£30,000 handout isn't enough, says junior tennis star's family
The parents of one of Britain's most talented young tennis players have accused the Lawn Tennis Association of not investing enough money in young hopefuls.
The claim follows recent comments made by Britain's number three player, Andrew Murray, that the LTA is failing to develop young stars.
At the age of 15, Jade Curtis is already Britain's number one junior female player, and is ranked 72 in the world for girls under 18. But her hopes of success have resulted in her parents - her mother Rachel and her stepfather Jason Spence - selling their home in Plymouth and living 3,000 miles apart so she can use cheaper training facilities in Florida.
"It's been a very difficult time for us," said Mr Spence, 34, who lives with Jade in Boca Raton, Florida. "We all believe in Jade's talents. I spotted it years ago and she has continued to prove it throughout her career.
"But it takes money to become a top 100 player. In order to compete we have to travel to as many tournaments as we can. It's true that the LTA contributes about a third of the £90,000 this costs every year, and for this we are grateful. But it's not enough."
Although his fellow Britons Tim Henman and Greg Rusedski are still above him in the world rankings, Murray, 18, has become the bright hope of British tennis after breaking into the top 100 in his first season on the men's tour. But he risked the wrath of the LTA last month when he accused it of "ruining" the career of his 19-year-old brother Jamie, who was a world-class junior, with bad coaching at one of its schools.
Mr Spence, a former tennis coach, said Jade's training had cost £1,000 a week in Britain, but was much less in Florida. However, selling their home had meant his wife moving in with her 76-year-old father. He said: "The house represents our entire capital and, perhaps, our pensions. Selling it was a gamble.
"But it's not easy on Rachel and I. We are living apart and are only really able to see each other every three months or so. I know that Rachel is sad because she is missing seeing her daughter grow up."
The LTA said last night that it had been contributing to Jade's training for three years. "We clearly believe in Jade's talents," a spokesman said.
On the face of it the LTA look bad.....how do they evaluate talent........is that their real problem ? I agree that Jade is a potentially top womens player..... it is all about potential maybe the LTA dont think she has got it !
I'm amazed at that too - it surely can't cost that much - £1,000 a week for coaching sounds way too much.
It seems to be some kind of a myth that the LTA give loads of funding to British players. They do provide financial support to U18 players they identify as stars of the future eg: Daniel Cox and Jade Curtis but the families have always had to provide the bulk of the funding - eg with Andy Murray. Jade is also sponsored by Arial which must also help her.
I don't think it's that the LTA don't think much of her: that would be a bit ridiculous as she's one of the best prospects we've got and capable of competing with and beating some of the British women in the top 600. They just never have provided the bulk of the funding.
As a player, Jade suffers because she's quite small compared to other juniors. However, she makes up for that with her fitness and movement about the court. I've been chatting to someone who's seen her play recently and he said that Jade is a good attacking player and can hit with a lot of power when dominating a rally. However, because of her size, she can be overpowered relatively easily when she doesn't have control of the point. Her 1st serve is really good but as with so many players - the 2nd serve is a weakness in terms of speed and placement
When players get over 18: the top players are given special support by the LTA - training facilities and an LTA coach which the LTA pay for. The player has to fund his travel expenses etc by himself. This works as long as the player is seen to have the right attitude and is fulfilling certain goals. If this proves not to be the case, the coach and the facilities are withdrawn as with Boggo and Kasiri and the player is left to make it on his own. If a player is not given special support eg: Alex Slabinsky, then players often look to join one of the variety of squads about the country. These are based at tennis academys. The player lives and trains at the academy and gets the benefit of the academy coach. Often the player will pay for his keep by coaching youngsters at the academy and compete on the British circuit in futures and satellites to keep costs at a minimum and look to get sponsors to compete abroad. Scottish players have an advantage as they receive funding from Tennis Scotland.
David from what you say the LTA has a very loose sounding policy on funding but look at the money they bring in !!!!!!!!! Where does it all go ? It the LTA cannot fund a dozen U18 and a dozen senior players, both male and female, then something isnt right ? Or am I being naive ?
Brightest future lies in the shade of Hazlewood By Neil Harman, Tennis Correspondent
THERE is no glittering adornment, no pretence and not a blazer in sight. Shortly before 8 o’clock on a misty December morning in North London, it takes something to find the spot at all, but once inside the Hazlewood Tennis Academy, coffee gratefully received, one’s soul is enriched and the sense of having tapped into something meaningful is irresistible.
Today, across London, the LTA will stage its annual meeting, at which all will be declared well, bolstered by another £25 million-odd of feather-bedding from the success of the Wimbledon Championships. A suggestion — some of the bounty should be spent on a fleet of coaches to take the councillors to Winchmore Hill for them to appreciate what tennis in Britain really needs to turn its fortunes around. Andy Murray cannot do it alone.
