Over King's Birthday Weekend, a number of our Wanaka junior players represented the combined Southern Lakes/Southland team at the South Island Development Tournament in Timaru. Teams from South Canterbury, Mid Canterbury, Canterbury City and Tasman also competed.
Wanaka players involved were:
Under 10s
- Monty Parrant
- George Stewart
- Ollie Edgar
- Luca Watts
- Wilfred Walker
Under 13s
- Jackson Parrant
- Caio Crockett
- Franca Edgar
- Bella Currie
- Florence Ritchie
Under 10s
The Under 10 team finished an impressive 3rd overall, while also introducing some exciting new talent that bodes well for the future of the Southern Lakes programme.
A special mention goes to Luca Watts (8) and Wilfred Walker (9), who were competing in their first representative tournament. Luca won three of his four singles matches and added two doubles victories, while Wilfred also contributed with two doubles wins.
Olympia Edgar, playing at No. 1 in the girls' competition, recorded excellent singles victories against South Canterbury and Tasman and also won two doubles matches.
George Stewart continues to make strong progress with his tennis, recording a singles win and two doubles victories while playing at No. 3.
Monty Parrant (8) had an outstanding tournament at No. 1, winning three of his four singles matches, including a notable victory over Canterbury's top player, and adding three doubles wins.
Under 13s
The Under 13 team finished 5th overall, narrowly missing a higher placing after drawing on sets with South Canterbury and losing the tie on a games countback.
Franca Edgar, playing in the challenging No. 1 position, produced one of the highlights of the tournament when she won the deciding match against South Canterbury 10–8 in a super tiebreak.
Bella Currie and Florence Ritchie both competed strongly throughout the weekend, gaining valuable experience and pushing several matches close.
Caio Crockett, playing at No. 3, was involved in one of the closest matches of the tournament, narrowly losing 10–6 in a super tiebreak against South Canterbury. He also recorded a doubles victory.
Jackson Parrant, playing up an age group in the Under 13s, won two singles matches at No. 2 and added a couple of doubles wins.
Congratulations to all players for their efforts and sportsmanship. It is fantastic to see so many Wanaka juniors representing our region and continuing to develop their competitive tennis.
The next Southern Lakes junior teams event will be held in Dunedin on 7–8 November. To help prepare players for these representative opportunities, we have recently introduced Friday junior match play sessions, which are proving to be excellent preparation for team events such as these.