Rafael Nadal Lays the First Stone of His Future Tennis Academy

Tennis superstar Rafael Nadal will open his very own international tennis academy in the summer of 2016 in his home town of Manacor on the island of Mallorca.

Each year will welcome 140 boys and girls and train them not only physically, but mentally to play tennis. “The most important thing is to prepare the students as people,” said the tennis ace himself.

Earlier this week, Nadal laid the first stone of the ‘Rafa Nadal Academy’ on the plot in Manacor. Also assisting the event were the President of the Balearics Islands, José Ramón Bauza, and Francisco de Bergía, director of Telefonica’s public relations presidency department.

Telefonica (Movistar) is an active collaborator in this project.

The centre will have an area of 24,014 square metres and consist of 18 tennis courts, a school and halls to accommodate international students from all over the world. The Rafa Nadal Foundation, which is currently housed in Barcelona, will also be moved to the academy site and there will also be a national and international sports museum funded by donations from the sportsmen and women.

The surrounding installations will also include three swimming pools, a padel court, a football pitch and a multi-sports court. Of course, the academy would not be complete without a medical centre, a shopping zone and a social area for the students to relax.

For other sports enthusiasts, Nadal will offer 35 apartments for professional teams to come to the island to train, which is often very popular with cyclists or footballers.

Rafa explained to the press how important his family have been in making this dream come true and owed much of it to his father and his uncle, the famous tennis coach, Toni Nadal.

The first phase of the development will last 18 months, yet the academy is set to open during the summer of 2016.

The tennis star highlighted the fact that the aim of the school will be to get the best out of the young aspirants, and, above all, to prepare them for the future from a human and academic point of view based on the fact that very few actually make it to the top level of the sport and may need to fall back on their education.

Nadal also hopes that the centre will attract visitors from across the island and become a meeting place for all sports lovers and health enthusiasts that live in the Manacor province and across the island.

Source: www.antena3.com