Net call for Sharni

Jan 16 2003 By Christopher Beesley, Ellesmere Port Pioneer

TENNIS: GREAT Sutton tennis ace Sharni Jones has shown she's a real smash hit by earning a place on the country's leading development scheme for young players.

The nine-year-old Childer Thornton Primary School pupil will start on the prestigious LTA Futures Programme this week when she travels to Bisham Abbey.

Sharni's dad, Mal, a tennis coach himself, said: 'The programme is very selective about who they take on and she'd already been assessed by visiting national coaches and gone for a fitness test.

'It was a long and nervous wait but the acceptance letter came through our door just a couple of days before Christmas and it was the best present we've ever had.'

The LTA Futures Programme is designed to provide the most talented youngsters in Britain with the best opportunity to make the transition from promising junior players into the next generation of champions.

Each player's regime is adapted to their specific needs, but the basic out-line includes individual lessons, physical fitness training, group work, medical assessment and national training camps with top coaches.

Mal said: 'The competition for places is very strong and including both boys and girls from the ages of 10 to 13, there are only 200 youngsters on the programme nationwide.

'Each child's progress is monitored on an annual basis and the Futures coaches want to see improvement during that year. If Sharni shows continuing development in her game then she could stay on the programme for the next three years.'

Although results are not the sole factor in judging a player's performance, Sharni has been in fine form in recent months, winning Regional Challenge Tournaments at Birmingham and Hull.

Childer Thornton headteacher Gareth Powell said: 'Mal Jones has done a great job coaching both tennis and basketball with us for four years and despite being a small school we've got two children on the Futures Programme, in Sharni and Jordan McCulloch, while also having five of our pupils progress into national basketball squads.'