The Best Annual Junior Tennis Training Programs in Spain & USA
Annual Tennis Training Program
Full Time - Annual Junior Tennis Programs
When I was playing junior tennis as a kid the only place to go back in the 80’s was, you guessed it, Nick Bollettieri’s Academy in Bradenton, Florida. An international sparring playground with THE BEST American kids and International players. Any threat you’d come up against in tournaments you likely already trained with. I wound up going a different way, but it was a known fact that if you wanted to become a professional player you lived and trained with other tennis players. That tennis lifestyle was the linchpin to higher rankings! Because players are highly motivated around competition. Today is no different. There’s just more options.
An annual tennis training program gives young tennis players year round professional guidance to advance high performance players tennis, studies, tournament schedule & travel packaged for a players goals. Meals, intensive training, small school classes, mental & physical preparation, English lessons, periodization planning included.
As you look for the right annual tennis training program for your junior tennis player, you’ll likely want to ensure their safety, tennis and school in the same order. Deciding on an annual training program for young tennis players looking to go as far as their capabilities will take them requires surrounding them with the right pool of players 364 days a year. Tennis can be a lonely lifestyle. So surrounding yourself with the best tennis minds, players, facilities & resources is what will get them there.
“The better you are at surrounding yourself with people of high potential, the greater your chance for success.”
Turn on subtitles for best listening!
School Studies & Tennis
Who is Online School Best for?
Specifically talking tennis athletes, it’s for the player capable of being the CEO of their own life.
You laugh thinking of a 12 or 16 yr old being in charge of their own life. But they exist. I’ve seen it personally one year to the next. A young player transforms themself in this challenging world they love and leaps into the world of adulting - FAST.
Online learning is best for the kid who has no problem taking initiative. No problem talking to people, scheduling appt.’s, tutors & using the support system that’s been set up for them.
Laurel Springs, continues to specialize in online learning for junior tennis tournament players. What does your player NEED? Access to the internet. That’s it. For travelling juniors with potentially socio-economic factors, Laurel Springs (isn’t free) has free options based on the needs of individual student athletes.
Another benefit for tennis players using online learning is that the focus isn’t on TESTS or the reputation of the school. But on the student learning experience. We all have a different speed, pace and comprehension style we learn at. Laurel Springs gets that. Then caters a personalized program to your players day to day tennis needs. A massive advantage for a full-time tennis player.
Kevin Mitchell, Partnership Manager for Laurel Springs reminds me from a digital standpoint, it’s transformational learning. Learning at lightening speed. Including positioning new elements into a kids life which can’t be denied like; cryptocurrency, the metaverse, even, space travel. Mitchell adds; “it’s these things that are cementing themselves as the big economic industries, jobs, & economic drivers that will be part of a players future”.
Laurel Springs does a great job preparing tennis players for exactly THAT future. Forming that self sufficient person, naturalizes & prepares student athletes for a time, that we don’t even know what’s next, or what’ll be the next Google, Apple or whatever.
But we do know, at a high level, what key skillsets are coming at us in this murky direction forwards. A direction brick & mortar schools ARE NOT keeping pace with.
Kevin Mitchell refers to a concept called, LIMITLESS LEARNING. After stripping the term down is, THE tool that let’s kids FOCUS on tennis. So they can train, travel, compete, study & socialize easier.
Now that’s pretty cool! I get that coming from an all-girls Catholic upbringing, brick & mortar school experience. Trying to balance; tennis, school, weekend tournaments AND a social life at 16. A regular life!? It was soo hard for me. Eventually, I burned out. Right when I needed to keep going the most.
This popular new path parents are undertaking with online learning is again a source of strength in overcoming adversities that often present themselves, sadly.
COVID-19 gob smacked the world into online learning out of necessity 2020. It forced all kids into online learning. Of course there was push back from parents. It was forced on people. It wasn’t right for everyone.
But for tennis players needing to package training, school AND a social life? This is a very good thing!
Competitive juniors burning the candle at both ends adds more wins by applying strict accountability, dedication to their craft & managing their time. This 2.0 world kids are traveling in now is truly, dynamic.
SO. Either using the academy’s school classrooms on site, or an online program like Laurel Springs, (for the right character) lets kids study & test - anywhere in the world, at a time that works for the independent player. Using online support, and finishing on-time with the correct certifications to enter the college of your choice is a big deal. A real relief for international families. I can’t tell you how many international families have been sold bad information. Only to find out at the worst moment, they’re ill-prepared to enter the players 1st choice school, because of credits not transferring.
Now you have options.
Who are the Lead Coaches?
Celsius Tennis Academy
Who is the academy Director? Are they in charge of programming? And are they on court supervising daily? Are the coaches at the academy RPT, USPTA or PTR certified? What level have they competed at? The name on the windscreen is marketing. And there's nothing worse than paying for a person's name who isn't there. And never will be.
