Well hasn’t it been a great summer of tennis in Australia and it’s not finished yet.
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While the temperatures have been scorching and not really conducive to tennis in our neck of the woods, the action all across Australia has been sizzling.
Great to see some of our younger players making breakthroughs over the past month. Names most wouldn’t have heard of including Alex Bolt, Alexei Popyrin, Kim Birrell and Astra Sharma.
These players have been toiling around on different pathways to try to make their mark on the professional tennis scene either through Challenger or Pro Tour Events(one level down), US College tennis(on scholarship and getting a degree whilst playing college tennis) or relocating to Europe to train(with 1000s of other hopefuls in Tennis Academies).
Tennis Australia deserve credit for giving wildcards to Bolt, Popyrin and Sharma to give them the opportunity for not only an amazing experience on home soil but a boost to their bank accounts to help them follow their programs for 2019.
Birrell meanwhile gained her wildcard through the Australian Wildcard process where the top 16 ranked women who would not have direct entry into the maindraw from their rankings, play off with the winner guaranteed a place in the main draw.
For their efforts Bolt, Popyrin and Birrell will all receive $155k for losing in the third round.
A final shout out to Aussie Ash Barty. Today she plays Petra Kvitova in the quarter finals and she is not only a very clever tennis player but an outstanding human.
Ash is certainly a fine role model to girls and boys in all sports on how to behave before during and after competition. GO ASH!
Sydney International
On the local front Parkes families enjoyed many different activities at the Sydney International during the first week in January. Over 120 people travelled to the event on various days.
Abbey Kennedy, Nia Boggs, Maddy and Lily McCormick all enjoyed being ballkids for the first time. They had some late nights with the weather delays and Abbey and Nia were lucky enough to enjoy their time on centre court.
Unfortunately for Maddy and Lily, their scheduled centre court times were when the matches were delayed due to the rain.
Thursday saw Anna and Lachlan Orr along with Jono and Thomas Wilkinson have an amazing time playing on centre court as part of the ANZHotShots Kinds on Court promotion.
A beaut initiative from Tennis Australia across all the States lead-in tournaments to encourage grassroots tennis.
They had a tour under Ken Rosewall Arena along the players ‘tunnel of fame’ eyeing off the trophy cabinets as well as around the complex. Through the stringing room, the gym, media area, players lounge and tournament desk the kids wandered, eyes wide open and soaking in all they could.
Their time on court was loads of fun and their families seemed even more excited about the whole experience. Friday was a real treat for Parkes families. With over 80 in the group it was a huge day which started with a Red Ball Schools competition.
Great to see teachers from Parkes Christian School and Holy Family School in Miss Barrass and Mr Berger acknowledge what an opportunity this would be for their students and followed through with an application.
Both schools were notified mid December they were successful and teams were formed. Lachlan Unger, Ruby Wilson, Jack Greenland and Clare Amery made the Christian School Team while Hayden Arndell, Sam Westcott, Tarlei Glastonbury and Charlotte Baird represented Holy Family managed by Mr McDonald.
They enjoyed matches against other schools from across NSW including another far regional team from Ungarie Public. Picton Public School was the winners on the day while the Christian School defeated Holy Family in the playoff for third and fourth.
While the school teams participated Coach Helen Magill had organised to give the parents total respite and take all the siblings for a special Tour(visiting all the places as above on Thursday) and then those siblings under 12 years were treated to a Kids on Court session playing on Ken Rosewall Arena and then finally making a guard of honour for Ash Barty as she came on for her semi final against Elise Mertens.
An extensive album of photos and videos are on Parkes Tennis Facebook Page.
Something which can’t be measured is how much Country kids and families appreciate experiences like these days that money can’t buy. All the Parkes families were so appreciative, Tennis Australia Media team decided they would like to give them another treat and they organised for Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares(doubles champions) to meet-n-greet the group.
The kids were all so excited even though they had no idea who these men were. After the session the media team called Helen again and commented that was the best Player Meet session they had had all week and could they get some interviews with some the kids about their experience at Sydney International.
