Anthony Jeramiah, the International Tennis Federation's representative for the region, believes that Bermuda will never produce a top-class professional tennis player until attitudes on the Island to sport and education change.

At the moment sport on the Island takes a back seat to education, with many seeing it as a tool to be used to get to university, rather than as a career in itself.

And the obsession with education, university or otherwise, is depriving the players with true potential from ever reaching the very highest level.

"In our part of the world, it is a challenge to get parents to accept that not everyone can be a doctor or a lawyer, or whatever," said Jeramiah. "And sometimes supporting a child in a sport that they love may get them to excel to the max that they could in education.

"It's trying to get that balance, and to get them (parents) to understand, but it is truly a task.

"You cannot tell a parent that 'your child is not going to be a scholar', but it is about them understanding the potential of the individual and working with the potential."

Until that time comes, the chance of a Bermudian breaking into the top-100 ranked players in the world is very small. Especially as at the moment, there appears to be an unwillingness to even let talented young players try to make it in the world of tennis.

"The likelihood of it happening is very small," said Jeramiah. "There will be a few exceptions, be it in Bermuda, or one of the other Islands in the region.

"Players are given all the opportunities to explore their true potential, be it from the Government, the associations, or the parents, they have all the tools necessary to succeed, but at the end of the day the bottom line is always college.

"And until the culture changes, it will be very hard to get away from that. In places like America, or Europe, then players can do online schooling, and play more tennis and do less school, but there has to be a willingness to accept that, and it isn't there. And it's not going to change in the near future.

"There are the opportunities to do both (play tennis and have and education), but at some point, if you want to be the best, then you have to make that choice."

It isn't even a case of there not being enough talent in the region, said Jeramiah.

"It is frustrating, and I haven't yet learnt how to deal with it," he said.

"I have seen true potential, players who could be great, but then they get held back, or aren't fully committed because of such and such. At that stage there is nothing more you can do, but move on to the next person.

"I have seen players (on this Island) who had potential, who had the finances (to go to learn abroad), who had scouts who were interested, but ... Some day I hope someone breaks through the ice, and then hopefully other people will follow, but at the moment it doesn't look like that will happen any time soon."

Jeramiah may well have to learn to live with his frustration, as attitudes on the Island seem unlikely to change.

"You can't ignore the academic side," said El James, the Sports Minister.

"In all of our developmental programmes, coaching, in whatever discipline in sport, and academics go hand-in-hand. What we are saying is if we can develop them, then the rest of the world will educate them.

"They may not be scholars, but at least we will get them ready to, so that if they are good enough on the tennis court, their grades are good enough to get them into a university or college where they can compete at a certain level.

"We are using sport as a tool, to allow you to use that God-given ability that you have to help you become the best citizen that you can be. And that's an education in itself."

Jeramiah is on the Island as part of a four-day visit to get an update on tennis in Bermuda. And while he might not be able to change the culture overnight, he is hoping to get parents to take more of a back seat when it comes to their children's development.

"We want the parents to just be parents, and not parent/coaches," he said. Parents obviously want to see their children excel, but it needs the least amount of interference.

"For example; you're going to play a match, the parents are watching the match, the coach is giving you pressure on this match, because you need to perform.

"You go out there and you didn't do too bad, but you lost the match.

"You come off the court, you know you're coach is going to hit you for six, but (before he can) your parents come along and start having a go at you.

"The pressure from both sides is a little too much. So what we are trying to get the parents to do is just be the parent, be the support 'you played well, you can do better next time', because there needs to be a balance.

"The coach is going to say 'you should have done this, you should have done that', there is no sense in you getting it from both sides."