The Leigh & Westcliff LTA, in conjunction with the Lawn Tennis Association [East Area], hosted the first Junior Tennis Challenge Tournament Event on Sunday 30th April 2017. The event was hosted by Leigh Road Baptist LTC and Invicta LTC on behalf of the Leigh & Westcliff LTA and the LTA East Area.
The Junior Tennis Challenge was designed for the ‘Starter-Improver’ player to give these players an initial taste of competitive play in a very much ‘FUN TYPE’ environment. All affiliated Clubs to the L & W LTA were invited to enter team[s] into the event with up to 6 players in a team, multiple club teams were welcomed. The age of all players entering the event was between 11-14 years of age. A ‘Green Intermediate’ tennis ball was used for the event, the purpose of using this type of tennis ball was to assist the playing audience in improving their rallying skills.
Entries were received from Garons LTC, Thorpe Bay LTC, Wickford LTC, Westcliff Hardcourts LTC, 1 team and boys and 1 team of girls & Rayleigh LTC. The Event started at 1230 & completed at 1630. There were 33 Players entering the event. Each player received a Player Certificate with each Team receiving a Group Coaching Voucher for use at their Clubs which was sponsored by the L & W LTA.
The Event was run using a ‘Whistle Stop’ principle, timed at 10 minutes per match using a ‘Continual Tye-Break’ method of scoring which kept all players involved for the duration of the event with as much play as possible. All the competing players had a great time.
The winners of the Event were the Boys and Girls from Wickford LTC, who beat Rayleigh LTC by 4 points. The event was played in a good competitive spirit by all players concerned. There was considerable support from the Parents of the players and they provided healthy applause and support for the complete afternoon’s tennis.
The JTC was organised and refereed on the day by Lesley and Ian Pitt, who are our most experienced local Southend Area Tennis Referees. This ensured a smooth, well run tournament on the day, which is most important when embarking on any new tennis tournament venture.
The L & W LTA were represented by Lynn May who assisted with court supervision and on-court match scoring. Nigel & Patrick Milner represented Leigh Road Baptist LTC in respect of venue organisation, car parking, photography and most importantly the catering for the players and parents. With all this much valued support it made my involvement very easy as the person responsible for the L & W LTA Junior Section. A big thank you to all the organisers involved.
The principle of a single afternoon event was well received by both players and parents alike. Junior League Tennis has been in decline for some years now due to the pressures of getting players to the Match Venues. It was therefore most encouraging that this type of event fitted so much more successfully with all concerned. It is our intention to arrange a further event towards the end of the Summer 2017 Tennis Season.
