play, etc. etc. - this is what happens).

The other huge difference is that only the proven, top tier go the HPCs (i.e. there's quite a lot of them just coz numbers are high, but it's only the top 5% say).

The HPCs are heavily-subsidised by the FFT. Sometimes free. You have to be selected by the federation committee. No one would be accepted into a HPC unless they are already one of the best group at national level. So it's not just a place for good teaching, open to any child who shows a bit or promise.

The other very, very good but not quite top youngsters stay in the club system - the best of those get extra coaching from the FFT at regional level, the next get extra FFT coaching at county level and the next (still can be very good) stay purely within the club.

Is Andy reading this board?

As the new CEO said majority of players in uk are 50 and over certainly the majority of team players are over 35 particularly in the middle and lower divisions of team tennis what I think I am concluding is doubles events would be more popular 

At the moment doubles leagues are county based I think that regional leagues 

eg South East , North , west , etc  would be more interesting than just competing in the county . I would certainly enter a team in a regional league winners div1 & RU go to national finals 

singles could work for stronger players if there was a sufficient financial incentive to participate .