MURRAY LEGACY
Stirling University one of two picks for new LTA academies
The legacy of the Murray family on British tennis has been enshrined with Stirling University joining Loughborough as the sites for two new national academies announced yesterday by the Lawn Tennis Association.
Ten years ago, it would have been unthinkable for the Scottish city to become a hub for efforts to produce a new generation of elite players, but it has beaten off competition from more established venues that were shortlisted such as Bath and Bisham Abbey in Berkshire.
The long-awaited choice of academies backed by the LTA’s wealth was unveiled by performance director Simon Timson, complete with an intricate pathway system he hopes will give Great Britain an effective production line of top 100 players over the next ten years.
‘It’s massive for us,’ said head coach of Tennis Scotland, Colin Fleming. ‘everything the Murrays have achieved in growing the game in Scotland — there has been huge interest over the last five or ten years. We will welcome players from all parts of the United Kingdom.’
When fully up and running, the academies each expect to house 16 of the best 13 to 18-year-olds in the country at any one time, fed into from tiers below that will include 11 regional player development centres, also opening in September next year.
As well as Stirling, Tennis Scotland will have network sites in edinburgh and Glasgow as part of the RPDCs.
Chief executive of Tennis Scotland, Blane Dodds, said: ‘This is tremendous news, for the partners involved in the bid and for Scottish and British tennis.
‘Scotland has enjoyed unprecedented levels of success in tennis with Andy and Jamie Murray, Gordon Reid and Colin Fleming. Players win championships but systems enable players to win consistently. We look forward to working with Britain’s highest potential young tennis players, we want to work with the best and we believe we have the right experience to recruit a world-class coaching and support team as shown with our formidable track record.
‘Winning the national academy helps us enhance the world-class sporting system in Scotland and play a pivotal role in creating a pathway for champions that nurtures Britain’s highest potential players toward emulating Andy and Jamie’s successes.’
Success for British tennis, however, will not be in producing a one-off champion like Andy Murray (below) or importing talent largely developed elsewhere, but in somehow ensuring a steady flow of men and women gaining direct entry into Grand Slams. Questions will remain about the efficiency of trying to pick talent at such a young age, and the track record of tennis governing bodies running elite performance programmes. Key development on european-style clay courts will have to be done elsewhere. Timson admitted there has been too much ‘chopping and changing’ in the past, adding: ‘The single biggest challenge in developing a pipeline of future tennis champions in the UK is the lack of transformative, full-time, residential, pro-style training environments for our brightest talents in their teenage years.
‘That’s why I am so delighted to announce Stirling and Loughborough as the homes of Britain’s first national academies.
‘They will be at the heart of our new player pathway for aspiring future champions.
‘National academies will offer our highest potential 18 and under players the opportunity to train together in a vibrant environment, with world-class facilities and the best coaches, science, medicine and welfare expertise, nurturing a new wave of talent and future British champions.
‘It’s our ambition to provide world-class support to players, coaches and parents and ensure a seamless experience through the new performance pathway.
‘Together with our new regional player development centres, our new national academies will help us meet our objective of making GB one of the most respected tennis nations in the world for player development.’