First LTA national event of the year was this week with a grade 2 for each age group at various places around the country. A lot of the top players away in France, or didnt enter but the winners of the 11U- 14U (and runners up) were:
11U Tiffany Mitchel-Ojelabi Yilin Li
Philip Neuez Fletcher Davies
12U Milla Bray Emmanuella Idemudia
Seb Beetlestone Fraser Newcombe
14U April Sackflame Hermione Korpanec Davies
Ryan Szeto
Oscar Laskowski
There were 9U and 10U events too but I always feel those age groups dont really tell much about ability. Starts to matter more when they get to full court, hard ball
-- Edited by Rose on Friday 21st of February 2025 08:01:57 PM
-- Edited by Rose on Friday 21st of February 2025 09:12:44 PM
How do the LTA national events actually work? Do they give specific points that lead up to entry places for the national championships?
Yes, all GB events from grades 1-5 carry ranking points and entrance (with the exception of wildcards) is purely by ranking. Juniors will play grade 3s to be able to get the ranking points to get into the grade 2s and 1s. It is very very difficult to get into the grade 1s unless you have ranking points from a grade 2 (or a previous grade 1). There are 4 grade 1s a year, including the national championship.
For points comparison - the winner of an 11U grade 3 (regional) will get 125 points and the winner of an 11U grade 2 (national) will get 375 points. Quarter finalists in a grade 2 can get more points than an overall grade 3 winner. its a big difference
12U Tennis Europe events (in this country only) count as a grade 2 for LTA ranking points. No other 12U tennis Europes abroad count for LTA ranking for this age group. This is because TE does not carry any TE ranking points for 12U and the LtA need to give the GB players an incentive to play them In this country.
14U and 16U TEs in this country, and abroad, carry LTA ranking points. This is as a multiplier of the tennis Europe points - the higher the category the more LTA points. There are a lot of singles points to gain. However, doubles hardly carry any points which is why you often see half empty doubles draws in the lower categories.Singles can earn more points than a GB grade 2 or 1. You will always see those players who can afford to compete abroad a lot in TE high up in the GB rankings as they can pick up a lot more ranking points. Those who cant travel have to play all the grade 2s in this county to keep their ranking high enough to get into the grade 1s.
For some reason, ITFs (especially the J30s) do not carry many LTA points at all. Because of that the GB rankings from 14U-18U arent particularly reliable. Juniors often have to play open regional tournaments (the higher the age the higher the points on offer) and British tours to keep their GB ranking high enough.
Interestingly, until 2 years ago, the LTA used to select players based on their ranking for the 11U-14U national pathway - eg the top 16 ranked would automatically get chosen. I think they have realised how unreliable it is. Now ranking is not taken into account at all and selection is by UTR. Its now called an RPDC long list and, although the LTA provide the list based on UTRs (and national coach recommendation if UTR is not high enough for a player they want) the RPDCs have the final say as to whether they actually want the player. Great to see a more sensible selection criteria
-- Edited by Rose on Friday 21st of February 2025 09:35:56 PM
-- Edited by Rose on Friday 21st of February 2025 10:25:00 PM
I'm going to copy and paste it for future reference
I'm not 100% sure I've quite got it all but I'll go with your conclusion, as a takeaway, that at least the LTA now are using more sensible selection criteria
Just musing but I guess the number of wildcards is important - i.e. if the actual nationals have 4 main draw wildcards, the LTA have kept the flxibility to get their 'chosen' players in, even if the UTR doesn't really support it. But if the actual nationals are just one four events that all count the same, then I guess that doesn't matter too much anyway. I suppose the most important is where the selection for funding falls out - is that to the top UTR players, or the winners of the Cat 1 events (even if they're not the top UTR players), or at the LTA's discretion for some?
I'm going to copy and paste it for future reference
I'm not 100% sure I've quite got it all but I'll go with your conclusion, as a takeaway, that at least the LTA now are using more sensible selection criteria
Just musing but I guess the number of wildcards is important - i.e. if the actual nationals have 4 main draw wildcards, the LTA have kept the flxibility to get their 'chosen' players in, even if the UTR doesn't really support it. But if the actual nationals are just one four events that all count the same, then I guess that doesn't matter too much anyway. I suppose the most important is where the selection for funding falls out - is that to the top UTR players, or the winners of the Cat 1 events (even if they're not the top UTR players), or at the LTA's discretion for some?
So
Entrance into tournaments is on ranking only. Wildcards are usually given to the younger players (who deserve the opportunity to play up), to players who have lower ranking than ability due to injury or to players who have had a very good recent set of results. In a main draw of 32 (no qualifying) there will be 28 selected directly on ranking and 4 wildcards can be given.
Funding for 11U -14U years at regional development centres is given to players long listed by the LTA. For the current 11U-13U players this is done mostly on UTR but national coach recommendation is also a part of it and so are results, to a certain extent. The current 10U group will be selected on a combination of national coach recommendation and results. All players for these spaces are notified in may and the programme runs September to July every year. The top players in the 11U-14U age groups get additional support with paid for national camps and trips abroad. In the summer of a players 14U year the programme stops. Around 90% then get no further funding with a select few going to the National academy of getting some further funding.
