Tennis for 2009
2008 was the first year of all junior teams (grades 8 and 9 players) for the girls’ tennis. Last year we received cups for both boys’ and girls’ teams. This year the players challenged to enter a league and the results for the girls were unfortunately disappointing, especially after last year’s triumphs. Three girls’ teams in total were entered and three boys’ teams in summer and two in winter.
Next year the girls should be a lot stronger, physically and mentally, because of greater experience. It is important to note that the girls, especially, are all-rounders and we accommodate them while they play other sports. As a result of this only one girls’ team was entered in winter.
The third term is given to championships. Congratulations to Justin van der Weide (he played against Josh Barry) and Hayley Jones (she played Curstie Gimingham) who won their championships in closely contested matches.
The boys faired fairly well, by winning at least nine of their fourteen matches. We were particularly pleased with our win against Alexander Road High.
We lose quite a few matrics this year, which leaves about six committed male players. We would like to bid farewell to Justin van der Weide, Travis van der Riet, Dale McCarthy, Luke Harvey, Sandise Magida and Jonathan van der Walt. All these boys have been with me for a number of years and most of them have been very faithful to tennis.
Thank you to Mr Barry and Mr Dickason, who has left us, for helping to drive our teams when we could not be in two or three places at once! It is also worth remembering that it is quite demanding to perform as an individual, as is the case in tennis, yet one is still part of a team. We are also planning to tour in 2010.
Mrs W. van der Merwe and Mrs J. Webb
