Grants for junior tennis players in the Canary Islands

A junior tennis player registered in the Canary Islands can draw on four kinds of funding across the islands: the results grants of the Canary Islands Tennis Federation (Federación Canaria de Tenis, FCT), two subsidies from the Government of the Canary Islands (one for travel to competitions, one for results), and the tennis federations' travel help for the official championships. Players from Gran Canaria can add the Cabildo de Gran Canaria's payment to high-level athletes; Tenerife and Lanzarote have their own schemes. Almost all of them reward results already achieved or refund money already spent. On 5 October 2026, of the regional and Gran Canaria schemes, the only one open for applications is the FCT grant.

The support at a glance

How do the FCT results grants work?

The FCT pays a fixed amount for each good result in individual events. The programme started on 1 June 2026 with a ceiling of €6,000; if claims go over it, every player's grant is scaled down by the same coefficient.

To qualify, a player needs:

• A current licence with a Canary Islands club (or as an independent player), and an FCT licence the season before.
• To attend school or college in person in the Canaries.
• To have been registered as a resident (empadronado) in the islands for two years, or to live here continuously.
• At least six hours of training a week with an FCT member club.
• To have played the latest island championship and Canary Championship in their category.
• To represent the FCT when called up.
• To allow the use of their image.
• To be under 25.

The tours themselves are explained in the ITF World Tennis Tour Juniors and the Tennis Europe Junior Tour, and the step up to them from island events in how players move from island tournaments to national and international ones. The age categories (alevín, infantil, cadete, júnior) are set out in how tennis age categories work in Spain.

Results are claimed through the form on the FCT website (programme page and rules as a PDF, in Spanish), with the draw attached. Late claims are refused.

Events the FCT organises the trip for do not count, unless there were not enough places or the technical committee decides otherwise. A sanction or open disciplinary case against the player, their family or their coach can cancel the grant.

Example. A quarter-final at an ITF Junior J100 played in October is claimed by 15 November and paid in December: €100, less the coefficient if the budget runs short.

What does the Government of the Canary Islands pay towards travel?

The travel subsidy refunds part of the air or sea fares (economy, leaving from the Canaries). Between islands and abroad, competitions in a federation's official calendar count. To mainland Spain or the Balearics, only events in the "official and compulsory" calendar of the Spanish federations count, such as a Spanish Championship; whether an open tournament counts is a question for the Canary Government's sports department (Dirección General de Deportes) or the FCT, before you travel. Players competing as individuals with a Canary or Spanish licence apply themselves; for a minor, a parent or guardian signs, with their ID and the family book (libro de familia). Invoices must be in the applicant's name, even a minor's, and paid from their account.

The 2026 call had €1,297,978 across three periods:

Each call is published, with its deadlines and how to apply, on the Canary Government's sports website: travel subsidies, 2026 call (in Spanish).

Per person, return: between islands, a fixed sum (Gran Canaria to Tenerife €43.07, to Fuerteventura €47.07, to Lanzarote €52.07); to mainland Spain or the Balearics, up to €165; abroad, €0.25 per kilometre between the departure city and the competition city within Europe, and €0.20 outside Europe. A single journey earns half. In individual sports one companion also counts. For a minor that can be a parent or guardian only if the player's licence is independent; if the licence is held through a club, the ratio of one companion per five athletes applies instead. If the fund cannot cover every claim, a correction coefficient applies, and claims under €30 are not paid.

Example. A Gran Canaria player with a club licence travels to an official tournament in Tenerife: €43.07. With an independent licence, travelling with their mother: 2 × €43.07 = €86.14. To the Spanish Championship in Madrid, up to €165 alone or up to 2 × €165 = €330 with their mother. The period's coefficient is applied afterwards.

Players who did not turn up when officially called to the previous year's Canary or Spanish Championships are excluded, as are athletes whose federation already receives a direct government subsidy for the same travel. Ask the FCT whether that last rule affects tennis before applying.

What is the results subsidy?

The Government of the Canary Islands rewards the previous year's results in individual or pairs events. The 2026 call shared out €400,000 for 2025 results; applications ran from 9 to 19 January 2026 and the final decision was published in the Boletín Oficial de Canarias on 3 August 2026. The rules are permanent and there is a call every year.

Applicants need to have been officially resident (vecindad administrativa) in a Canary municipality for the previous two years, have held a licence the year before, not compete as professionals, and score at least 80 points (women) or 100 points (men). Up to four results count, one per column of the table (World, European, other international and Spanish Championship), and a player is assessed on singles or doubles results, never both. A result only counts if the event had a minimum field: 8 players at a Spanish Championship, and 8 countries or 40 players at an international event. Tennis is an Olympic sport, so results below the open (absoluto) level score as follows:

Where there is no ranking by place, as in a tennis draw, the rules treat a semi-final as 4th to 8th place and a quarter-final as 9th to 12th, so at a Spanish Championship only the winner and the runner-up score. The money is shared in proportion to the points of every accepted claim.

Example. A girl who won a Spanish youth (juvenil) title in 2025 has 100 points, above the 80-point minimum; what she receives depends on everyone else's points.

