Good entries have been received for the mini tennis competitions which are now getting underway. In addition to the mini red Boys, Girls and Mixed events organised by SSTA, there will also be the annual mini red mixed for children who are relatively new to tennis and who have not received any formal tennis coaching, run by Ali Furlong. Competitions are also being run county wide in the following mini tennis categories :-
Mini Orange : Boys, Girls + Mixed teams from Year 5 and under
In addition there is a Premier League for Boys + Girls in Year 6 and under for more experienced players, run by Tip Flory and Richard Daynes.
Impressive entries have also been received for the 2 divisions of the Aegon Schools’ Tennis leagues which are being organised for Boys and Girls in Years 8 and 10. Richard Smith, Sarah Rafferty, Sarah Rimmer, Tujan Sari and John Yorke are the organisers, with County Finals at various venues in June. Ali Furlong will also be organising an event for Years 7 + 8 children who are new to competitive tennis, and many of these youngsters will be competing for their districts in the annual Suffolk Youth Games at Bury on Sunday 10th July.
As part of a busy and vibrant programme, the indefatigable Pam Rogers ran the annual inter-schools’ doubles tournament for senior girls at Woodbridge School last weekend, and this Sunday sees the first of the School Singles competitions being staged at the Royal Hospital School and run by Gill Fewkes. There are categories at 18U, 16U, 14U and 12U levels, the Boys’ events this Sunday and the Girls competing in a week’s time on May 22nd.
The Ella Wood inter-school competition for Primary Schools will be run at he David Lloyd Tennis Centre on Saturday 2nd July by the hard-working schools’ supporter Kathy Martin, and Holbrook Primary School have reported some highly successful in-house tennis competitions. The youngest children enjoyed tennis skills, with the older children playing mini red, orange and green ball matches, with the children earning points for their team, and individual winner and runner-up certificates for each year group, the Blue team emerging as champions and a running score throughout the term creating great excitement and interest in the game.
Schools’ tennis is absolutely crucial for the development of the game in this country, and hopefully some of these aspiring youngsters will take up tennis more seriously in the years ahead, ending up competing successfully in the Aegon National Club League, as are the unbeaten squad representing the Ipswich Sports Club. Proving that their initial 4-3 victory over David Lloyd Raynes Park was no fluke, they rose to the occasion again yesterday with an even more impressive 5-1 home victory over Bromley.
Without wanting to get carried away, this has been a really dynamic start to their campaign in the top division, and who knows what might be achieved if the Henley Road side maintain this level of performance. Serb Novak Djokovic is showing the tennis world just what can be achieved with total self-belief and confidence !! Let’s hope Ipswich will be well supported when they take on mighty Sutton at home this Sunday, looking for further success.