That head coach should know your player personally. They will be developing the periodization plan for your player. They will alos likely connect your child with the ideal daily coach for your players game, level, character and goal.
You´ll also want to know how long the coach has been with the academy. Too many times young inexperienced coaches use big name academies only for resume props. Within a year they’re gone to start their own academy. And your player will start over with another new coach. It happens but it’s not ideal. Especially your player has bonded with their daily coach. Get to understand who they’re spending the bulk of their time with.
Make sure the coaches are engaging, correcting players and open to questions from your player. You want to make sure that your player feels free & comfortable to ask questions around their own training.
The whole point of coaches for high level junior tennis players is to gain from their professional knowledge. So if they´re offering very little or not open to a dialogue when your player has questions, move on.
Will coaches be traveling with your player to tournaments? Who’s sets their tournament & travel schedules? Who’s coaching them through tournament matches?
Who are the junior tennis players at the academy
International junior tennis players - Rafa Nadal Academy
Academies need wins too. For an academy to make a name for itself in the world of junior tennis they need a pool of players with good results.
Think about Nick Bollettieri in the 80's. Nick never had a formal tennis background. He was a paratrooper in the military. A high school football quarterback and never an elite tennis player.
He was clever. He knew how to get things done and how to attract people. And found the right coaches with him at the helm supervising and structuring his academy. But he was always there. He started teaching tennis to earn money while he studied law for a short time. He developed and got noticed for taking Brian Gottfried in 1977 to world No.3.
From there his success in New York lured the top players to him in Florida. An ideal location, like Spain for outdoor training year round. Parents got wind of this place, coach and tough training style and wanted their player with a winning coach. Soon, all the top junior performers were with Nick.
The experience of having a competitive pool of players to train and learn with was a small gold mine. You learn so much from watching other players. What to do and not to do. How hard are they training? Which tournaments are they playing? And how to study and play against your top competition.
Talk about inspiring camaraderie! Investigate the other junior tennis players training at the academy. How long they´ve been living there and what's their progress since attending.
Junior Tennis Academy Facilities
JC Ferrero Equelite Tennis Academy
At the highest levels of junior tennis training, the facilities are important. Players aren’t only on a tennis court. They train in a gym, need a place to study, require physios, medical specialists, mental training, nutrition and tennis gear.
Junior tennis players play tournaments on all court surfaces, even grass. Your tennis academy should have all court surfaces. Or at least 1 of each. Are there indoor tennis courts? What happens when it rains, or snows?
Professional tennis players use these academies in Florida and Spain for Winter training or pre-season clay or grass court training prior to a big tournament. So seeing professional players taking advantage of these facility friendly academies is a benefit to watch how the pros train and live off season.
Your player will go to school at the academy. Is your child going on or off campus for school? Will they do school online? How many students are in a class? Will they be learning English?
How is the gym set up? Physical training is an enormous part of the game. How’s their daily physical scheduled in each day?
Is there a mental coach? Someone who can help your player pass through a rough patch?
Tennis injuries happen. It’s part of the game.
Is there a tennis physio at the academy? The physio´s job is to relieve painful symptoms of your players injury & restore function so they get back on court pain free. What are the fees involved seeing the physio?
Accommodations
junior-training-accommodation
They’re not exclusive. But are they comfortable for a focused life. But many do school online, so how´s the WIFI for communicating with them and doing schoolwork?
Is the food nutritious? Are snacks available if your players hungry post meal times? Tennis players burn an incredible amount of calories each training session. They eat all the time. What’s available to them?
Is there on site laundry? Is it included in the annual price? Do kids do it themselves?
If your player gets sick? Is there a medical doctor on site?
How do kids socialize? Are they chaperoned off-site? Which days are allotted as rest days? On average players train 35 hrs. or more per week.
Spain Tennis Academy Location
Weather is a huge daily factor for junior tennis players around the world. Warm parts of the USA and mild tempered Mediterranean Spain & France are popular places to attend annual tennis training programs. These areas of the world also offer the most competitive tournament events for UTR, ITF and USTA junior tournaments.
Junior tennis players able to play in natural elements year round is a win. It's also a win for the academy. Not having to pay the cost of indoor heated courts. And of course passing that cost onto you.
And well, that's what you're here for - to compete in college or the professional game, right? They’re training at an annual training academy to get good at competing.
Here’s 3 Trusted Annual Training Programs for Junior Tennis in Spain & Florida.
Rafa Nadal Academy, Mallorca, Spain
For pricing discount & availability contact Rhonda@indietenis.com or (iclude: INDIETENIS on your reservation form to receive your personal discount.)
€56,000 annual program
The Rafa Nadal Academy is a professional junior tennis academy with 150 annual players. These players train, travel and study together from Sept - June.
