THE idea of healthy eating and cutting down on fizzy pop might sound like a nightmare for most 10-year-olds but that is exactly what budding tennis ace Emily Egan-Morriss must put up with.

Emily, who is a pupil at Bolton School, has been selected to join the LTA Futures Programme, after impressing top coaches Mark Cox and Sue Rich at a recent tennis roadshow at Bolton Arena.

She has been playing the sport for three years and is a member at Markland Hill, although she also trains at Bolton Arena and South Ribble. She has also represented Lancashire in her age group.

Emily was selected along with 20 other tennis hopefuls to join the LTA scheme which will involve a series of three-day camps at the national training centre at Bisham Abbey, Buckinghamshire for specialist training.

But her mum Elaine admitted there is plenty of work to do before she even joins up - and that means healthy living and healthy eating.

She said: "There are all kinds of guidelines we have to follow on what exercise she should be getting and upon what she can and cannot eat.

"But she is quite fortunate from that point of view because her favourite foods are pasta and jacket potatoes and that helps her to be lean and athletic. I don't think she will mind the restrictions because she just wants to do well in tennis.

"She likes staying away from home for tournaments across the country, but the time at Bisham Abbey involves a lot of fitness tests and will be very intensive."