Mini-Tennis Orange Ball Tournament - 7 May 2017 May 08 2017, 18 Comments

Anyone For Tennis held a Mini-Tennis Orange Ball Tournament last Sunday (7 May 2017), which proved to be a huge success with 20 players made up of both girls and boys with ages ranging from seven to ten years old.

The tournament was divided up into four groups of five players, guaranteeing all players a minimum of four matches, with group winners qualifying for the semi-final stage. Congratulations to all players for entering in what was for many, their first ever tennis tournament.

Special congratulations to our four semi finalists: Francesco, Ryan, Agastya and Shantel.

The final was played out between Agastya and Ryan, it was Ryan who was victorious claiming the win in a closely fought encounter, in what was his first ever tennis tournament.

Ryan has been taking lessons weekly with myself (Coach Sam B) since January 2017 and has shown good improvement both technically and tactically. Crucially, he arrives on court with the right attitude required to improve.

One of the things I found most satisfying was to see the players on court and truly enjoying their tennis and embracing the experience.

The tournament offered the players an opportunity to put into practice what they have been working on during their tennis lessons, see the level of the other children around their age and also reflect on their own performances.

It is important to state at this stage in their tennis development that results are not the be-all and end-all. Ensuring that these children have a good experience in tennis and good memories from playing tennis is far more likely to yield long-term participation in tennis and offer increased motivation to practice and improve further, so that they can really maximise their potential.

Special thanks to my colleague, Coach Jorge, who was instrumental in running this successful tournament together with me. His efforts are very much appreciated.

Also special thanks to all the parents who willing gave up their Sunday afternoon to travel over to the East for this tournament! 

 

Yours in Sport,

Coach Sam B