MGM Tennis Academy

A modern academy rooted in a pioneering idea

MGM Tennis Academy sits inside the Olympic Athletic Center of Athens, known locally as O.A.K.A., and it grew from a clear, child-first vision. In the late 1990s, Mini Tennis S.A. helped introduce scaled courts and age-appropriate balls to Greek schools and preschools, reframing tennis as a movement skill for very young children rather than a sport you begin only when you can manage a full court. That philosophy matured into MGM Sports in the 2000s and, by 2010, into a dedicated academy at O.A.K.A. where children, teenagers, and adults can train year round.

The academy’s leadership is rooted in physical education and long experience designing programs for school-age athletes. Instead of treating early childhood tennis as a side activity, MGM uses it as the base of a full pathway that runs from Baby Tennis through pre-competition and all the way to competitive teams. Families already familiar with colored-ball progressions will recognize the structure. For families new to it, the attraction is simple. Very young players learn balance, coordination, and racket skills on smaller courts with slower balls, then move up in court size and ball speed as they grow. The result is competence built step by step, with confidence that comes from doing the right thing at the right time.

Olympic surroundings, practical location

MGM operates at the outdoor tennis courts of O.A.K.A. in Marousi, a northern district of Athens with convenient access to major roads and public transport. This is a city location, not a secluded training center, and that is part of its appeal. Parents can combine drop-off with errands at nearby shopping areas, and students can come straight after school. The climate in Athens favors consistent training. Long, dry summers provide predictable outdoor sessions, while mild winters and the academy’s flexible scheduling keep programs running when the weather turns.

Training takes place on hard courts with the same style of cushioned acrylic surface used at the United States Open. For a developing player, that means true bounces, clean footwork demands, and a surface that rewards good technique. Because O.A.K.A. is a full Olympic complex, the environment includes stadium courts, auxiliary courts, lighting, and practical amenities like changing rooms and showers. Day to day, academy groups train on the outdoor courts with times set for after school on weekdays and Saturday mornings, which fits the academic rhythm of most families.

If you are comparing models, think of MGM as the urban counterpoint to destination academies. Families who might consider the travel and boarding required at the Rafa Nadal Academy in Mallorca or the Mouratoglou Tennis Academy in France will find that MGM delivers many of the same technical fundamentals in a format that protects school and community life. For some juniors, a season at MGM is also a sensible foundation before trialing weeks at performance hubs such as the SotoTennis Academy in Spain.

Facilities you actually use

The Athens Olympic Tennis Center includes 16 illuminated courts, a main stadium with a large seating bowl, two secondary show courts, and numerous side courts. MGM Tennis Academy’s programs are scheduled on the outdoor courts within this complex. The emphasis is on courts, coaching space, and reliable access windows rather than private on-site boarding or resort amenities. That keeps the experience focused on training rather than campus life.

For strength and conditioning, the academy blends on-court athletic development with off-court movement work appropriate to each age group. In early stages, that looks like skipping patterns, rhythm games, and landing mechanics. As athletes progress, sessions include short acceleration and deceleration, change-of-direction drills, core stability, and elastic power. Recovery is practical and age-specific, using mobility, stretching, and smart scheduling rather than elaborate spa facilities. The aim is simple: leave the athlete better prepared for tomorrow’s session and for school the next morning.

Coaching staff and philosophy

MGM’s coaching approach reflects its origins in physical education. The staff is selected for experience with age-appropriate coaching and for a willingness to progress players methodically. Sessions are built around small groups where each athlete gets high contact time with a coach. The early pathway emphasizes motor foundations and perceptual skills alongside racket control. That means a lot of sending-and-receiving games, tracking high and low bounces, working around different contact heights, and learning to move the feet before the hands.

As athletes enter orange, green, and yellow ball levels, the focus shifts to technical detail, footwork patterns, decision making, and basic tactics. Coaches emphasize stable grips, repeatable swing paths, and disciplined spacing. In the competitive teams, training becomes more specific to match play with themes like first-strike tennis, serve and return patterns, and point construction on hard courts. Because many Greek tournaments are played outdoors on quick surfaces, the academy trains second-serve reliability, aggressive but high-percentage first balls, and transition skills that let a player finish points at the net when the chance appears.

A defining feature is the academy’s talent-identification arm. The staff screens for coordination, learning speed, and competitive temperament, then nudges promising players into tighter groups and stronger competitive calendars. That selection is not a gatekeeper for participation. Rather, it is a way to personalize workload and tournament exposure for those who are ready. Players who show aptitude can expect more detailed video feedback, specific footwork ladders and court sprints tied to tactical patterns, and a clear, staged plan for accumulating match experience.

