Junior tennis players are beginning to see the fruits of fund-raising efforts - and of their labour.

Thanks to proceeds from last year's second annual Lori McNeil/Elbow Beach Celebrity Tennis Classic, five teenagers head to Atlanta, Georgia, next week to train and compete in two tournaments.

The squad of Jasmine Quinn, Jacklyn Lambert, Caitlyn Gordon, David Thomas and McKenzie Bean leaves on July 8, accompanied by Davis Cup coach/captain Steve Bean. The Bermudians will play in the Georgia State Championships from July 12-18 and the Georgia Games, the following week.

"They are going up earlier because they will be participating in a clinic in preparation for the tournaments," explained Bermuda Lawn Tennis Association (BLTA) president David Lambert.

"These events are USTA (United States Tennis Association) Level 5 tournaments. Hopefully, our juniors will do well enough to gain points towards USTA national rankings. All of these juniors are ranked locally and we are now affiliating ourselves with the USTA and trying to acquire rankings there also."

Those chosen have shown great potential, he added, and have been preparing all year through the national training programme and through team tennis.

"These juniors have shown very good attitudes. Their training has been serious and their attendance at all of the BLTA junior events has been favourable and all of these factors, along with their current level of play, helped the BLTA in making the decision on sending them to these competitions."

Sending juniors abroad is "an important part" of the association's development programme to help them fulfil their ambitions and promise.

"For our juniors to be the best they can be, they need international exposure both at home and overseas.

"This trip can only enhance their ability. It's good to play at home but it's also good to travel and play in different environments; to be able to concentrate under all conditions. This is something we hope to build on."

The recent Bank of Bermuda Foundation ITF World-Ranking Junior Tournament at the Tennis Stadium, Lambert said, has rejuvenated interest among juniors in the sport.

"The exercise was very worthwhile. It showed all of our juniors the intensity and the commitment that's required to be the best. If you are not willing to train for hours every day and others are, then they will develop at a faster rate.

"Our juniors are excited. They are training harder, arriving at the courts early, putting in time in the gym, watching their diets. All of what has been asked of these juniors, they are doing," he said.

The president also revealed the juniors' thirst for more competition would be satiated by another event - the Minute Maid Tournament - to be held August 11-15. Steve Carberry, a well-known tennis director with his own training facility in Pennsylvania, will be bringing 20 boys and girls, aged nine to 16, to play here.

There is something extra at stake for the Bermudians who excel in this competition as their performances will influence who is picked for Island's squad to next month's ITF 14 & Under Championships.