Players arrived Friday for practice and were forced off the courts earlier than expected as a shower of rain scared them away.

The weekend though brought everyone out and Saturday saw 151 matches completed in both singles and doubles events with the players aged from 9yrs through to 16yrs competing in 12s, 14s and 16s.

Sunday saw 149 matches hard fought with players from Queensland, Victoria, ACT, Sydney and Regional NSW all trying their best to get the results they desire.

Monday saw just 68 matches scheduled but quite a few were turnaround matches with some players having a possible 6 matches if they kept winning plus a compulsory half hour break between matches.

Consequently even though the final match was scheduled for 2pm, the tournament finished at almost 7pm.

The singles results were split between City and Country with the Girls titles going to Sydney, Gold Coast and Canberra while the Boys winners were from Merimbula, Gunnedah and Newcastle.

A huge thank you to the Tennis families who contributed some delicious baking, helped out on the canteen, provided eggs for the barbeque or worked on the barbeque.

At most of the Metro tournaments it is just a vending machine and players have to go off site to source food so to show the visiting families how we operate in the Country was an overwhelming positive experience for them.

There were also 12 competent tennis literate men and women who gave their time during the weekend to help with court monitoring.

This is not always the easiest job monitoring matches and behaviours and advising when courts are complete but without these people volunteering their time, the tournament cannot run as this is a requirement by Tennis Australia and these people kept both players and parents in order throughout the weekend.

Also quite a few people on the Committee were experiencing their first Junior Tour Tournament and they all stood tall.

It was a huge TEAM effort and when a group of volunteers with different abilities, talents, experiences and backgrounds come together for a shared purpose, the Tournament’s positive feedback certainly proved they can succeed.

Finally to Parkes Services Club who continue to acknowledge the great work Parkes Tennis are undertaking for our members and the Community at large and to have their support to be able to run the event as professional as possible is a huge bonus.

Dates for 2019 have been released and Parkes Services Club Junior Open will be held on September 7-9.

This Thursday will see the annual Todd Woodbridge Cup zone carnival in Parkes. 

Holy Family have been the front runners with enthusiasm and Mr Berger has organised three teams to be involved in the day. 

This gives 26 students in total the opportunity to experience red ball competition in years three and four.

Some of these boys and girls have never played tennis before but are relishing the opportunity to be active and outdoors for the morning.

Parkes Public, Middleton, Parkes East, Forbes Public, Manildra Public and Bogan Gate Public will also be involved in the day with one team each and a combined Manildra/Bogan Gate Team.

When this article went to print Parkes Christian School students were hopeful of a start.

Potentially three teams will progress to the Regional Finals in Canowindra in November.

Last year both Parkes Public and Holy Family progressed to the State finals in Sydney where Parkes Public finished runner-up in NSW.

These days are entry level into the completion and is primarily about exposing students to red ball tennis in a fun and non-threatening manner. 

For more information about the competition visit www.tennis.com.au/act/schools/anz-tennis-hot-shots-region-gala-days.

Week seven this week and can’t believe how fast the term is going. 

A mix of both forehands and backhands this week is the focus and their rallying and racquet control with associated skills. 

With the final week of the program next week it is a good idea to keep up some practise during the holidays. 

You can hire a court through D’Aquinos in Dalton St and if they use Red, Orange or Green balls for their tennis, they can borrow some to use for practise.

On October 9-11, Parkes are hosting a Tennis Australia Community Coaching Course. 

This course is open to anyone who would like to learn more about tennis for children aged four years-12 years and the learning through play philosophy. 

 You can also learn skills to teach HotShots tennis in schools and at Clubs. 

Targeted groups are players, teachers, uni students, parents, volunteers. Participants must be aged from 15 years. 

For more information please contact Helen Magill on 0407 253 888 or email helenmagill@bigpond.com