This was the minimum performance criteria for the National academy last year. Only Eric, Niall and Scott were given places. Megan is receiving additional funding. It doesnt use UTR at all - thats only for the 11u-14U regional age group as they have no ITF ranking and the GB rankings alone arent accurate at all.
3.4. Minimum performance criteria for consideration - MPCC
A player must fulfil one of the below performance criteria in order to be longlisted for consideration
for National Coach nominations. A player must then receive a minimum of two nominations from
LTA National Coaches in order to be shortlisted:
3.4.1 The player was selected for the Mens & Womens Programme (MWP)/16U NAGP or the
14U NAGP as a Scholar in 2023 or 2024;
3.4.2 The player achieved one of the following results between 1 March 2023 and 31 March
2024:
a) Main draw singles final at an LTA National 12U and/or 14U G1 or G2 tournament;
b) Main draw singles semi final at an 12U TE category 1 tournament;
c) Main draw singles semi final at an 14U TE category 2 or above;
d) Main draw semi final of an ITF junior event in Europe;
3.4.3 The player met the following ITF Junior World ranking criteria at any point between 1
January 2024 and 31 March 2024:
Boys
15th year (2009s) 16th year (2008s) 17th year (2007s)
ITF Juniors Top 2000 ITF Juniors Top 1000 ITF Juniors Top 400
Girls
15th year (2009s) 16th year (2008s) 17th year (2007s)
ITF Juniors Top 1000 ITF Juniors Top 500 ITF Juniors Top 250
3.4.4 A player who reaches the singles final at the U16 National Championships (in 2024) will
automatically be shortlisted for selection and would not require LTA National Coach
nominations.
Meeting minimum performance criteria for consideration does not mean players will be
automatically nominated and therefore shortlisted.
-- Edited by Rose on Friday 21st of February 2025 11:04:22 PM
-- Edited by Rose on Friday 21st of February 2025 11:04:54 PM
For an eligible player to be longlisted for RPDC consideration, they must meet the Performance Level Requirements (PLR) by fulfilling either of the following criteria;
5.1 and 5.2, or
Two coach nominations (5.2)
5.1 Universal Tennis Rating (UTR)
Using the UTR, we will create a ranking list of players in each age and gender based on their UTR on Friday 11th April 2025. To meet the UTR criteria (5.1), a player will need to achieve the following *:
11U Top 24 in GB based upon their UTR 12U Top 20 in GB based upon their UTR
13U Top 16 in GB based upon their UTR
*Players who achieve multiple age group benchmarks will still require a national coach nomination
5.2 National Coach Nomination
Receive a nomination from an LTA National Performance Pathway Team Coach (National Age Group Coach, National Pathway Coach, or RPDC Network Lead) based on their professional opinion, from observations between 1st April 2024 and the longlisting meeting, on which players they believe have the highest potential for pathway progression towards international success and selection for the National Academy or other International Junior stage support opportunities of the player pathway. Specifically:
At ages 10 & 11 years old
Potential to be selected for National Pathway activity at 11U/12U and progress through the National stage of the Player Pathway, in consideration with the following areas:
Game style: The player is developing skills in all phases of play and areas of the court (all court game), which can be developed into a successful future gamestyle,
Strengths & Weapons: The player is showing early signs of strengths which are being developed and have the potential to be successful weapons at the next age and stage,
Head: The player demonstrates a basic understanding, and appropriate decision making, in all phases of play (attack, neutral, defense) and is showing the ability to sustain focus and refocus during matches,
Heart: The players drive and attitude in training and competition shows a willingness to learn and a desire to compete hard in matches. The player demonstrates the courage to play a proactive, future focused style of play in competition.
Athlete: The player has athletic fundamentals (agility, balance & coordination) which can be developed into physical attributes that could positively influence the outcome of matches,
Performance: The player has established a competitive profile at regional level and above. Their results profile shows a future or current capability of becoming Nationally competitive (or better) in consistently winning matches at a national level in their current year of birth and/or above,
Readiness: The player is ready to engage and meet the demands of the RPDC programme
At ages 12 & 13 years old
Potential to be selected for National Camps or International Activity between 12-14 years of age, in consideration with the following areas:
Game style: The player is developing an all-round game, with an emerging gamestyle which can be successful at the international junior stage and beyond,
Strengths & Weapons: The player has emerging strengths which can be developed into successful weapons at the international junior stage and beyond,
Head: The player demonstrates smart decision making, good problem-solving abilities and a level of focus in matches, irrespective of the match situation,
Heart: The players drive and attitude in training and competition shows a willingness to learn and a desire to win matches,
Athlete: The player has a robust athletic foundation which can be developed into physical attributes that could positively influence the outcome of matches,
Performance: The player has competitive results, ranking and rating (at current year of birth or above). Their results profile shows a future or current capability to become a Nationally relevant player or above (consistently reaching the last 16 or beyond at domestic G1 level or above) in their current age group and/or above. The player shows the potential to beat players of a higher level than themselves,
Readiness: The player is ready to engage and meet the demands of the RPDC programme
5.3 Considerations relating to limiting factors
The National Performance Pathway Team may also consider any of the following matters that influences their opinion on the players potential when considering National Coach nominations (5.2):
The players biological age and physical maturation;
The players historic training programme;
The players historic tournament schedule and match count;
Any other considerations that have led to a significant interruption or impact on tennis (e.g. illness, injury).
