The European Tennis Federation presented its new project, the ‘Tennis Europe Junior School’ on the opening day of the prestigious European 18 & Under Championships in Klosters, Switzerland yesterday.
The project, which has been initiated by Tennis Europe CEO Thomas Hammerl, will consist of on-site learning events and classes held by Tennis Europe staff at all European Championship (14, 16, 18 & Under) events, at the Tennis Europe Junior Masters and at selected Category 1 tournaments.
The classes are designed to help young players prepare for their life as professional players, and will cover a wide of variety of important topics, including:
- Anti-doping
- Media preparation
- Match fixing prevention
- Nutrition
- Sponsorship
- Understanding the tennis ecosystem
- Representing your country
The Tennis Europe Junior School will be formally implemented in 2019 with eight events at the various sites plus additional online education videos for players, coaches and parents, ensuring all junior players understand the pathway from junior to professional player.
Around 150 players gathered yesterday to hear an introductory presentation from Mr. Hammerl, which centred on the tennis ecosystem (Regional Associations, ITF, ATP, WTA) and explained the roles of the sport’s various governing bodies.
“Education and digitalisation are two extremely important topics,” explained Mr. Hammerl. “It is our duty to support our young generations in their off-court education as well as their on-court skills.”
Tennis Europe Junior Tour events are the first step for young players outside their home country and are an essential stepping stone on the journey to becoming a professional tennis player and competing on the ITF, ATP and WTA Tours.
