Halton Tennis Centre hosted a primary schools tennis festival on Saturday 14 January, with pupils competing from Aston Clinton School, Haresfoot School (Berkhamsted) Halton and Weston Turville.
The Halton coaching team have been running after school clubs in several local primary schools in the area and the festival was a chance for the children to put into practice all they had learnt over the last few months. There were 6 teams (all named after well-known tennis brands) with 27 children competing on the indoor courts at Halton, displaying some great team spirit – the players encouraging each other and cheering on their teams.
All the teams competed against each other and the players won points for their team for each match won. The runners-up were Team Wilson from Haresfoot School – Alex Kessell-Holland, Polly Hall, Louis Priggen, Clementine Waterhouse, Elizabeth Lapthorne and the winners were Team Adidas from Aston Clinton – Matthew Hoinbille, Jake Houghton, Oliver Wallis, Tom Pendlebury and Oliver Richards. Special medals were also awarded to Suzy Hewson (Sportsmanship award); Jake Houghton (Performer of the day) and Lily Bridgeman (Worker of the day).
The afternoon was a great success, summed up by one of the parents: “It was a really good event today, especially for the children who haven't done matches before - they all went away full of confidence.....Thank you, as always, to all at Halton who made it happen, it was much appreciated by children and parents.”
James Morgan, Head coach at Halton Tennis Club and the Everyball International Academy, added, ‘We had a fantastic day, it was great to see so many children and their families from the local area. The idea behind the festival was to build on the momentum generated within the school and to introduce the pupils to competition.
The schools will proudly display their position on the leader board at their school and will return to Halton after Easter to take part again.
Any school interested in entering a team for the next festival for pupils in years 3-6 are encouraged to call James on 01296 623453.