Devon Mini Tennis Festivals

It is important to Devon Tennis that there is a ‘conveyor belt of talent’ coming through each year. Devon Mini Tennis Festivals were devised so it is easier to monitor players in fun sessions led by the County coaching team. We see the Devon Mini Tennis Festivals as a great opportunity to start and continue building the relationships with players / parents and coaches through running quality sessions, having good communication, and above all be welcoming!

This year we are looking for players born in 2015, 2016 and 2017 (and any exceptional 2018).

What are Mini Tennis Festivals?

Devon Mini Tennis Festivals aim to be exciting and challenging in a professional and fun environment. We want to see the best players from different clubs and centres, to see how players are progressing and to give them the chance to shine. It helps us to identify the good movers, the quick learners, and how well players can adapt. They are designed to be an enjoyable and gentle introduction to the Devon County Training set up and are run by the county coaching team. We do understand, though, that these sessions can possibly be seen to be intimidating by some players, but the coaches and staff are very welcoming and will make every effort to put players at ease and have lots of fun.

I must stress that Mini Tennis Festivals are NOT seen as a direct trial or sift for a county training spot where players are either ‘in’ or ‘out’. We don’t believe in that policy, and prefer to monitor players over a period of time, and so it is common for players to come to several festivals.

Some players may be asked to join a county session following a festival, but this tends to be just a small few as it is difficult to assess players in just 1 ½ hours accurately. We prefer to build a picture of the player overtime, through seeing them periodically at competitions, at another festival and through speaking with their individual coach.  Some players may be invited to a Finale to be seen again sooner as perhaps we want to have another closer look at them in action. However, in all cases players are encouraged to carry on playing and enjoying tennis at their club / centre.

How are players invited and who are they aimed at?

Players must either have been born or currently residing in Devon to be eligible to participate in these festivals. Coaches from any centre or club are invited (by the county) to nominate their best young players. These may well be players who have previously attended a Devon Festival.

Festivals are not aimed at ‘participation’ players, but towards good athletes who show a real enjoyment of tennis, a desire to learn and develop their skills, and an appetite to compete (this doesn’t necessarily mean that they have played lots of tournaments). In fact, players may even be at quite an early stage of their tennis development.

Once nominated by their club coach, players are invited by the Devon County team to a festival.

When do they happen?

We aim to run 3 Mini Tennis Festivals each winter and summer (one in each area – North Devon, East Devon and South Devon) with each round of festivals followed by a Finale (COVID allowing). The Finale is an opportunity to see some players again from all 3 festivals to monitor them further.

Festivals have not just proved popular but have helped enormously with spreading the Devon Tennis message, bringing more clubs and centres together, as well as providing the county with some very exciting talent too!