Despite the weather finally turning a little more Wintry, the programme of junior competition at Heron Tennis in Newquay continues, and this weekend was a particularly busy one with events taking place at Mini Red, Mini Orange and Mini Green levels.
In the Red event, which is for children aged 8 & under, there were 13 players from all over the County taking part. Event organiser, Paul Roberts explained to the players and parents at the start that the main objectives of the day were for everyone to have as much fun as possible whilst also practicing their tactics, keeping score and playing to the rules. Every single one of the players did a fantastic job and these objectives were definitely achieved.
With tennis being a one-on-one sport it can, unfortunately, very easily become too pressurised if parents are not very careful, especially at this young age, but praise and thanks is due to all of the parents and supporters, who all played their part in making the whole event such a pleasant and enjoyable experience for the players and the organiser.
Although the event was chiefly about getting valuable match practice, there were some notable performances that warrant an extra mention. Young Ruben Mudd played fantastically well and despite some very close tussles managed to win every single one of his 5 matches, a great effort. Amongst the girls the competition was even tighter with 3 of the girls each winning 3 of their matches. This meant that we had to do a countback on points conceded and this resulted in Heron’s Annie Watson being the girl’s overall champ.
The final special mention goes to Blake, another youngster on Heron’s tennis programme who is only 5 but already showing great promise and even greater enthusiasm for playing and competing and the effort he put into all his matches was fantastic.
The day was rounded off with some further exciting action as parents and children teamed up for some quick-fire fun doubles competition. All in all a lovely day of tennis.
The older age group events were run on the Saturday and with the gale force Northerly winds sweeping across the courts, event organiser Matthew Trudgeon had a busy afternoon squeezing all the matches into the indoor courts, but without a doubt the quality of tennis that was able to be played was of a far higher standard and far more enjoyable than it would have been struggling against the wind and cold outside.
In the 9 and unders there were further successes for Heron players with both Archie Mallett and Will Hare doing brilliantly well to win all four of their matches, despite a very strong field of 10 players. Great results for them both and it’s nice to see their hard work and practice is paying off.
In the 10 and unders there was no doubt about the star of the show as Heron’s Joseph Laidlaw won all of his matches without dropping a single game. Joseph is another player who can be found practising almost every day of the week and it’s really nice to see him enjoying the success he deserves.