TENNIS Victoria have praised schools for their participation in this year’s red ball competition.
Schools from throughout the region competed in the modified tennis competition held at the Mildura Lawn Tennis Club (MLTC) on Tuesday.
Using “red balls” and using mini courts, teams of eight fought it out for the opportunity to advance to the regional finals to be held in Swan Hill later in the year.
Nichols Point proved the dominant team in the boys and girls division, advancing to the next stage of competition.
They will now compete against other schools from the Loddon Mallee region with the winning boys and girls teams advancing to the State final in Melbourne.
Tennis Victoria school development co-ordinator Susie Dundas said the red ball competition was a great introduction to tennis and competitions like the one held in Mildura gave junior players an opportunity to play in a competitive environment.
“A lot of schools are doing tennis through the sporting schools program,” Dundas said.
“We want the kids to learn all the skills and then to actually put them into practice in matches.”
Dundas said tennis was a game which catered for all levels and at a junior level it was about participation.
“What’s unique about tennis is that it is not really about those really sporty kids that get selected to go to lots of the sports,” said Dundas.
“This is about mass participation – yes, in some of the teams there were some kids who were really good at tennis, but then there were also some students that haven’t played a lot of tennis.
“It is those kids who get to have this experience and it is still a good experience for them.”
“There is a lot of work going on to try and make sure that people’s experience they have in the sport is a good one as opposed to a negative one.
“Like today we want them to come down and have matches and go – ‘wow I love this, how do I take it further’.”
