AFTER taking out back-to-back wins at Sunraysia’s School Sports Victoria (SSV) division tennis championships, Nichols Point Primary School’s Jack Burford is set to take on opponents from further afield.
The Grade 6 student will be up against competitors from the Bendigo and Swan Hill regions when he represents Nichols Point and Sunraysia at the SSV regional tennis tournament in Swan Hill next week.
It’s the second year running Jack has taken out the local competition, after also being runner-up in Grade 4.
After an underwhelming performance at last year’s regional tournament, Jack is hoping it’s his year to bring home the trophy.
“Last year it was really windy and that affected my play a bit – I didn’t go too well,” he said.
“It’s another chance to redeem myself and do my best and hopefully go a bit further.”
Jack has been preparing for the upcoming tournament with twice-weekly training sessions – and some interstate competition.
“I played a tournament in Renmark last weekend, where I came fourth out of 24, which is pretty good,” he said.
“Different styles of play is the main things to learn, playing against different people.”
Jack will be joined at the regional tournament by Josh Williams and Ellie Allford from Irymple Primary School and Nicola DeMaria from St Paul’s.
The all-rounder will also be backing it up with a trip to the regional swimming championships, where he will represent Sunraysia in the under-12 freestyle.
“We’re very proud of Jack and his achievements,” Nichols Point’s physical education co-ordinator Travers Zanker told Sunraysia Daily.
“He’s very determined in his tennis and he also has really good sportsmanship. That’s the main thing that we emphasise here at school – to be able to show good sportsmanship regardless of result.”
