Shaping tomorrow’s stars at Soto Tennis, El Octógono

Situated close to the far side of Sotogrande’s marina, not far from the spot where the Mediterranean laps the beach, El Octógono is a tennis and padel tennis club that is a well-established part of the local community. Ian McDougal has overseen much of that process, managing the club for over 25 years now and ensuring it plays its rightful role as both a recreational centre and part of the local fabric of life.

But this is more than a well-kept sports club with an active roster of social players and club events, for El Octógono is also home to a tennis academy that is rapidly gaining an international reputation stretching all the way to the USA. “America is so relevant because we are in effect preparing young people for its famous tennis scholarship programmes, the ultimate step in the pursuit of a professional career,” says Daniel Kiernan, who runs Soto Tennis Academy.

Preparing the way
A former youth champion and professional player himself, Daniel knows what it takes to become a successful pro tennis player and has first hand experience with the pressures and challenges that young aspiring talents face. “Talent, athletic ability and dedication are standard requirements, but in addition you need the kind of burning ambition and a clear goal to strive towards or else you may lose the long-term focus and commitment needed to succeed.”

Having played with then up-and-coming junior talents like the Murray brothers he has witnessed it up close. “I thought I was driven until I met Andy Murray. Even though he was still pretty young at the time and certainly not winning all his matches yet, you could see that here was someone with the single-minded desire and ability to go to the top.” While Daniel admits that the very pinnacle of the sport is the exclusive reserve of singular individuals such as Federer, Sampras and Nadal, he believes that the majority of today’s players have to be highly dedicated professionals to succeed.

“In every sport and walk of life there are people hugely gifted with natural talent who can get by on a little less effort, yet there are many more great potential talents who don’t make it and sink into obscurity through lack of staying power. Equally, some of the greatest stars have made it through sheer hard work and making the most of the talent they have, so although we are always tremendously excited by natural ability it is the fighting spirit and commitment that we work on every bit as much as the technical aspects of the sport.”

A programme aimed at success
The training programme offered through the Soto Tennis Academy is therefore a broad one that not only refines and perfects the technical skill, physique and endurance of talented young tennis players of 12 and over, but actually maps out a career plan for them in which they are also taught how to deal with the media, budgets, travel fatigue and the commercial management side of what has increasingly become a business built around individual sportsmen and women.

“You cannot train a talent up into a great player and then send him out into the arena unarmed,” says Daniel. “Today’s game is a business, and if players are to get the most out of their careers both in sporting and financial terms they need professional skills and a good team around them.” Practicing what he preaches, Daniel has built up a great team including assistant coaches, physiotherapists, nutritionists and sports psychologists.

“While our approach is very modern and includes careful monitoring of a player’s technical progress and physical state we also adapt it to each individual’s personality and physique to help them maximise their potential. This way if a player is very tall or a bit on the short side, for instance, we will develop their innate strengths and help them overcome their weak spots so that they emerge strong and confident.” Another part of the philosophy is not turning a passion into a hated chore by making young people play, eat, sleep and think tennis 24 hours a day. “We expect full dedication but someone who is drilled like a soldier and to the exclusion of all else is going to end up doing it out of a sense of duty, and that is never as good as when you love what you’re doing and have enough of a balanced life you appreciate dedicating a lot of your time to practice and physical exercise.”

For this reason the youngsters who attend Soto Tennis Academy lead a balanced life that includes school, tennis and time left to develop as human beings. “We believe that you should have options in life, so we have an agreement with the International School in Sotogrande. When they’re not at school or training the kids are supervised by ‘house parents’ who provide personal support and also set the rules the way parents do. In the process we allow them to be young people and socialise, but we expect them to responsible so they haven’t got the license to drink and stay out that regular teenagers without the same goals and hopes have. Fortunately we have produced the kind of results that make places at our academy highly sought after, so we have few problems with bad discipline as most kids realise the value of the opportunity.”

From youth circuit to professional circuit
The system is working, as the Soto Tennis Academy has already produced players on the youth circuit with every potential of breaking through and making a name for themselves as successful professionals. Currently there are three professional players, among them the exciting talents Liam Brody and Josh Ward-Hibbert, who play on the youth circuit and have appeared at the likes of Wimbledon and the other grand slam tournaments. “Josh is in the top-five of junior doubles players, and it’s really gratifying that he’s turned down the LTA to continue his apprenticeship with us. I think it shows that slowly but surely something very special is evolving here in Sotogrande, which has every potential of becoming a European version of Florida within the world of tennis.”