A Millfield tennis player has been recognised as one of the top six players for his age group in Great Britain.
Fifteen-year-old Charlie Ruffell was selected for a Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) U16 National Camp, held at the National Tennis Centre in Roehampton, which serves as a year-round training base for top GB players such as Andy Murray, Emma Raducanu, Cam Norrie and many more.
Charlie, who is in Year 11 at Millfield, was selected for the camp as one of the top six U16 male players in Great Britain, following a period of exceptional results on the court. Charlie formed part of the Millfield Year 9/10 team who were crowned Boys National Schools Champions in Bolton last year, becoming the first Millfield Tennis team to claim a national title for 10 years. During 2022, he was also U14 National Tennis Doubles Champion at the National Championships held at Nottingham Tennis Centre, and won the U14 singles and doubles title at the Tennis Europe event in Repton.
He said “I was really surprised and pleased when I received my selection for the camp. It was such an enjoyable experience as it’s not very often that you get to practice with a group of players at such a high level while being led by national coaches. We got a fully rounded experience of what national-level training entails, including strength and conditioning sessions, a combination of drills and match play practice. The Millfield Tennis programme is really special and has helped me reach this level; the coaches and players that I get to train with everyday make the programme what it is.”
Millfield Head of Tennis, Dan Manlow, said “We are delighted that Charlie’s hard work has been recognised with his invitation to the national camp. He is part of a strong group of boys that are pushing for great things in years to come and he has worked his socks off to get into that top group of players. We hope to have many players following in these footsteps in years to come, and Charlie is leading the way for the young Millfield tennis players coming up behind him.
Charlie joined Millfield Prep in Year 4, and is studying Business Studies, Geography and Spanish alongside the core subjects at GCSE. After Millfield, Charlie hopes to attend university in the USA on a tennis scholarship.
As one of the leading co-educational tennis schools in the country, Millfield Tennis Academy provides sport and academic education, athletic development training, individual lessons, sports science and tournament support. These are all included in the High Performance Programme, led by LTA coaches with a proven track record of players going on to be awarded scholarships in the US and playing professional tennis.
Categories: Millfield School School News