Summers & Easter weeks are purposeful and players are away competing in travel tournaments.
The lead coaches are big names in the tennis world, led by Toni Nadal who supervises daily.
RNA academy trains on average 35 hours per week spread between tennis, physical, mental, nutrition and school.
International players here are high caliber junior players with the goal to become professional tennis players.
That said, the Nadal Academy offers many programs throughout the year for junior tennis players who do not want to turn professional but they love tennis and want the experience of attending such a beast of an academy where Rafa Nadal trains.
There are Easter tennis camps perfect for High school tennis level to deepen their ability to compete and improve. There’s Summer tennis camp training for all levels. The Rafa Nadal Academy hosts and promotes many of its own ITF junior tennis tournaments throughout the year. And this August, 2022 will host the Rafa Nadal ATP Challenger Tour at home in Manacor.
Group coaching is limited 1:4 on court and most times group numbers are much smaller for annual players.
Medical & physios are on site.
The Rafa Nadal store has everything a player could need around player gear. Racket stringing is paid by the player.
Accommodations are notoriously terrific as you’d expect from the price tag.
The Rafa Nadal museum serves a fun dose of virtual reality around the king of clay himself, Rafa Nadal. For anyone who adores Rafa, this place is truly a sensory experience.
Rafa, himself trains here when he's not traveling. It hard to miss him when he’s on campus training since he typically draws a crowd. Or spars with annual players.
The Nadal academy has newly covered courts for rainy days. But it’s Mallorca, Spain, so the region has mild year round temperatures.
Top junior tennis players training at Rafa Nadal Academy are both Alex Eala (seen above) Daniel Rincon.
JC ferrero Equelite Tennis Academy, Alicante, Spain
For pricing & availability contact Rhonda@indietenis.com
€4,025 / mth
€2,970 / yr (school)
I really like Equelite. It's a true tennis compound. Smaller than a big academy and in the middle of nowhere.
Juan Carlos Ferrero (former world #1 in 2003) a class act and dedicated professional lives on campus. He supervises training schedules and sessions for the annual players residing here. It's important to me that the name on the windscreen is the human on court training junior players. And Equelite owns that.
Equelite stands more modest in facilities than the Rafa Nadal Academy.
Accommodations are simple. While Equelite has everything your player needs at the academy you can´t help but notice it's a simple place.
Kids attend school on campus and train an average of 35 hrs. per week. This is a very serious & professional facility with coaches who´ve remained with the academy for more than 10 yrs. It’s always a good sign when coaches stay awhile. In fact, many of the coaches live on campus.
Juan Carlos Ferrero, Equelite feels like a real family. You feel quickly the players have been training together for years. A players goal who attends Equelite is to play PRO tennis. Plan B is a university scholarship to play tennis in the USA.
A huge technology perk at Equelite uses, Play Sight. Play Sight offers statistics to players about the effect your shot selection puts on the ball.
There’s a 4star rural hotel on the property to encourage family visits during the a players training year. Or for adult players training at the academy or visitors in staying in the area. But I should mention, there’s very little to do in the area. That said, Alicante beaches are within a 45 minute drive.
Top juniors training at JC Ferrero Equelite:
Meritxell Boix
Valentina Rosales
and the list goes on & on and on ….
Celsius Tennis Academy, Sarasota, Florida
For availability contact Rhonda@indietenis.com
Annual boarding program is $55,000
Non boarding annual is $27,000
Cary Cohenour, Director, Celsius Tennis Academy
I’m so happy to get behind Celsius and Cary Cohenour, whose personal junior performance days were filled with Gold Balls in every age category. Cary understands performance players and trains international players in a simple club in Sarasota, Fla. where weather is agreeable year round and players AND families take full advantage.
I’m certain I’ve found a gem of a spot for annual players in the USA. Tennis in the USA is never cheap but this is a dedicated academy with Cary at the helm. His coaching staff has terrific training results with German Lopez Montoya and Jose Lambert have coached entry level players to top 10 pros. And they also work with the younger kids. Most academies don’t have their top coaches working with young kids.
The player levels at Celsius range from 5 UTR to 11.3. Celsius sets the tournament schedule depending on the player. They do UTR & USTA tournaments at the academy. With 20 international players they also have one of the top 12 and under programs in the state. There’s also about 45 kids between age 6 and 12.
School options (including an international) are close by with 2 private schools that go from 8:00 - 1:00 with training beginning at 2:00.
The most important thing with any annual tennis training program is to feel secure as a parent and confident in the program and coaches that your player is being trained, educated & looked after well. Read this article to hear how an international family went from Mallorca Spain to Celsius academy and what they think between the 2 full-time training experiences.
The academies can help with visas, paperwork and housing logistics.
Contact Rhonda@indietenis.com for availability, questions and a phone call for serious inquiries.