The team had 2 practices prior to the U9 county cup event. 6 boys and 4 girls were invited along to the practices where the team was then narrowed down to 3 boys and 3 girls. For 5 members of the team it was their first experience of representing the county.
The format is completely different to any other county cup event. The boys and girls can both contribute to the outcome of each match. Derbyshire were up against Cheshire, Lancashire and Yorkshire in a round robin format. Derbyshire began the day against Cheshire. Morgan Hodgson and Millie Standen both lost narrowly at the number one positions. Poppy Baker was unfortunate to lose a close match at number two, Popper had set points in the first set. Both Will Hawkins and Josh Lee lost in the other boys singles after showing great determination against strong opponents. In the last singles against Cheshire, Laura Monk was only competing in her second orange competition and narrowly lost in three close sets. The team lost all three doubles which made the result 9-0 to Cheshire.
The team didn’t have long to wait to get rid of the disappointment of losing to Cheshire. Next up for Derbyshire was Yorkshire, another strong county. The team started to perform up to their own standards in the second match. Yorkshire were 5-1 up after the singles, but the score didn’t reflect the matches. Morgan and Millie both lost in 3 sets. Will, Poppy and Laura showed great fighting spirit against strong opponents. The most notable performance was from Josh Lee who was a set and 5 love down before turning it around and winning in a close 3rd set. Millie and Morgan teamed up to win the mixed doubles comfortably in straight sets. Derbyshire lost both the girls and boys doubles which meant the score finished up 7-2 to Yorkshire.
Last up for Derbyshire was Lancashire, they were gunning for the title and expecting Derbyshire to roll over. We saved our best team performance till last. Morgan, Josh and Will all won their singles with some unbelievable tennis. The girls didn’t fair so well with all three of them losing out. Lancashire managed to win the girls doubles, boys doubles and mixed doubles which meant Derbyshire lost 6-3 to Lancashire.
The team showed great heart and fighting spirit throughout the day especially in a tough group with big counties. This event will have been a eye opener for all of the players and will be a good bench mark for the future, no doubt this event will have given them valuable experience and hopefully they will continue to develop as tennis players. The county has a bright future with some great youngsters coming through. Also, I would like to thank Diane for her contribution on the day.
Simon Thornewill