The first Junior Development weekend took place on June 2nd and 3rd. Thirteen juniors, five girls and eight boys aged between 11 and 15, participated in 2 days of clinics and doubles match play.
The weekend started Saturday morning with basic skills sessions for juniors with little or no court tennis experience. After lunch, more advanced juniors participated in various court tennis drills. Head Professional Ivan Ronaldson and Assistant Professional James Greenley oversaw these. The afternoon session concluded with some doubles match play. The afternoon session seemed to be a big hit, and most of the juniors stayed together and continued having fun at the swimming pool following the day’s tennis session.
The juniors were separated into two groups on Sunday. In the morning, six juniors participated in a handicapped Doubles Round Robin event. The competitors took the event seriously, and all the matches were tight. A reflection on Ivan’s experience. His assessment of who should play with who was spot on. The winners of the Round Robin were Jack Morrison (12) and Gregor Bernhard (13). Jack and Gregor started in December 2022 and have been regular attendees at the weekly junior clinics. After lunch, the pros were back on the court with the newer juniors, including more drills and an explanation of the basic rules. As always, watching new juniors play games for the first time was exciting. I am sure many of us can still remember being overwhelmed at our first attempt on the court.
Time will tell if the Junior Development weekend attracts more families to the Court Tennis community, but I am very optimistic. The juniors seemed to enjoy the experience, and most have been back on the court playing matches and attending clinics. Since the Junior Development weekend, I have noticed more new junior names on the booking sheet. When I recently sat down with Ivan to look at the number of active juniors and those showing a keen interest, we created a list of 21 juniors. The word is spreading at Westwood and aims to keep the active juniors playing and add more juniors to the program.
This summer, for Westwood in particular but not limited, should be an excellent time to recruit new juniors. There are many Junior events to watch or play in. The World’s best, age 25 and under, are competing in the U26 Junior tournament at Westwood starting on July 8th. The U26 international matches between the USA, Australia, and Great Britain follow this. I am guessing most of these juniors began playing the game because one or both of their parents played. This brings me to the best method for expanding the number of court tennis juniors – children of court tennis enthusiasts. For some legitimate reasons, our court tennis community members have children who are not getting on the court with mum or dad. This may become a missed opportunity for spending more time with our young ones, and they may miss out on the benefits of learning tennis at a young age.
Compared to most other sports, Court tennis is much smaller, which means there is a much greater chance to advance through the different levels of competition. In ten years, most of the juniors playing National and International U26 tournaments will probably be the kids who are now aged between 10 and 15. There is also a possibility that the 2033 World Championship could be contested by 2 of the competitors taking part in this year’s U26 tournaments. I am confident that Camden and John represented their respective countries at this level just a few years ago.
In conclusion, the future of court tennis will be bright and even brighter if we can fully utilize the community’s resources, experience, skills, and expertise. The USCTPF is doing its part with the annual Academy Week, generally sandwiched between two National Junior competitions. More Junior Development weekends are also proposed, and the next will ideally be held at Lakewood in October.
A window of opportunity is open and available. Hopefully, more and more juniors will jump in and learn how to play the game at the most advantageous time of their lives.
Gregor Bernhard, Jack Morrison, Wyatt Courson, Ansun Delvinney, Brock Anastasi, Elliott Evans-Philpott.