Programs from preschool to performance

• Baby Tennis for ages 2.5 to 3.5 introduces movement literacy with foam balls and tiny nets. The goal is simple: make a racket a friendly object while building balance and spatial awareness.
• Mini Tennis Red Ball for ages roughly 3.5 to 6 extends those foundations. Sessions are playful, but there is clear progression in grip, contact point, and sending and receiving skills.
• Pre-Competition Orange Ball around ages 7 to 8 moves athletes to three-quarter courts. Players learn rally patterns, build a reliable serve action, and begin scoring and basic match play.
• Green Ball Development around ages 9 to 10 bridges the gap to full court. Footwork intensity rises and players spend more time on serve and return plus transition skills.
• Yellow Ball Development for older juniors consolidates full-court technique and adds weapon development. Athletes start to specialize in patterns that suit their strengths while learning to neutralize opponents on quicker courts.
• Competitive Teams bring selected juniors into a program that pairs on-court work with fitness, match play, and domestic and occasional international tournament schedules.
• Adult Groups run in parallel for parents and older players, often after work hours, with level-based coaching on the same hard-court surfaces.
• Seasonal camps and intensives condense the academy model into shorter bursts during school holidays, blending skill blocks in the morning with match play in the afternoon.

Each program has clear entry criteria and exit milestones. Progression is not a rush. Coaches are frank about when to repeat a stage, and the timetable can be scaled by family needs. Many juniors train three days weekly during the school term, then add a fourth or fifth session during holidays when homework demands drop.

How training works day to day

Sessions follow a clean structure. Warm-ups develop coordination and readiness, not just jogging and static stretching. Technical blocks focus on one or two key changes at a time. For younger athletes that might mean a neutral contact for forehands and a consistent contact height on backhands. For advanced juniors it might be a higher first-serve percentage through simplified targets or adding a reliable kicker as a second serve. Tactical segments practice patterns under constraints, such as serving to the body then defending the first ball, or using height and depth to neutralize.

Conditioning is blended rather than bolted on. Younger groups work on skipping, rhythm, and landing mechanics. Mid-pathway groups build short, sharp acceleration and deceleration, core stability, and simple agility patterns. Competitive teams add tennis-specific endurance blocks, explosive work, and prehab. The academy’s coaches aim to keep intensity measurable and appropriate so a young athlete can attend school the next morning ready to learn.

Mental skills are taught in practical language. Players rehearse between-point routines, keep simple match logs, and learn to set a tactical goal for each practice set. The academy expects athletes to compete, not to drill endlessly. That means regular in-house match play and support at tournaments across Greece, with selective trips abroad for stronger fields when appropriate for the player’s stage.

A sample training microcycle

• Monday: Technical emphasis on forehand spacing and footwork, finishing with first-serve targets. Short acceleration sprints and trunk rotation strength.
• Tuesday: Return of serve and first-shot defense. Green and yellow groups work on neutralizing pace. Off-court mobility and hip stability.
• Wednesday: Pattern play. Serve plus one and plus two, with constraints to shape decision making. Reactive agility on court.
• Thursday: Backhand variety. Slice depth, topspin crosscourt, then line. Prehab and landing mechanics.
• Friday: Competitive sets with tactical objectives. Brief video clips for key points.
• Saturday morning: Match play blocks across age groups and internal ladders. Light recovery.

Player development in depth

MGM’s method is built on four pillars.

1. Technical. Stable grips and contact points, quiet heads, and clean spacing are non-negotiable. Coaches use high-frequency feeds and short feedback loops. Players develop a serve package that includes a reliable second serve early, not as an afterthought.

2. Tactical. Hard courts reward clarity. Juniors learn to take time away with depth and pace, to buy time with height and shape, and to change direction on the correct ball. First-strike tennis is trained, but not at the cost of consistency.

3. Physical. The academy develops elastic power and movement efficiency. That includes eccentric strength for deceleration, ankle and hip mobility, and rotational strength for topspin and slice. Fitness testing is staged and age-appropriate, and the data inform the training week.

4. Mental. Players learn to reset between points, manage momentum swings, and keep attention on the next decision. Match journals are short and functional. Every competitive set has a plan, a review, and a single next focus.

Education is part of development. Coaches explain why a drill matters and how it maps to match situations. Juniors are encouraged to articulate a cue in their own words, which improves retention and independence when the coach is not on the next court over.

