Having underlined their great potential by winning the Lionel Cox Tournament a few weeks ago, our Under 10 Girls’ team of Kylie Bilchev, Sophia Khalyaeva and Harriet Petley did the county proud last weekend in the nationwide Aegon National Inter-County Cup competition. Such was their superiority that having beaten Bedfordshire in a tough opening encounter 6-2, they demolished Cambridge, Essex and Norfolk without dropping any other rubbers, comfortably reaching the National Final on the weekend of June 16 and 17th.
Coach Ben Roberts-Law was understandably very proud of his team’s performance, and made this comment, “ This was a fantastic victory in a tough group under difficult conditions.” Unfortunately our Boys’ squad were unable to match this performance, William Garland forced to withdraw from the team with injury on the opening day, and being replaced by Zvonko Bencedic. The side put in plenty of effort, losing narrowly to Essex and Norfolk on the Sunday, Travis Ireland recording two impressive singles victories.
These players have all come through the tried and trusted route of mini tennis, and it may be of interest that next week, June 11th to 17th is National Mini Tennis Week. Although are Boys are performing quite well in the French Open Junior Singles, it must be a worry that we had no girls in the draw, and there remains a great need for participation and massively increasing the numbers taking up the beautiful game. To this end the LTA have recently developed All Play and Places to Play, and the Christchurch Park tennis initiative is a great example of just what can be done to attract more people to enjoy tennis as their sport.
The Christchurch Park Tennis programme is growing rapidly. Since its launch, over 500 players have signed up and registered, with over 30 children currently playing in the weekly programme. The low cost tennis on the newly refurbished courts is available to all ages, with the FREE Saturday session proving very popular, with over 25 children regularly attending as well as some 30 adults. All attendees should register at the park website, www.ipswichparktennis.co.uk, and then they just need to get down to the Park, with balls and racquets supplied.
The organisers are currently planning to run fun cardio sessions at the park for just £1-00, so watch the website for more details ! The latest heart rate monitors and watches will check just how many calories are being burnt off, but the main idea is to have fun by hitting a few balls around and playing along to music. Strong links are being created with local schools in the area, the first after school club at Dale Hall seeing 32 4-7 year olds being introduced to the game for a small fee. FREE curriculum hours are being offered to schools to improve their PE time by generating interest in tennis and keeping active !
Head Coach Danny Wyatt has been going round to schools to offer fun days and interactive assemblies to encourage regular participation in low cost or FREE tennis. The Summer holidays will be a fantastic time to play tennis, what with Wimbledon and the Olympics, and camps will be running weekly, from 9am to 12pm, Monday to Friday. The Olympic torch will be coming through the park on 5th July, which will be a great time for everyone to come down and play some tennis and enjoy the very special atmosphere. To join Parks Tennis for free go to the website www.ipswichparktennis.co.uk or visit twitter @parktennis, or e-mail on : coaching @ipswichparktennis.co.uk.
If desired, players can be signposted to a club in their area, where aspiring players can take up appropriate coaching and competitive opportunities. Because of its geographical nature, Suffolk boasts over 50 clubs of a very diverse nature. There are plenty of Places to Play, some far more prominent than others, and next week we will be taking a look at a Tennis club hidden away in Felixstowe, and another which is typical of the many rural clubs that can be found throughout the county, many of them providing great opportunities for their members, but some fighting to survive, especially in the current economic climate.