Continuing the theme of tournament play, Writhlington Tennis centre hosted three mini tournaments during half-term for the Under-10s. Our monthly Mini Red tournament was again split into two tournaments, one for the beginners and one for the improvers, with Matthew Harris and Theo Fletcher winning their respective tournaments. All played their best – notable performances were by Billy Nash, Hugh and Susannah Carruthers, Daniel Snow and Alfie Lindsay.
Next up during tournament week were the Mini Orange and the Mini Greens. Winner of the Green tournament was William Smith and the Orange was Samuel
Perryman, both go to school at Midsomer Norton Primary School. Tournament Organiser, Patrick Lodge, said: "Both boys played brilliantly in their respective tournaments, all credit to them for working hard in their training and putting it all to good practice in a tournament."
Finally, at the end of the week, it was the turn of the Malcolm Eglin Community Performance Squad to have a training morning, watched by the trustees who had travelled from London for the day to catch up with the training programmes and to discuss ongoing projects for the
Tennis Centre. Brother and sister duo, Ryan and Emma Guy, plus William Padfield, who all attend Writhlington School, are part of this performance squad, training up to five hours per week in the Tennis Centre. Tom Entwistle, Head Coach, said: "It is really important that these players work and train regularly so they can compete at the highest level. This is an individual sport, so they must be able to be independent and think through their on-court strategies whilst playing. This is a skill that is worked on regularly in their lessons."
New to the squad this year are ten-year-olds, Thomas Fletcher and J'quon Duvall-Richards. Both have been asked to join because of their hardworking attitude, their love and commitment to tennis and as talented players, it is important to nurture this talent so they become able to compete at the highest level.
Said trustee, Jeremy Ray: "We have been associated with Writhlington for seven years now and seen the excellent work the team do here to progress and develop the youngsters. It is even better to see previous Malcolm Eglin players now working with the new younger children to help them develop, with Alex Day (eighteen) and Hamish O'Mahony (sixteen) hitting with these young characters – the future for them is very positive."