Support for competition and schooling

The academy competes within the Greek tournament calendar and encourages regular match play at appropriate levels. Families receive help with scheduling, travel planning for key events, and post-competition debriefs that translate results into the next week’s training blocks. For younger players, competition is made normal rather than stressful. That means short scoring formats, supportive coaching language, and clear behavior standards.

School balance is a core value. Coaches understand homework, exams, and school trips. Training density is planned around academic peaks. The administrative team is accessible and responsive about timetable adjustments, so the sport supports education instead of competing with it.

Alumni and outcomes

MGM’s story is less about star-studded alumni walls and more about scale, quality of fundamentals, and a focused group of juniors who build ranking through the Greek tournament structure. The broader MGM and Mini Tennis programs have introduced large numbers of students to tennis through schools and partner academies around Greece. At the academy level, the competitive teams channel the most engaged juniors into a clear pathway that mixes training blocks with regular match weeks. Families looking for one-to-one name recognition may not find a gallery of famous graduates. What they will find is an environment where fundamentals are taught seriously, where competition is normalized early, and where progress is measured in skills a player can reproduce under pressure.

Culture and community

Because training slots are concentrated in the late afternoon and evening on weekdays, the academy functions as a community hub after school. Parents often stay to watch from the stands, and younger siblings see older players compete on adjacent courts. Saturday mornings are energetic, with multiple age groups rotating through. The atmosphere is friendly and organized, with the administrative team available for schedule questions and program placement. Code of conduct expectations are posted and reinforced: be on time, be ready, respect the court, and leave it better than you found it.

Community extends beyond the fence. The academy occasionally organizes family events, end-of-term play days, and charity hit sessions that let younger players rally with older juniors. Those moments build pride and belonging, which in turn supports retention and effort when training becomes more demanding.

Costs, accessibility, scholarships

Fees vary by program type, group size, and training frequency. Since this is a city academy rather than a boarding school, families have flexibility to scale hours up or down across the year. The best way to get an exact figure is to request a trial session and placement, then choose a package that fits the athlete’s goals. If you are coming from outside Athens, you will need to arrange accommodation independently. The academy does not advertise formal scholarships. There is a talent identification process that can open doors to more intensive training and competitive support for the right player. Ask directly about financial options if support is a deciding factor for your family.

Accessibility is straightforward. Public transport serves Marousi well, and the Olympic park has practical parking and walking routes. For busy families, the predictable after school schedule is one of the academy’s quiet superpowers.

What makes MGM different

• Olympic venue setting with reliable access to hard courts and lighting, which creates a professional training backdrop for juniors without leaving the city.
• A full pathway that genuinely starts at preschool age. The early motor development work is designed by educators and connects to a competitive stream for older players.
• Practical schedules that fit school life. The academy leans into after school and Saturday windows, which is realistic for most families.
• Competition as a training tool. Match play and tournament travel are part of the culture, even for younger players in small, supportive doses.
• Non-residential model that keeps costs focused on coaching and court time rather than campus amenities.
• A coaching group comfortable with both the play-based learning of early stages and the performance demands of teenage tournament tennis.

Who it suits

• Parents seeking a structured introduction for children as young as preschool age, with a clear path forward as skills grow.
• Juniors who want serious training without leaving their schools, friends, and families.
• Players who like hard-court tennis and plan to compete on quicker outdoor surfaces common in Greece.
• Families using Athens as a year-round base, with the option to add short intensives during school holidays.

Future outlook and vision

The wider O.A.K.A. complex has been undergoing upgrades intended to modernize its sports spaces and spectator areas. As the venue continues to improve, academy athletes stand to benefit from better surrounding infrastructure, additional sport courts nearby, and refreshed amenities. Internally, MGM is likely to keep refining its junior pathway and to expand seasonal intensives that bring in players from schools already familiar with Mini Tennis programming. Expect further integration of simple technology tools, like on-court tablets for quick video clips and live feedback that help players connect the feel of a swing to what it actually looks like.

The long-term vision is stable: keep the academy embedded in the city’s daily life while maintaining a performance-minded route for juniors who aspire to higher competition. That balance is the differentiator. It is rare to find a place that can look welcoming to a three-year-old and credible to a sixteen-year-old chasing ranking points. MGM intends to stay that place.

Bottom line

MGM Tennis Academy offers a clear proposition. If you want an Athens-based program that starts young players correctly, grows them through the colored-ball system, and gives competitive juniors hard-court habits that translate to modern tennis, it belongs on your shortlist. It does not try to be a resort or a boarding school. It is a training program inside an Olympic venue with experienced coaches and a structure that respects school and family life. For families mapping a path through junior tennis, MGM is a practical, thoughtful base from which a player can learn to love the sport and learn how to compete.