Of course they could and low and behold when the Parkes group met again and were asked who wanted to do an interview, they all put their hand up. A single file ensued in front of all the spectators watching the big screen and one by one the Tennis Australia media team interviewed everyone.
They then took some footage of them playing, went in KRA and videoed them watching a match and organised for a further Meet-n-greet with Diego Swartzmann if he won the semi final(he lost). Finally they asked could one of our players toss the coin for the Womens Doubles Final.
The task was made easy when Helen gave media a ‘lucky number’ and all the players had to choose between 1-50. Ethan Hunt guessed exactly(43) and beamed with excitement as he headed to Show Court 1 to perform his duties.
Always so nice to see our kids and their families thoroughly enjoying different experiences through tennis and when they are received so well and show their appreciation to those around them, everyone’s a winner.
Also during the week at the Sydney International there were daily morning workshops before the start of play to educate and network different sectors of tennis. Brendon and Sharon Hunt attended a Clubs Masterclass Session talking about ways Clubs.
Councils and Coaches can work better in synergy to grow the sport while Alison McCormick and Caroline Kennedy attended a Tournament Director and Officials Workshop talking through the challenges of tournament player behaviours and working through child and volunteer protection strategies.
Local Tennis for term one
Tennis in Parkes will kick off on Monday, February 11 with ANZHotShots. HotShots tennis is Australia’s official development program for girls and boys aged four-12 years. Especially designed scaled equipment and low compression balls linked with fun and interesting sessions are the success of this program.
ANZHotShots involves half hour sessions and has been specifically designed for 4-12 year age group with a distinct emphasis on fun, fitness and skill development with their philosophy of ‘Learning through Play’ whilst providing a progressive pathway for all players.
The coach to player ratio is 1:4 so there is plenty of individual attention for EVERY child. The eight week program is $100 and includes a FREE racquet and t-shirt and a chance to be the 2019 Australian ANZHotShot of the Year and win a trip to the 2020 Australian Open.
Active Kids Vouchers are accepted-www.service.nsw.gov.au/transaction/apply-active-kids-voucher.
There will also be the opportunity for private lessons. All of our coaches have successfully completed their Community Coaching Courses and are excited to take on some private lessons as well as HotShots this year. They are available throughout the week and on Saturdays.
Squads will also be a factor this year to continue to encourage a team culture and hopefully get to a few more tournaments and match play days in 2019.
All enquiries are welcome for any junior activities through Helen Magill either email- helenmagill@bigpond.com or SMS or phone- 0407 253 888.
Senior Competition
The Senior Competition will start on Tuesday, February 12. The comp is a great way to meet some people and socialise while getting some exercise over a two hour period. Teams consisting of three players playing one set of singles and two sets of doubles each week using two courts is the format.
Start time-7pm and finish approximately 9pm. Cost is $10/week. Team entries preferred but will accept individual entries and place into teams where possible. Standard is mixed with Line 1 being predominantly competent players, Line 2 casual players and Line 3 developing players or hackers.
Teams may consist of more than three players and rotate throughout the comp as they see fit with shift workers in mind. Entries to Helen by February 8.
Social Tennis
Tuesday morning ladies take to the court from 8.30am-11am. These ladies are of all standards and would love some new members to their ranks. They enjoy a social game and a chat and a little exercise as well.
Saturday evenings from 6.30pm is mixed social tennis and similar to the ladies on Tuesday mornings, this group enjoys a fun hit, a cuppa and plenty of socialising. All welcome and just turn up.
Parkes Tennis Treasurer Brendon Hunt has been developing a webpage so people can register online and keep up to date with all information.
The online regos will hopefully be ready for term two competitions while other tennis information is complete. This will enhance people’s knowledge and engagement of tennis activities and will run in addition to the very active Parkes Tennis Facebook page.
The Ace’s column will still continue every week as it’s great to have so much positive feedback from not only the community and local families, but from expats and families across the globe on how much they enjoy reading the stories on all things tennis. Media platforms have come a long way in such a short time haven’t they?