SOTO Tennis Academy 2023
Elly, our Head Coach, tells us more:
“During the Easter holidays (Monday 10 April – Saturday 15 April), we took 11 children, from our Elly Shearman Coaching programme, and their families to SOTO in Spain. I have always enjoyed taking groups of children away to tennis tournaments to experience other countries, court surfaces, and to meet new people from other parts of the world.
“We went with seven families from the club who have children (aged 10 and above) competing at County level and above to the Soto Tennis Academy in Sotogrande, Spain. Due to the age of the children and safeguarding it was best for parents to attend with us (the coaches) so we could all learn from the whole experience.
“The children from these families participated in an Access Week at Soto, training twice a day with strength and conditioning sessions throughout the week (in the gym, on court, and even on the beach) with a UTR (Universal Tennis Rating) match play in teams on the Friday afternoon. Our children got to play with other children accessing the Soto training, children who train weekly at Soto as well with others from our group. They had brilliant coaching from a range of the Soto coaches, teaching them to adapt to different coaching techniques and personalities. They played on different surfaces (red clay, hard and artificial grass) teaching them to again adapt to the conditions and often getting a short minibus ride to a second court location.
“Often at academies you can feel that you just get basket drills, no direct coaching and don’t ever feel part of the bigger program. I wanted to go to Soto as believed they did things differently, and that helping everyone feel part of their Soto Family was important to them. Our children felt quickly part of it all, they took a day or two to adapt, cope with early mornings, knowing their schedules/groups, different courts, the hot weather (all things they need to be ready to cope with when entering the world of competitive tennis!). They then relaxed, played some great tennis, allowed their personalities to shine and did Kings and the Elly Shearman Tennis Coaching proud!
“Our daughter, Marli, also attended the Easter Camps at Soto, she had brilliant coaching, loved every second and made friends with children from several different countries. It was another great experience! Outside of the tennis, the families and kids (siblings of those playing included) had an incredible time, taking over the apartment swimming pools, staying up late playing on the beach after dinners together, sharing cooking, walking for coffee, swimming in the sea, learning to play padel tennis, and making friends with other tennis families from other parts of the world.
“I hope this is the first of many trips to Soto and one that we can make with this group again and also with others. This was one memorable trip, we are all returning fueled with positive energy, better friends and new life experiences from travel and tennis.
“A huge thank you from me, to the Soto Team (coaches and administrators) as well as this group of families who all said yes to this trip and gave their children the opportunity to grow in this environment!
“I look forward to letting you know about the next trip!”
Elly
