ITF

(Continued from previous page) 20 DEVELOPMENT: ITF DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME One of the more established events on the development calendar is the ITF/CAT African Junior Championships (AJC). The 37th Championships were held in Kenya on 17-22 March for players aged 14 and 16 & under. Players from West and Central Africa, Southern Africa and East Africa competed in zonal championships in January to qualify for a place in the 37th AJC. In total, there were 320 players from 32 African countries participating in the main AJC and the three zonal championships. While competition drives the sport, the training of the best players is also vital. In 2014 the ITF organised eight training camps which offered high-level training to some of the best players from the region. The camps also helped the coaches who benefitted from the most up-to-date techniques and training methods that were demonstrated at the camps by the coaching experts. In addition, the ITF continued to operate three training centres with 33 players attending the two centres in Africa and 14 attending the regional training centre in Fiji. Many of the players attending the ITF centres are benefitting from OS scholarships as a result of their performance at regional competitions. Each year talented players from developing tennis nations are invited to join junior touring teams to play higher level events under the guidance of an experienced ITF/GSDF coach. In 2014 there were 21 ITF/GSDF touring teams involving 147 players from 61 countries. The flagship team is the International 18 & Under Team to Europe which plays a series of Grade 1 and Grade A events including junior Roland Garros and junior Wimbledon. The team had a successful tour with at least one member of the team reaching the quarterfinal stages in singles or doubles at each of the seven tournaments they participated in. Petros Chrysochos from Cyprus dropped only one set in the singles event at the Astrid Bowl Charleroi as he secured the first trophy for the team. In the girls' singles event, Belarusian Iryna Shymanovich defeated Ukrainian Helen Ploskina in the final to add to the team's silverware. At junior Roland Garros, team member Ioana Ducu of Romania partnered with non-team member Ioana Rosca to secure the first girls' doubles trophy for the team. At the International Junior Tournament of Offenbach, Shymanovich again proved unstoppable, powering through the draw to secure her second singles title of the tour. The best result for the team at this year's junior Wimbledon came in the girls' doubles event with Indonesian touring team member Tami Grende partnering non-team member Qiu Yu Ye of China, to win the girls' doubles trophy. The pair had knocked out the top seeds in the quarterfinals. Although players now have access to more competitive opportunities through regional circuits and teams, there are still no guarantees that a successful junior player will be able to make the difficult transition to the professional circuit. The GSDF provides travel grants for talented players to play entry-level professional events. In 2014, 51 players from 25 nations were awarded travel grants to play a specific programme of events outside of their own countries. ITF DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME

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