The LTA, in partnership with GB Tennis Girls (GBTG) and the Wimbledon Junior Tennis Initiative (WJTI) saw participation once again increase in the events 4th year.
The introduction of the fun, local and competitive events in 2015 is aiming to tackle the gender split between those competing against their male counterparts, whilst sharing the lifelong skills tennis can bring.
The events continue to grow and 2018 increased to 73 players. This included, 20 teams with 24 players in the 8 & Under events. The 9 & Under Orange events saw a further 12 teams with 23 players competing. Organisers were also delighted to introduce the 10 & Under events this year, which was fab to see players moving up from the Orange events in 2017. The 10&U Green events saw 13 teams with 26 players.
Two venues hosted the Team Challenge events between January and April and were run by Claire Smith and Alison Cartmell respectively. The Tees Valley events were held at Durham University Queens Campus Sports Centre, Stockton, David Lloyd Teesside along with Tennis World, Middlesbrough, where Claire welcomed players representing David Lloyd Teesside, Durham Archery, Hutton Rudby, New Blackwell, Northallerton, Saltburn, Tennis World, and Yarm Tennis Clubs.
This was replicated at David Lloyd Newcastle where further teams competed in their respective events. This included players from Blaydon, Bohemians, Cramlington Community Tennis Partnership, Cullercoats, David Lloyd Newcastle, David Lloyd Sunderland, Forest Hall, Gosforth, Northumberland Club, Northumberland Tennis Academy and Ponteland were represented.
The events welcomed players, volunteer umpires and referees, with the hopes of encouraging younger girls to keep playing through positive role models. This is a key intervention to encourage girls to enjoy being around friends in a fun and relaxed environment and organiser Alison Cartmell was delighted with her respective events in Newcastle,
‘It was brilliant to introduce the 10 & Under event this year because its fab to see the girls continuing to enjoy their tennis and move through the age groups! Importantly the players really enjoyed the experience! It’s so rewarding to hear they want to play more and have made new friends along the journey!”
The conclusion of the 2018 league saw 8 Mini Red teams compete in the Mini Red, 5 in the Mini Orange and a further 6 in the Mini Green at the Regional Final, which took place at Sunderland Tennis Centre on Sunday March 25th.
Mini Red, Orange and Green Teams qualified into the final from Tees Valley and Newcastle respectively, and included Red and Green teams from Blaydon, Cramlington, David Lloyd Newcastle, Forest Hall, Gosforth, Northallerton, Northumberland Club, Ponteland and Yarm. The Mini Orange saw Blaydon, Cullercoats, David Lloyd Teesside and Tennis World compete against each other.
The Final was absolutely fantastic and you could see how much the girls had improved over the months by fully committing to their tennis including practicing and competing regularly.
In addition to the final competition, a fun interactive warm up and workshop took place where parents / grandparents and guardians played with balloons and shared the life skills tennis can bring such as social, wellbeing and feel good factors. For example, making friends, working with a team, commitment and improving your personal bests rather than focusing on winning!
Parents, grandparents and super fans watched a total of 40 Mini Red, 10 Mini Orange and 15 Green matches across the day! The girls played with smiles, fast feet and great sportsmanship, which helped provide everyone with entertaining tennis. Once all the matches had been concluded the final scores were totalled and the final positions are highlighted below,
Mini Red
- Northumberland Club (Northumberland)
- Blaydon (Gateshead)
- Blaydon (Gateshead)
- Northallerton (North Yorkshire)/ David Lloyd Teeside (Stockton)
- Northallerton (North Yorkshire)
- Cullercoats (North Tyneside)
Mini Orange
- Sunderland Tennis Centre / David Lloyd Sunderland (Sunderland)
- David Lloyd Teesside (Stockton) / Durham Archery (Durham)
- Collingwood (North Tyneside) 4 = David Lloyd Teesside (Stockton) 4 = Blaydon (Gateshead)
Mini Green
- David Lloyd Newcastle (Newcastle)
- Cramlington CTP (Northumberland)
- Tennis World (Middlesborough)
- David Lloyd Newcastle (Northumberland)
- Yarm (North Yorkshire)
- Bohemians (Newcastle)
All the girls were eager to keep learning and enjoying their tennis with the upcoming summer season. Jo Cunliffe (Regional Tennis Participation Manager) was delighted with this year’s event,
“To see the girls enjoying competing and making friends along the way is one of the most rewarding things to witness. The social side of tennis is one of the most important reasons that keeps people playing the game, and we hope the GB Tennis Girls Mini Team Challenge, with the support of the Wimbledon Junior Tennis Initiative sees them enjoying the sport for the rest of their lives!”