Ball boys and girls are being sought to help out at the only international tennis tournament contested in the Avon LTA area.

The annual LTA International Futures tournament takes place on the University of Bath1s state-of-the-art Sports Training Village over a week in March.

It features some of the world1s top up and coming young players in men's singles, women's singles, men's doubles and women's doubles competitions.

Two years ago the star of the show was Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who won two back-to-back men's singles competitions at the University.

The Frenchman created some big shocks at this year's Australian Open, first by dispatching Andy Murray and then by finishing runner-up in the men's singles, despite being unseeded for the tournament.

For this year's Futures event, local children are being offered the chance to be part of the tournament. Ball boys and ball girls, aged 12 to 16, are required for the semi-finals and finals, which take place on Saturday 22nd March and Sunday 23rd March.

Don't worry if you haven't been a ball boy or ball girl before because training sessions have been arranged, beginning the week of Monday 3rd March. Further details of all the training sessions are available on the TeamBath website at http://www.teambath.com/tennis To apply, or for further information about being a ball boy or girl, please send your contact name, age and telephone number to Chris Matthews, Tennis Development Manager at the University of Bath, adscm@bath.ac.uk This year's International runs from Sunday 16th March through to Sunday 23rd March, with all matches on the indoor courts at the Sports Training Village. Admission for spectators is FREE