40 youngsters from across County Durham were inspired by Laura Robson to have their moment to shine in Sunderland!
The Tony Blair Sports Foundation (TBSF) Year 3 Tennis Challenge Cup took place June 26th at Sunderland Tennis Centre where schools from County Durham had qualified from earlier rounds.
With smiles beaming, enthusiasm buzzing and determination rocking the players did not disappoint. There were 3 hours of focused, fun and incredibly close matches and Tennis Factory activities throughout the morning. This was proved because it was hard to accept there would only be 2 out of the 5 teams who would qualify for the TBSF Regional Final on July 12th.
There were 120 matches that took place and our fantastic volunteers from Framwellgate School umpired them exceptionally well. All spectators complimented on how well the umpires had done, which was difficult at times because some of the rallies went on for 25 shots plus!
Following on from the matches was the fast and furious Tennis Factory activities with the girls and boys teams on opposite sides of the full size tennis court. Young people often inspire those who are lucky enough to witness events like this and their continued unwavering determination saw ball cans being knocked over, balls flying through the volley ladder and zillions of rallies on the rebound and mini micro net!
Once the Tennis Factory activities had been concluded all the teams had a bonus 'Sandwich' race that saw all teams battling against each other across the courts with their quadruple sandwiches made from tennis rackets and balls!
The presentation was then made and the results are as follows,
1st - St Mary Magdalen's
2nd - St Margaret's
3rd - St Williams
4th - Bishop Ian Ramsey
5th - Cestria Primary
Special thanks must go to the volunteers from Framwellgate School and their teacher Mr Beveridge. The LTA / Tennis Foundation have formed a solid partnership with the school, which looks at training the young people and enabling them to gain a tonne of experience by running their own school events and then getting involved in competitions such as the Tony Blair Sports Foundation Challenge Cup. All of the youngsters become members of the TBSF, which gives them a great stepping stone into coaching and a pathway to continuing to learn and develop.
Further thanks must also go to the teachers, schools, parents and organiser Lucy Scott who ran the event brilliantly!
As Jo Cunliffe highlighted,
"I have never seen such focus and fun from 40 players in my experience of running the Tony Blair Sports Foundation Tennis Challenge Cup. The youngsters all highlighted some of the things that would make them shine throughout the event when asked at the beginning and they certainly ticked all of them at the competition! Awesome times indeed and we hope the young players will continue playing tennis in their local programmes!
We are looking forward to seeing St Mary Magdalen's and St Margaret's at the Grand Final in a couple of weeks and really excited about the players 'pinky' promising to continue playing tennis at local Places to Play!"