The trip to the BTT academy in Barcelona took place as planned with 24 apprentices and six staff on the identified dates March 11-24th 2015. By providing dedicated training with top European coaches, and games against high quality European opposition, participants had the opportunity to improve as tennis players and achieve a greater understanding of what is required to play at the highest level. 'I was taught the differences in tactics and physicality on clay compared to surfaces I was used to playing on, learning the tactical and technical differences required to succeed.' Tom Belton Participants were exposed to new environments and experiences which provided the opportunity to improve the psychological skills of players in relation to both their professional development as tennis players, but also as young adults. As well as training and living the life of tennis player, they also got to learn the language, go on cultural visits and experience the Spanish way of life. Matt Story stated: “Before going on the cultural visit, I have to be honest I wasn’t most excited, but I was really happy I went, as it was a good to know how the Spanish live their lives. Also I was happy to learn some Spanish along the way.” Here are some more quotes form the participant's reports: 'As a result of this trip I feel more confident to include more clay court tournaments into my schedule, and continue to enjoy my tennis and all that comes with it on and off the court as much as I did on this trip, if that is possible. I had such an amazing time and I am so happy that I was given the opportunity to go. I would have never imagined that I would enjoy it so much and we really are all one big happy ‘Barca Family’ who are already planning a reunion. I wish we could go on this trip every year, and I am so jealous of all the players that will be going in 2016. ' Mia Smith 'Living away from home is another big aspect of the trip that I felt I dealt with well as it is the first time in which I have stayed away from home in a different country without a family member. The hardest thing about living in a different country without a family member was the cooking side of it. About 5 of the nights we had to cook for ourselves and the first time we did I wasn’t very confident in myself, but after a couple of times of doing it I became pretty good at it and me and the other players I was staying with were able to cook some nice meals.' Alex Juniper. Participants were exposed to European opportunities in both sport and other careers which were explored and more readily understood. There were opportunities for Apprentices to engage in social and community-based activities, both as part of their training placement activities and via a structured social/cultural programme, that developed their understanding of good citizenship. “After being on this trip, I am going to look into what it is like to be a coach at such a great academy. As after my tennis career ends, I think the best career after would be to become a coach.” Matthew Story (who later that year was a double-medal winner in the Commonwealth Youth Games in Samoa) Accompanying LTA coaches had direct access to coaching methods of top European coaches, enabling the LTA to improve its own coaching provision for the benefit of current and future AASE Apprentices, both at a local level (within individual High Performance Centres) and on a national level. Here are some observations: 'Spanish coaches put great emphasis on volume training, with lots of highly intensive drills and long rally drills. Whereas in the UK there are some drills in training but a higher emphasis on points play rather than drills. Drills help to improve a player’s consistency and stamina but points improve tactics'; 'The ratio of tennis to fitness was 50:50, a training style which was new to many players who had a much more tennis-orientated programme back home. The fitness coach did a ​ variety of different sessions such as intervals, endurance running, strength and agility to name a few. As one of the players commented “The range of activities really helped everyone to stay motivated and enjoy the fitness sessions as we were much less likely to get bored”. When the players got tired, enjoying the fitness was a crucial element, many felt they would take this variety and try to replicate this at home.' The evaluation and dissemination of the key learnings and best practice from the project took place both a local level (i.e. within the LTA) and at a national level (through the sharing of knowledge across the HPC network) to enhance all aspects of the AASE programme, with key technical, tactical, physical and mental learnings. The project has enhanced the experience of Apprentices during their two years within the AASE programme, and demonstrates the LTA's commitment to the development of its players both as potential professional tennis players, but also as young adult.