Darren, 15, goes through the warm-up motions, jogging around the court and running through the plastic apparatus. He joins the others as they start to hit.

Benny Lin is on the sidelines, saying hello to some of the parents, pacing up and down the courts. He watches Geraldine and Darren, who are trying to get into an Ivy League school in the US through tennis.

'We're trying to provide a pathway for the kids,' Lin says. 'Of course, our main goal is to help them become world-class players, but we believe it is important to have something to fall back on. Getting into a US college with tennis is much more doable than turning a kid professional.'

Lin's pathway includes elite training, guidance and fitness and mental training. It is not, he stressed, about teaching a kid just how to hit the ball.

Over the years, Lin noticed young talented players suddenly stopped once they hit 16 or 17 - in part because of the pressures at school.

'The parents don't see anything from tennis,' Lin says. 'It's so tough to make it to the professional world. I had this idea, what if I have a programme where kids can keep playing so they can go to college in the US and, even better, receive a scholarship?'

Three months ago, Lin started the academy, which has its elite training at the South China Athletic Association Tennis Club in Jordan. It's still very much in the developmental stages - from the hiring process to a bare office that doubles as a makeshift gym.

What Lin lacks in a sports psychologist (to arrive by September) and freshly painted walls, he has gained in trying to achieve his academy's primary goal.

Whereas many American kids grow up with a goal of earning a college scholarship, Hong Kong tennis players don't have the same mindset.

'It's something I knew about last year,' says Darren, who is excited by the idea of perhaps attending an American college. He already has a role model to follow. 'Like James Blake and those players. He joined Harvard and I think it's a big achievement to join those schools.'

It is this combination of athletics and schooling that Lin has in mind. Next month, Darren and Geraldine will travel to the US to play in a showcase event attended by college coaches from the eastern US. The two have also garnered interest from Dartmouth, Columbia and Cornell. To secure the invites, Lin sent video packages to a number of colleges. Alex Dorato, the men's tennis coach at Yale, says the showcase is important in his recruitment process.

'It would be highly unusual for me, and probably for other coaches as well, to recruit a player sight unseen or from having watched a video. I feel there is a lot I can learn from watching a live competition; a player's fitness level, emotional control, fighting spirit, sportsmanship, work ethic.'

If Darren and Geraldine make the grade, they will join an increasing number of Ivy League college players who are not American raised. In 2006-07, 19 of 105 male players and nine of 82 female players had their hometowns listed outside the US, though only one was from southeast Asia.

'Over the past several years, the number of foreign players has increased both in the Ivy League and in the nation, but more so in men's tennis,' Dorato says. 'As college tennis has become more competitive, coaches have had to look outside the US to produce winning teams.'

So Darren, Geraldine and other junior players have a shot - if they are talented, academically eligible and can remain interested in the game.

As Maurer runs practice, Lin remains on the sidelines, bound by a prior contract with the Hong Kong Tennis Association, which states he cannot coach until November, six months after he quit the HKTA.

'I thought it was time to explore other opportunities,' Lin says. 'I feel the association has a lot of things to do. I think their main objective is to promote tennis, but I want to do something more specific. I want to design a programme for kids so they can have a pathway to get into college through tennis.'

Lin, who worked at the HKTA for five years as the head coach and director of junior development programmes, called his departure 'sensitive'. But that seems to just touch the surface of this wound.

The HKTA's website states: 'Benny Lin is no longer under the employment of the HKTA, effective April 4, 2007. Any references to a tennis academy run by the HKTA or involving HKTA coaches are untrue and should be completely discounted.'

The HKTA is not commenting. Janet Hardisty, general manager of the HKTA, initially declined to be interviewed and then did not return phone calls. However, Hardisty did say a replacement for Lin had been found.

What the HKTA's online statement doesn't say, however, is that Maurer, who worked under Lin for two years at the HKTA, left as well.

'I wanted to have more freedom in my coaching and with the HKTA I was a bit limited,' Maurer said. He thought he might return to Europe, where he grew up. Instead, he joined the academy. 'I'm hoping to help Hong Kong tennis. I've been here for two years and there are kids with talent and passion. I think they deserve to have a programme that's complete.'

Lin and Maurer insisted they don't want to create some sort of tennis turf war with the HKTA. They believe HKTA's Talent Programme and the academy's training programme can co-exist. Lin said his students shouldn't have any problems competing in the HKTA-sanctioned tournaments because they are open to the public. He is adamant he did not poach or take players with him when he left HKTA, but that the players joined on their own.

'Darren's been with Benny for more than three years and for coaching, he really is in the top five,' said Darren's father, Steven Ng. 'Darren was actually invited to join the elite team but tennis has been kicked out, so that's why he has to pursue his tennis with Benny. We buy into his concept and that's why we moved from the HKTA to here.'

In Hong Kong, there are few tennis academies and the emphasis is on private lessons.

'We don't have tennis academies and our under-14 training is very poor,' Lin said. 'That's where we produce players - during the under-14 training. There are not enough experts and even if there are, they are so set up in making money. Giving hourly lessons, coaches make quite good money. But nobody wants to start a programme because it's long term.'

So the academy is starting off small with a few players on a few courts and maybe a college entrance (the Ivy League schools do not award athletic scholarships). But there are challenges: convincing players that education can mix with tennis, starting young players on comprehensive training programmes and, in the case of Darren and Geraldine, helping to persuade them that they really can do this.

'I didn't think I would get the chance to go,' Geraldine said of her selection for the showcase. 'I'm a bit nervous but my mum keeps telling me, 'don't be nervous'. It's a good chance to show your talents and see how it goes.'

The same can be said for the academy.