Writhlington Tennis Centre has had a great couple of weeks with its talented and gifted players. Head Coach, Tom Entwistle, has been the driving force behind these young people wanting to play their best, compete at the highest level and enjoy the sport they are passionate about. A few of our players are on county duty or are of a high enough standard to reach National Finals.

Firstly, Joe Blakeley, a Year 11 student at Writhlington School, competed last weekend for Wiltshire County

U-18s. He played very well and contributed to the team win. Joe has recently moved up to a 3.1 rated player and is looking forward to a very

demanding summer of tennis after his GCSEs.

Our second and most hard-working player is fourteen-year-old Callum Silkstone, who attends St Gregory's School, Bath. Callum trains at Writhlington and was called up at short notice by Avon County U-18s to take part in their matches being held in North Wales. Although Callum played only one match, this was a great induction for the fourteen-year-old, who has many years left to play in this difficult and

demanding U-18 age group.

Our third and youngest player, ten-year-old J'quon Duvall-Richards, who attends Trinity School, Radstock, went to the National Tennis Centre, London, with his mum, Jenna, to complete in the National Nike Under-10 Finals. He played some outstanding tennis, supported by his Coach, Tom Entwistle, who travelled up to London for the day. J'quon was runner-up in the consolation final, having been beaten by the number two seed in the main draw. Trinity School, Headteacher, Pepe Hart, says: "Jay is an inspiration to all of us! He is a gifted and talented player, who pushes and challenges himself to be the best that he can be. Jay respects the adults who believe in him and for us, this has been easy as there is a lot to believe in Jay. He has seen that with perseverance, determination and continuous hard work, you can achieve anything if you want it!"

Finally, our talented and gifted Year 11 player, Eleanor Nobbs, who attends Norton Hill School, competed in the National Under-12 Girls

Finals at Bath University during half-term. This was her first year at this level and even though she did not win any of her matches, the standard is so high, that for Eleanor even to be in the draw was a huge achievement. Mandy Stonier, Head of Tennis at Writhlington, said: "We are very proud of all of our young people who train so hard and especially want to thank the parents who spend hours supporting their children and driving them round to the various tournaments." ?