The camp, which was held at the Middelburg Tennis Club tennis courts, is part of their preparation ahead of the 2021 SA Schools Tournament due to take place in Pretoria and Bloemfontein in August this year.

Petri Janse van Rensburg, a seasoned tennis coach from Pretoria, was assigned with the task of leading the team training. It turned out to be a very fruitful exercise that assisted the players to adjust to the standard of play needed to be competitive at the national competition. The training session was empowering not only for the players but also for the coaches as well as they also shared their skills and ideas on how to improve the game in terms of coaching.

The format of the SA Schools Tennis Tournament is that each team must have six players and therefore both girls and boys U/13, U/15 and U/19 must have six players each.

It is mandatory that players of colour must feature in the team. This essentially means if there is no player of colour in the first four positions the position five and six must be reserved for such players.

Mpumalanga Junior Tennis Association is currently working on promoting the sport and giving a lot of kids an opportunity to be part. Ehlanzeni District has been running a development program in various parts of the district to unearth talent as they prepare for the future.

They are very excited about the progress and believe that they are on course on achieving their goal. There will soon begin the same process in the other districts, which will be led by the Provincial Development Officer, Elliott Skosana.

In a few weeks, wheelchair tennis will also take centre stage.

From 25-27 June there will be a Tennis Officiating Course in Mbombela which forms part of growing tennis in Mpumalanga.

“I would like to thank our Mpumalanga Junior Tennis Committee for their thankless efforts in helping this day to become such a success. The team training clinic was a fantastic opportunity for the best junior players in Mpumalanga to unite in their teams and prepare for the SA Schools tournament in August. We are confident that this is the beginning of something we will see on a much more regular basis, that will contribute greatly to the tennis culture in our province,” said Mr Eckhardt van der Linde (Chairperson of Mpumalanga Junior Tennis Association). He thanked Petri Janse van Rensburg and his team, as well as Mpumalanga, coaches Sabelo Mathebula, Charl Basson, Elliot Skosana, Musa Mbonani, Themba Ndaba and Susan van der Linde for their expertise and passion on the day.             Do you have a news lead? Contact our editorial office on 013 243 1434 or our standby number for emergencies on 072 248 3855 to share your story with us. Follow us on the Middelburg Observer Facebook group or page or send a WhatsApp to 072 248 3855 with the words “add me” for the latest news. Notice: Coronavirus reporting at Caxton Local Media aims to combat fake news Dear reader, As your local news provider, we have the duty of keeping you factually informed on Covid-19 developments. As you may have noticed, mis- and disinformation (also known as “fake news”) is circulating online. Caxton Local Media is determined to filter through the masses of information doing the rounds and to separate truth from untruth in order to keep you adequately informed. Local newsrooms follow a strict pre-publication fact-checking protocol. A national task team has been established to assist in bringing you credible news reports on Covid-19. Readers with any comments or queries may contact National Group Editor Irma Green (irma@caxton.co.za) or Legal Adviser Helene Eloff (helene@caxton.co.za).