Dollar Academy has been selected as a partner for the launch of Tennis Scotland’s new Great Britain National Tennis Academy, due to open this August at the University of Stirling.
The tennis academy, which is one of only two in the UK, will offer eight of Britain’s top young tennis players aged between 12-18 the opportunity to practice their skills while studying and boarding at Dollar Academy, one of Scotland’s leading independent schools.
At Dollar, the players will benefit from the unrivalled range of academic and co-curricular activities, with access to the widest range of subjects in Scotland. With its roots firmly in Scottish education, the school offers the students the chance to study for highly valued, internationally recognised qualifications administered by the Scottish Qualifications Authority.
The future athletes will train with leading tennis coach, Leonardo Azevedo. Azevedo will be supported in Scotland by Colin Fleming, Esteban Carril and Leon Smith in developing the next generation of British tennis talent. Due to time out for tennis training and competitions, National Academy players will have the option to study fewer subjects, although as a guide they will be required to study five National 5s, equivalent to six GCSEs, and 3 Highers.
David Knapman, Rector at Dollar Academy, said: “The school has an impressive history of supporting and nurturing young athletes across various sporting activities, with many of our pupils going on to compete successfully at both regional and national levels.”
“Working closely with Tennis Scotland, the University of Stirling and the LTA on this joint initiative is an exciting opportunity. I hope the pupils will be very happy at Dollar when they join the school later this year.”
The players will benefit from the dedicated support of Dollar teaching staff to ensure they are settled and progressing well with both their tennis and academic work. They will train at the tennis facilities at Stirling University, where work has already started on a £20 million transformation project, due to open summer 2020.
In addition to tennis, Dollar Academy offers pupils the opportunity to get involved in a wide range of extra-curricular activities beyond that of traditional sports. This includes Scottish Dancing, Curling and Ultimate Frisbee.