The yearly call is published on the Canary Government's sports website: results subsidies, 2026 call (in Spanish).

What does the Cabildo de Gran Canaria offer?

High-level athletes. The island's sports institute, the Instituto Insular de Deportes (IID), pays a banded sum to athletes from Gran Canaria, and only Gran Canaria, in individual sports with a notable result. Applications go through the IID grants portal (in Spanish). The 2025 call (€243,700) was published on 24 October 2025 and took applications from 27 October to 7 November. It covered results from 18 November 2024, was limited to athletes born in 2011 or earlier, and allowed one application per athlete, for their best result. For a minor, a parent or guardian applies with their digital certificate.

The score multiplies the result (100 for a podium at a World Championship or equivalent, 75 at a European Championship, 50 at a Spanish Championship, 20 for winning or finishing runner-up at the Canary Championship) by several factors. For tennis: 1.1 because Gran Canaria has had athletes in the sport at any of the last five Olympic Games, 1.1 because the event is on the Los Angeles 2028 programme, and 0.90 in júnior or 0.80 in cadete and below.

Below 10 points nothing is paid.

Example. Spanish júnior champion: 50 × 1.1 × 1.1 × 0.90 = 54.45 points, €2,500. Spanish cadete champion: 48.4 points, €2,000. Canary cadete champion: 19.36 points, €850.

Insurance for under-16s. According to the FCT, on 19 June 2026 the Cabildo presented a €1.5 million fund to pay the compulsory sports insurance included in the licences of registered athletes under 16 on the island. The FCT and the IID can say how it reaches each tennis licence. The licence is explained in how to get a tennis licence in the Canaries.

What about Tenerife and Lanzarote?

Each island government (cabildo) has its own grants for athletes from its island. Tenerife's, published on Deportes Tenerife, include a line for results at Spanish, European or World Championships for athletes in individual sports, which names tennis, and travel aid for official national or international competitions, each with its own calls and deadlines. Lanzarote's are on Lanzarote Deportes.

Who pays for travel to the Canary and Spanish Championships?

Under the FCT's 2025/2026 rules, travel to the Canary Championship in alevín, infantil and cadete is paid for players who show their federation that they have no means or no one to go with them: the island federation pays for players from Gran Canaria and Tenerife, and the FCT for players from La Palma, Fuerteventura and Lanzarote. They travel with a delegate appointed by the federation. In júnior, the player's flight and accommodation are covered, without a companion. For the individual Spanish youth championships, the FCT pays travel on the same terms. The details are in how junior competition works in the Canaries.

Is the FCT's Programa de Tecnificación a grant?

No. It is a training programme for selected players, who must be resident in the Canaries and hold a licence, and it has a fee. The open trial sessions are free; players picked for the programme pay per season €90 in under-10 and under-12, €180 in under-14 and under-15 and €240 in under-16 and under-18, plus €100 a month for an optional weekly session in under-16 and under-18 (version of 1 September 2025). A full year's spending is on what a junior tennis season costs in the Canaries.

Common questions

Can a player combine several kinds of support?

Generally, yes. The government subsidies can be combined with others as long as the total does not exceed the cost. The Cabildo de Gran Canaria's payment excludes anyone who already received another IID payment for the same result.

Do you have to have played the official championships?

For almost all of them. The FCT grant requires the latest island and Canary Championships, and both government subsidies exclude players who did not turn up when called to the Canary or Spanish Championships.

When do the next calls come out?

The government's 2026 calls were published on 24 November 2025, and the Cabildo de Gran Canaria's 2025 call on 24 October 2025. On 5 October 2026, none of the next ones had been published.

Sources

• Federación Canaria de Tenis, Programa de Becas por resultados FCT (3 June 2026, updated 5 June) and the rules with the 2026 amounts table (PDF of 5 June 2026). Consulted on 5 October 2026.
• Government of the Canary Islands, travel subsidies, 2026 call (summary in BOC no. 233, 24 November 2025) and the rules as amended by the Order of 10 February 2025 (BOC no. 34, 18 February 2025), articles 4, 5, 7 and 10. Consulted on 5 October 2026.
• Government of the Canary Islands, results subsidies, 2026 call (summary in BOC no. 233, 24 November 2025) and the rules, Order of 27 January 2025 (BOC no. 27, 7 February 2025), bases 4, 5, 6 and 9. Consulted on 5 October 2026.
• Instituto Insular de Deportes de Gran Canaria, 2025 call for athletes with notable results in high-level competition: rules (signed 17 October 2025) and summary in the Boletín Oficial de la Provincia de Las Palmas no. 128 (24 October 2025). Consulted on 5 October 2026.
• Federación Canaria de Tenis, IID: Ayuda a la Mutualidad deportiva (19 June 2026). Consulted on 5 October 2026.
• Federación Canaria de Tenis, Programa de Tecnificación FCT (1 September 2025). Consulted on 5 October 2026.
• Federación Canaria de Tenis, Normativa de los Campeonatos de Canarias 2025/2026 (16 March 2026), expenses sections. Consulted on 5 October 2026.
• Deportes Tenerife, Subvenciones, and Lanzarote Deportes, Subvenciones. Consulted on 5 October 2026.