Discovery tennis club hosts junior tournament

Serena Williams, Anna Kournikova. Rafael Nadal. Andy Murray. These are just some of the greatest tennis players in the world, with one thing in common; they all had to start their illustrious careers somewhere.

On Saturday, May 14, this is exactly what 14 young players did when they got together at the Discovery Tennis Club for a junior tournament. The aim of the tournament, which was hosted by Eduvision and Lina Swart, coach at the club, was a simple one: to encourage young players to play more and love the game.

Adéle Bronkhorst, director and founder of Eduvison said, “As a qualified child counsellor, educational coach and brain profile practitioner, I have witnessed an increase in the number of children who are in need of counselling due to their parents divorcing, academic and peer pressure, as well as anxiety brought on by social distancing and keeping up with school work. I believe that a healthy, balanced lifestyle can help alleviate this.”

The tournament was divided into two categories – Hard ball for the more serious players, and Green dot for those still finding their feet on the court. The players had a lot of fun during the day, playing against various opponents and ensuring every shot played counted. As the final games drew nearer, the players could not contain their excitement as Lina tallied up the scores before announcing the finalists in each category.

As their names were called out the tired but determined players made their way to their appointed courts where they played their hearts out in an attempt to be crowned as the champions of the day. With the last ball served and every point recorded and tallied, Lina rounded up the players for the prize-giving ceremony.

She started off by congratulating every player who participated and said, “I am very proud of each one of you and have seen a lot of improvement”.

There were medals for the sportsperson of the day as well as third place, and trophies for the winner and runner-up in each category. The Hard ball category winner and runner-up were Michael Bronkhorst and William Radford. In the Green dot category Jean Smalman walked away with first place and Christiaan Nolte was the runner-up.

Adéle concluded, “We had a wonderful event with a lot of highs. We salute the players for their endurance and enthusiasm, as well as the love for the game they displayed. We would like to host a tournament at the end of each term in an effort to create more awareness, not only for the players that would like to bring their racquets and play but also for the community.”

Tennis great, André Agassi said, “You’ll hear a lot of applause in your life, but none will mean more to you than that applause from your peers”.