Summer Tennis Camps 2023 (Spain & Florida)
Summer tennis camps in 2023 are here again parents! The difference this year is that you’ve been hearing about the travel slowing down due to the scary economy. Telling you no one would travel & flights would be too expensive. It’s true flights are expensive. But I can tell you writing from this from the island of Mallorca, Spain, European tennis is on the move! So much so that currently the top training academies are requesting playing videos because they’re that full for their annual programs. They likely won’t request playing videos for entry during Summer months but the academies have suggested Summer 2023 is proving to be one of their most promising Summers in decades. Accommodations for Summer tennis camps are filling fast! It’s surprising a lot of parents just how limited spaces are, as I write this in early March.
“Where are YOU playing this Summer?”
Pro tip: 🌅
For adult tennis camps by playing level and travel destination for Summer 2023 check here.
Typically the top players train full-time during the year & head out to compete in tournaments during Summer months. This leaves tennis academies with available rooms, courts & introducing their training programs to new players looking for year round training spots or simply to newer players to the sport in general. Now is when you should be securing your spot + flight.
Summer’s that time of year when the environment is less intense and the courts fill to a full 1:4 ratio. Meeting players from allover the world in a new and great travel destination & having this exposure, is what makes tennis so special. It’s a fun time of year!
The time when academies entertain kids off-court with games, multi-sports, day trips to its famous beaches or local festivities & the competition pressure is low. Players perform against other kids the same level and the days are long, hot & full.
Drills are abundant, technique is corrected and footwork patterns applied to specific shot selections. Players play points daily but it’s instructional point play. Letting kids ease into the idea of competition and learn how to actually create competitive points. Players get to figure out exactly how much competition they want from the game. While tournament players find real challenge away from their local playing community.
Passion always before results 🥰. If a player doesn’t love tennis there’s no way they’ll compete well. So, Summer tennis camps are a special time of year to test & track your players love for the game. Those who find they’re over the moon about tennis learn the next steps to take. (high school tennis, tournament tennis, college tennis). And what it will take to make their goal a reality.
Makes sense, right?
How long should you attend a Summer tennis camp?
International Summer tennis camps also give kids an opportunity to see the game through a wider lens. Meeting new friends their age from other parts of the world shows kids the grand scale tennis is around the world. Not only in their local community or tennis club. Take it from me, the playing levels around the world are not the same. Playing locally is great, but it’ll never expose you to the highlights a summer tennis camp in Europe or Florida adds to YOUR players rolodex.
Your player gets exposed to the day to day lifestyle at a leading tennis academy as the academy scouts fresh talent. Maybe that’ll be your player?! Summer tennis camps usually lead to more visits from families for longer periods of time during the school year. For instance, the next step for a tournament player may be short term training, between 3 weeks - 3 mths. Or taking the big leap towards an academies (September - June) full-time programs.
Parents often ask me how long their player should attend a summer tennis camp. Right now, it’s really about getting your spot / accommodation set for 2023. Ideally, since you’re boarding a plane and dealing with jetlag, new foods, new court surface, nerves, new training schedule, drills, accents & court commands, virtually an entirely new landscape? Plan on 3 weeks.
Week 1: Your player’s getting their feet wet. They’ve landed in a foreign land, court surface, eating schedules, foods, roommates, where basic things are and how to navigate their training schedules on their own - that’s a lot! There’s very little hand holding in these academies. For most kids the 1st week is a struggle. I always tell players to find someone who knows more than them & mirror that player the first week.
Week 2: Now’s when your player’s starting to find their own rhythm inside the academy & likely has made some friends, found camaraderie. Now they can better understand what’s expected of them and follow the academy’s style, rhythm & coaching programs.
Week 3: Your player’s having fun & taking the most of the drills, court commands & coaching directions. This is the point where your player can begin to download & absorb the tennis. This is where you’ll see the improvement and clarity starts to happen for them. This is also where they start to tell you (the parent) about their experience overall and when they want to return.
True story.
Equelite Tennis Academy 2023
Equelite Tennis Academy
Where: Villena, Spain
Airport: Alicante airport (ACL) or Valencia (VLC)
Transfers: Not included as part of the weekly package
Transfer via taxi from Alicante airport = €85,00
Transfer from Valencia airport = € 160,00
Boarding: yes (2 players to a room) no air conditioning. There are ceiling fans in all kids rooms (rural hotel for parents & ATP players pending availability & WITH air conditioning)
Price: €1.540 / week or €4.155 /3 weeks
Promo Code: Rhonda
Training hours per week: 27.5 hrs. (5.5 per day)
Check-in: Sundays 10:00 - 1:00 pm
Placement test: Sunday 6:00 pm
Equelite’s just the right size and located outside Alicante, Spain in Villena. It’s the same tennis academy JC Ferrero trained as a kid & returned to position the academy as the #1 training spot in Spain for professional tennis. The grounds, foliage & rural hotel offer a charming, simple design with parents & professional ATP/WTA players in mind. It’s also in the middle of nowhere, on purpose, so the focus stays on tennis.
