BOLTON Arena has been selected as a local player development centre as part of the Lawn Tennis Association's 10-year performance strategy for tennis in Great Britain.

The Arena has been announced as a regional player development centre – which is the level that follows the local player development centre age-group – and will be operational from next month.

It means the Bolton venue will play an important part in developing the next generation of British tennis players as part of the LTA plan.

It is one of 50 local player development centres (LPDCs) around the country which will be part of the LTA’s 10-year performance strategy.

LPDCs will support 11 regional player development centres and two national academies.

The new structure is aimed at trying to make Britain one of the most respected nations in the world for tennis player development.

It is designed to enable the best British players to train and compete regularly with each another at every stage of their development.

The LPDCs will be the first step on the road for promising beginners to begin their journey to potentially becoming professionals.

They will provide high-potential junior players from the age of seven with affordable, quality local training and support.

The ones who show the most potential at the LPDCs could then progress to one of 11 regional player development centres (RPDCs), which the Bolton Arena is one.

The LTA's new pathway structure then takes the best players on to one of two recently-named full-time, residential national academies at Loughborough University and the University of Stirling.

The pathway ends with a pro-scholarship programme for those aged between 16 and 24 who are regarded as potentially capable of reaching the world’s top 100 and beyond.