Venue nominations sought for new Talent Zones

In order to do so, hosting sites are required across the country.

Nomination of potential sites is now open, and can be accessed via the form at the bottom of the article. 

What are Talent Zones? 

Talent Zones will be regionalized training hubs – likely four of them - that operate as feeders to the age group national teams.

They will be part of the England National Team structure and their coaches will be members of the national team coaching cadre. They will have a consistent set of training methods and developmental expectations. 

Why Talent Zones? 

There are a number of reasons for introducing Talent Zones. 

Firstly, and most obvious, they will allow for earlier identification of potential future national team athletes.

That will then provide the opportunity to expose those youngsters to national team type training and coaching at an earlier stage than would otherwise be feasible – and in an environment 100% focused on player development (there won’t be any competition linked to the Zones – so no “Zone Championship” or similar).

It will also grant young players access to additional resources available to Pathway athletes and allow for better progress tracking. 

Secondly, the regional nature of the Zones will provide England Pathway involvement at a significantly lower cost to families than is currently the case with national activities.

This should open the way to a wider number of athletes and make the Pathway more fully representative of the country’s available talent. 

A third benefit is that the Zones will allow the age group national teams to be more narrowly focused on competition preparation and performance.

The purpose of the age group teams is to prepare future Senior National Team players to compete in international competition. This will be better accomplished with that narrower concentration. 

Finally, the Zones will increase opportunities for the country’s juniors coaches to see first hand what goes on in national team training.

These are always available with regards to national team training, of course, but the regionalised nature of the Zones will make them more readily accessible. Plus, the Zones can operate as hubs for regionalised coach development. 

What age groups will the Zones focus on? 

The expectation is for the main focus of the Zones to be in the 13 to 16 age range. This does not preclude inclusion of younger and/or older athletes, however.

As the focus will be player development, there will not be the same rigid age group requirements as the junior national teams have. 

What are the expectations for hosting sites? 

The aim of the Zones is to have one-day camps every four to six weeks, with the possibility to do multi-day camps during school breaks.  Each camp would include a combination of on-court and off-court work, so there will need to be access to a classroom or similar sort of space. 

At least one regulation competition court is a requirement to allow for proper training of serving and reception. Multiple available courts is strongly favoured. 

Note, however, that there is no specific expectation for just one facility per Zone. Using multiple facilities in a given Zone will be considered. 

If you have or know of a facility you think would be suitable to be part of the Talent Zone network, please complete this form. The deadline for expression of interest is the end of February 2025.