Complete with 2 swimming pools kids are eager to take advantage of on hot days between training sessions.
Your player’s day starts at 8:00 with breakfast and lights out enforced by 11:00 pm. The academy engages kids off-court, letting players deepen friendship bonds using the futbol field & padel courts for added entertainment & movie nights.
Kids train a total of 5.5 hrs. per day and 27.5 per week for a 1 week summer tennis camp.
What’s not included at Equelite’s summer tennis camp; airport transfer, laundry, stringing, tournaments, mental training & language classes, though all are available on-site for a fee.
The Rafa Nadal Academy
Summer camp tennis Kids:
Where: Manacor, Mallorca
Airport: Palma de Mallorca (PMI) cost via taxi to academy: €60 - €80
Transfers: Ages 6 - 10 yrs. old airport transfers are not included
Boarding: Ages 6 - 10 must stay at academy with parents / guardians.
Dates: June 18 - August 27, 2023
Training hours per week: {10 hrs. tennis - 10 hrs. sports activities - medical insurance - mid morning snack - RNA games)
Price: from €2,315 / week
Promo code: Indietenis
Rafa Nadal Promo code: apply it to your reservation form
Summer Tennis Camp Intensive:
Transfers: Ages 8 - 18 Summer tennis camp - intensive, yes.
Boarding: Yes based on availability
Dates: June 11 - August 27, 2023
Training hours per week: 20.5h of tennis training. Court/player ratio 1:4
Tennis competition on Saturdays
10h of sports activities
8 hours of playful and recreational activities in Mallorca
Guided visit to the Rafa Nadal Museum
7 nights of accommodation in the supervised residence of the Academy (full board).
Medical attention and physiotherapy service (if necessary).
Transfer service to the airport.
Price: from 2,617.86€/ week😯(yep, it’s a lot that’s why I offer the promo code)
Promo code: Indietenis
Think about this tennis experience as one for the memory books & the price will adjust itself in your mind. I can tell you that the A+ lineup of tennis coaches on campus daily is a real highlight🤩. So is the academy itself. Once you enter this enormous tennis academy which continues to grow in accommodations, tennis courts & indoor courts (something rare in Spain or France) there’s no reason to leave. There’s so much activity happening at the RNA it’s like Disneyland for international tennis players.
There are so many kids from around the world training here that the language on court is English. The Rafa Nadal store has every piece of gear imaginable for both tennis & padel. The facility is meticulously clean. The food quality, solid & there’s something for everyone as far as palate or food allergies. The medical facility may be more up to date than your local hospital back home and personally takes care of all Rafa’s needs & injuries. It’s a total blast to be there and kids are over the moon to meet & play together.
Talk about photo opps!
Just outside of the academy there’s very little to see, so kids are chaperoned by coaches & guides to local festivities around the island & Mallorca’s famous beaches. No wonder Rafa calls Mallorca home 😍.
Eric Dobsha Tennis Academy
Cary Cohenour, Celsius Tennis Academy
Where: Tampa, Florida
Airport: Tampa International Airport (TPA)
Transfers: No
Boarding: No
Dates: June 5 - August 14, 2023
Pricing: ⬇️
$800 / mth competition training ($300 per week - 15 hrs. total / 4:30 pm - 7:30 pm)
$300 / week Summer Camp: May 30 - August 4 (9:00 - 12:00 daily)
Promo code: Rhonda
Eric Dobsha Tennis Academy is Owned & Directed by Eric Dobsha who I’ve always admired for his own junior tennis results throughout his own tennis career. Eric’s got real, on the ground competition experience attaining a gold or silver ball in every age category as a junior player. Eric’s set up the perfect size academy with just around 60 players, with the highest caliber of play in the mecca of Florida tennis & tennis tournaments.
Oddly enough, Summer is one of Dobsha Tennis Academy’s busiest times of year - heat & all! Dobsha Academy rotates between a couple different training centers in the Tampa area but doesn’t have boarding so follow our accommodation options to stay in close proximity to your daily training.
For any player with college tennis on their mind, this is the place you should be training stateside. Dobsha’s Academy is perfect for tourney tune-ups throughout the year because of the quality of his players and the style the academy thrives on - playing matches on repeat.
These are my top 3 Summer tennis camps I hope you’ll look at for 2023. Three places I know your player can have fun, meet & play with international players AND take advantage of the academy’s Summer tennis program.
If you need help getting a space in these 3 top junior tennis academies, just write me. 😌
Adults you can find tennis holidays in Spain and Portugal here.
I’m happy to help. Rhonda@indietenis.com
With love from Mallorca~ 🛬