At only four years old he was already taking the racket. With nine he won the Balearic Tournament; at eleven and twelve he was champion of Spain and at fifteen, the youngest tennis player to win an official ATP match. The rest of Rafa Nadal’s career is history: nineteen Grand Slam tournaments, two Olympic gold medals and five Davis Cups with the national team. Portentous physicist, masterful play and more. “Work hard, have fun and make it happen.”
In order to make the dream of young tennis players come true, in 2016 the king of clay decided to pass on all his experience and founded his own academy, the Rafa Nadal Academy by Movistar, in his native Manacor. Now, twenty students who want to train at this center have their golden opportunity: Movistar will award 20 scholarships to support Spanish tennis talents. “I don’t think things change on their own, you have to make them change.”
Training at the Rafal Nadal Academy by Movistar has three pillars: tennis, academic training and comprehensive human training
The training given at this high-performance center is aimed at young people between the ages of twelve and eighteen and is based on the background of both Rafa Nadal and his team of coaches, led by Toni Nadal. They will be responsible for preparing young people tennis to be high-level professionals. At the same time, there is an excellent academic training at the Rafa Nadal International School, a bilingual education school with international teachers located in the same facilities as the Academy.
“Humility is the recognition of your limitations.” The third pillar, in addition to sport and academic preparation, is a comprehensive human formation. This emphasizes values such as effort, humility, tolerance, patience, respect, integrity, discipline, order and commitment. After passing through the center, players will have the option of continuing their academic training with the possibility of obtaining scholarships at the main American and European universities.
In order to award the scholarships, both academic and sporting merits will be assessed.
At the Rafa Nadal Academy by Movistar there are two types of programs, the semester and the year. The Annual is taught from September to June and the Semester, from September to January and from February to June and includes, among other things, seventeen hours of weekly tennis training, academic studies at the Rafa Nadal International School, accommodation in a supervised residence within of the Academy, medical care, physiotherapy, nutrition and coaching in competition.
Amount of scholarships
Scholarships for the 2020-2021 academic year will be 25% of the total amount of the annual and / or semester program.
How to get them
Both sporting and academic merits will be valued.
“Without suffering, there is no happiness”
Who are they for?
They will be entitled to a scholarship in the annual or semester program (tennis, college and boarding) those players who have a Spanish passport and have a domicile in Spain. They cannot be combined with other discounts and, in case of having access to more than one promotion, the most advantageous for the player will be applied.
What measures have been taken at the Academy against the coronavirus?
Right at the start of the state of alarm, eighty players had to remain confined in the facilities when they could not return to their homes. With that experience on the table and the application of the new protocols and corresponding sanitary measures, the health of young tennis players is assured and they can train and even live in that idyllic setting that is Mallorca without any risk.
Players who wish to apply for these scholarships should contact the Academy by mail [email protected] or by phone +34 971 171 684.
