Junior tennis players have a ball

Matthew Lee | 2nd July 2009

GYMPIE'S Reg English Tennis Centre was awash with junior tennis players on Tuesday.

Prue Townsend-Webb returns a serve.

Renee Pilcher

GYMPIE'S Reg English Tennis Centre was awash with junior tennis players on Tuesday as the Gympie and District Tennis Association conducted yet another successful Junior Holiday Fun Tournament.

Gympie and District Tennis Association coaches Brett Cottrill and Matthew Watkins were in charge of running the day, which saw approximately 40 players taking to the courts between 9am to 1pm.

A change from previous holiday tournaments was the inclusion of players from Tin Can Bay and Imbil.

Cottrill said having the additional players taking part enhanced the day.

“It's good to have the kids from the other clubs here today because they can mix with some new kids and make some new friendships,” he said.

Participants ranged from beginners through to advanced players, including age groups from seven right up to 16.

While the older players competed in round robin events, the younger players participated in skills sessions.

Cottrill said the skills sessions focused on improving the abilities of the young players, and were broken down into varying levels.

“We have six levels in total for the younger players still learning the basics of the game,” he said.

“It really just ranges from modified tennis (where the rules are simplified to accommodate the learning process) through to real tennis.”

The popular Gympie coach also said another aim of the day was to encourage kids make the leap from coaching into competition.

“It gives a lot of the kids a chance to play,” he said.

“It's a bit odd to get coaching in a sport and not be able to put (it) into practice, so, hopefully, a lot of kids will look at playing fixtures here as well.”

For those who missed out on Tuesday's session, and players eager to return for more tennis fun, another is planned for today starting at 9am.