The AELTC will stage in 2022 a 14U Championships for the best juniors in the age group across the world. The tournament will be held for the first time in 2022 and be played on Championships grass tennis courts during the last four days of The Championships. The draw size will be small with (16 boys and 16 girls).
The AELTC is working with the 6 ITF Regional Association to achieve this and allocating spaces to each ITF Regional Association as well as Grand Slam Nations. The spaces allocated for the OTF are available to compete for by the 17 full-member Pacific Nations and New Zealand which make up the OTF membership (Australia is not included in this as it has its own allocation as a Grand Slam Nation).
14U Championship Dates: The last 4 days of The Championships from Thursday 7 July to Sunday 10 July.
Format: Round robin with 4 groups of 4 players, guaranteeing at least 3 matches per player. First place in each group progresses to knock out semi finals and final. Players will compete in Singles only to ensure that the 14U Championships can complete within the timeframe of the last 4 days should it be a very wet year. All matches will be played on Championships courts.
14U Championships Final: To be played on the last Sunday of The Championships. In 2022 that is Sunday 10 July. Boys’ and Girls’ Finals to be played on Championships courts. Likely start time 11am, for matches and prize ceremony to be finished by the time The Gentlemen’s Final starts.
Grass Court Camp: The AELTC will be hosting a grass court camp for all players competing in the 14U Championships. The grass court camp will take place Monday-Wednesday before the 14U Championships tournament starts. This is to ensure all players can get comfortable with the surface before starting to play competitive matches. The venue for grass court camp in will be at AELTC’s off site grass court tennis facility.
Player Age: Players will have to be a minimum of 11 years old as of the first day of the tournament which is consistent with the ITF age eligibility rules for 14U competitions. That also means the players cannot turn 15 during the calendar year they are competing at the 14U Championships.
Player Time Commitment: Players will arrive on the Sunday of week 1 of The Championships and stay until at least Sunday late afternoon of week 2 of The Championships or until Monday, the day after the 14U Championships has finished.
The AELTC will offer the following to the 2 selected players from Pacific Oceania (1 boy and 1 girl) to compete at the 14U Championships:
- The AELTC will pay for economy return travel for selected players from the OTF;
- The AELTC will pay for economy return travel for one coach per player, who needs to be the same sex as the player, to accompany the players from the OTF. The OTF will nominate 1 coach for each selected player.
- The AELTC will pay for all accommodation costs for players and coaches for the duration of their stay in London;
- The AELTC will either pay for or provide meals for players and coaches for the duration of their stay;
- The AELTC will organise free of charge transfers to and from the airport to the hotel and from the hotel to AELTC venues;
- The AELTC will pay for and host a grass court tennis camp for all players before 14U Championships tournament starts;
- The AELTC will supply a ticket allocation to show courts that will be accessible for all players and coaches; and
- The AELTC will provide the OTF with Wimbledon retail items to be handed out to the winner and runner-up of the qualification tournament, see below.
Further details will follow from the OTF on the selection process for the 2 players.