Millfield appoints former WTA professional as new Director of Tennis

Top sports school Millfield has appointed a former Women's Tennis Association (WTA) professional to head up the school’s tennis department. 

Lauren English, who previously placed in the top 300 of the WTA rankings in both singles and doubles, joins the Somerset school from the Team Bath Tennis programme after an extensive coaching and playing career. Team Bath Tennis is recognised as one of the most notable performance centres in the UK and has been home to top ranked junior and senior British players. Lauren held the position of Regional Performance Development Centre (RPDC) Head Coach at Bath, an LTA-backed programme that delivers world-class coaching and support to the most talented juniors in British tennis. Lauren is also Level 5 Master Coach, the highest level of coaching qualification available in the UK. 

Lauren has great experience on the junior circuit, competing in the U14, 16 and 18 Nationals, became the New South Wales, Australia, number one and top five nationally, before joining the tour aged 17. During her senior playing career, Lauren competed in an array of high-profile tournaments, most notably the Australian Open, one of tennis’ four Grand Slam events. 

In her role at Millfield, Lauren is looking to further build upon the strong foundations already in place to create a world-class training environment in which students can achieve excellence both within their tennis and their academics.  

Millfield’s Tennis Academy is the leading co-educational tennis school in the country, allowing students to compete to the highest level whilst gaining academic qualifications. The school’s High-Performance Programme is led by LTA accredited coaches and provides athletic development training, individual lessons, sports science and tournament support. Recreational players can take part in a full participation summer term programme. 

Millfield tennis players are frequently awarded scholarships to universities in the United States and go on to play professional tennis: notable alumni include former British number 1 Andrew Castle, Scott Clayton (ATP 173 Doubles), Purav Raja (ATP 112 doubles) and Luke Hammond (International Tennis Federation ITF 144 Junior).  

Lauren says, “I’m so excited to join a brilliant school like Millfield. This is a place that offers a holistic approach to sport; I am hugely passionate about development and supporting athletes across all aspects of their lives, so Millfield’s mission to help students achieve excellence both on the court and in the classroom is something that resonates with my own philosophy. From my experiences working in tennis, I have witnessed first-hand how involvement in sport can be a transformative experience for young individuals.” 

Millfield competes in various tournaments (LTA, ITF and Tennis Europe) and fixtures against other academies, counties, clubs and universities and runs summer camps for established junior players. Facilities at the Academy include an indoor tennis centre, two grass courts and over 20 outdoor hard courts.