National Academies

Tennisdad_101 · Lower Club Player

National Academies

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

I find this all rather strange:

In Dec. 2021, they appointed Noelle Van Lottum as chief coach, and since then (so it seems to me) the results have just got better and better.....

Even if it's not her doing, the results themselves are still great

Ella McDonald, Charlie Robertson, Hep, Hannah Read, Hannah Rylatt.....

Now, I realise that not all those kids are Scottish (although some are). But having regional bases has knock-on good effects, especially when it's doing that well.

Daisycat · Improver

I maybe wrong but I thought Hannah Read had left Sterling

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

Daisycat wrote:
I maybe wrong but I thought Hannah Read had left Sterling

You're probably right, DaisyC

I'm out of touch.....I can never keep up with where they all are....are the others all still there, do you know?

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

Further to the post above, Stirling is seemingly open until Sept. 2024 when the agreement with the uni rolls off

The Loughborough academy lists the following as players (the site is 2023, so I assume it's up to date)

I was told last year that the cost to the LTA of keeping a child at Loughborough is approx £120k per year

Eva Shaw (now left - see below)
Given Roach
Ranah Stoiber
Mimi Xu
Talia Neilson-Gatenby
Abby Kelliher
Amalia Widdowson
Daniela Piani

Added: Mika Stojsavljevic

Henry Searle
Hugo Coquelin
Luca Pow

Added: Alex Winder

www.lboro.ac.uk/sport/sports/tennis/national-tennis-academy/current-players/

-- Edited by Coup Droit on Saturday 25th of February 2023 11:48:25 AM

Lambda · Club Coach

The LTA list also has Alex Winder and Mika Stojsavljevic at Loughborough but does not list Eva.
https://www.lta.org.uk/compete/performance/player-pathway/national-academies/overview/

Eta: Archive sites show Eva was listed last August, so she must have left.

-- Edited by Lambda on Saturday 25th of February 2023 11:43:15 AM

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

Thanks, Lambda - I'll change it

I like to try and keep up to date but it's not easy

Just for completeness, the site you put up lists the following as being at Stirling:

Ella McDonald
Hannah Rylatt
Hephzibah Oluwadare
Millie Skelton

Charlie Robertson
Henry Jefferson
Viktor Frydrych
Phoenix Weir

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

Again, just for info so the thread is a resource, here's the selection criteria for this year:

www.lta.org.uk/491d06/siteassets/pro-players/national-academy-selection-policy-2023-final.pdf

it gives ranking minimums for assessment as well as "A player who reaches the singles final at the U16 National Championships (in 2023) will automatically be shortlisted for selection and would not require an LTA National Coach
nomination"

and also certain details about alternative help if not part of the academy

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

Posted by Dodrade:

Wasn't sure where to put this but Nick Cavaday is leaving Loughborough.

archive.ph/CDYHP

Both Briggs and Mike Dickson in the Mail very critical of the Academy system which seems harsh given the talent that trains there. Is Bonding still attending?

Posted be me:

I 'liked' this sentence from Dickson:

"Unfortunately and scarcely believably there remains nobody on the main board of the LTA with any experience of elite tennis to properly question the executive."

www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/tennis/article-11894597/Emma-Raducanu-vows-play-Great-Britain-soon-despite-backing-Billie-Jean-King-Cup.html

It is no defence of a system to say 'but there's a couple of real talents there'

It would be truly remarkable if the academies had fostered ZERO decent players

The question is how many talents (compared with the 'normal' route) and at what cost.

And i don't think that saying 'we've given four years of the most expensive training the country has to to offer to players like Given Roach, Hugo Coquelin, Luca Pow' etc is really going to make a good argument