This time next year, they will be transported to Roehampton to witness the finishing touches being put to their £40 million National Tennis Centre, likely to become a monument to spending money for the sake of it. Instead of a big white blob in southwest London, why not indulge 30 or 40 more Hazlewoods, where the spirit and flesh are strong and pampering is wholly unacceptable?
Better, surely, to let the regions do their thing, aided and abetted, as Hazlewood is, by financial clout from the LTA, which is more than matched by Stephen Marks, the man behind FCUK, the French Connection designer label. Allow entrepreneurial drive to have its head, for if the smiles on the faces of the children (and parents) on a foggy morn are not the finest litmus test of how tennis can be an inspiration, you wonder what is.
Every team needs a leader and the cap has long fitted Alan Jones. This particular day he has a rasping throat, but few have spoken more about, spent more hours at or laboured with more enthusiasm over their sport. Jo Durie, whom he coached to No 5 in the world and the British No 1 ranking, is there, too, along with Elena Baltacha, the present British No 1, Neil Bamford, the British man whose rise of 359 places in the world this year was the best in the country, and Ryan Jones, Alan’s tennis-professional son. It is part of the deal.
When Bamford, one of the finest of juniors before he lost his way, decided to drop coaching old women and return to the playing fold last year, he asked Jones if he would take him back. “Alan said if I come and help with his kids, he’ll help me,” Bamford said. Talk about mutual benefit. There are few cleaner strikers of the ball or better movers in Britain than Bamford and his work with a clutch of youngsters who want to be what he is (and more) encapsulates the bonding that is at the heart of Hazlewood’s programme.
A high-quality education is essential and once the intake reach their eleventh year, teachers and tuition are provided as part of the package. What is noticeable more than anything is the group’s ethnic diversity, with Cecily Wuenscher, the nine-year-old daughter of a former moto-cross rider, mixing with Okan Altinok, whose father played professional football in Turkey for Galatasaray. “You won’ t find many Joneses, Smiths or Browns here,” Jones said, “and we couldn’t care a stuff, so long as they have a British passport.”
The Jones mantra opens with “eyes and legs”. He implores his children to watch the professionals play, how they move, how they focus. “We need kids with eagles’ eyes and cheetahs’ limbs,” he said. “For too long in Britain we have pandered to and been preoccupied by style and technique, without teaching the kids what’s going on on the court and how they have to move to the ball. What is the greatest strength of Federer, of Henin, of Hewitt? They are phenomenally quick.”
Jones loves it at Hazlewood. Baltacha says that she misses the place when she is away on the tour, because at its heart is an innate sense of purpose. “If Britain was bursting at the seams with players, I could see the sense in a National Tennis Centre and though I’m not saying what we have is perfect, this is an opportunity given to us by the LTA and FCUK, to be party to a different revolution in British tennis,” Jones sa id. “It’s true we have good people here — not everyone is fortunate enough to be able to call on a Jo Durie or an Elena Baltacha to work with the kids — but I’m convinced academies like these are the way forward.”
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While I am not a fervant supporter of the LTA, I do think that they come in for some very unfair criticism. Things have changed since David Felgate took over, but it will take a number of years for the changes to fully bear fruit.
I am not totally convinced that fully funding players is a good idea. There are now a series of options available to youngsters, both here and abroad. The good ones will find funding which is available from a number of private and public sources.
For me the two big issues are how to improve the level of coaching available and the provision of suitable hitting partners. I do not believe that enough effort or focus goes into recruiting, training and retaining good coaches. These people will deliver future champions, if given enough support.
One of the big benefits Andy got from going to Barcelona was the quality and variety of hitting partners. It is important that both current tour players and youngsters are able to get enough quailty and a wide variety of players for training.
On a side note, I don't know from where Neil Harmon got his figures for Neil Bamford. Neil was not ranked at the beginning of the year and is now ranked at 562, a minimum rise of 900 places. Colin Fleming has gained the most positions of any Brit, who was ranked at the beginning of the year, with a rise of 826 places.
After the year end rankings are published on Monday, I will have a series of tables showing the best newcomers, highest risers and biggest fallers. Would anybody be interested?
An interesting article. He certainly hasn't got one fact right though - Neil Bamford's ranking rise of 359 this year is not the highest, Smith, Lee, Fleming and Slabinsky are all higher than that.
I'm uncertain whether it would be a good thing to have regional centres rather one national one. I suppose it would be ok if they regularly played each other, otherwise is there not the danger that the youngsters would get too used to each other and not test themselves in a wider arena? I suppose it would make it easier to "catch 'em young", though.
