Eleven-year-old Ella Mcleod and fifteen-year-old Adam Walters are making their presence felt on the junior tennis scene with both players having competed at the Australian Junior Development Squad (JDS) State finals championships in November.
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McLeod who attends St Catherine's College and is in year five also claimed the state title in the U10’s competition last year.
To get to this level, she had to compete at various regional competitions.
McLeod smashed all of her cards taking her through to the quarter finals, semis and the finals for a win in the U10’s age group.
Winning this competition took her straight through to the state finals, alongside three others from the region.
Over the three-day event at Penrith McLeod played three cards over the three days (three matches being one card).
She proved unstoppable; making it to the quarter finals, semi finals then through to the finals to take out top honours - “Champion of Champions”.
“Although I enjoy a lot of other sports such as touch football and little athletics, tennis is my passion. Training nearly every day of the week is fun and winning the state title last year has definitely boosted my dedication to the sport,” says young Ella.
Walters – a year ten at Hunter Valley Grammar School in Maitland - also managed to make state championships last year.
“If I could play tennis every day I would, my parents help me keep the balance of school with my tennis commitments,” explains Walters.
He won the regional JDS comp and was undefeated on his way to the state championships.
However, unfortunately he lost in the final round, coming a close second in the state.
Both youngsters are coached and supported by Gary Brenton.
Brenton runs a wide variety of programs that target specific areas of skill development to a range of abilities and is again set to host a school holiday clinic.
From July 9 – 11, players aged between ages three and 16 are invited to come along to the three-day program.
Starting at 9am and finishing at 1pm at the Howe Park Tennis Club on Boundary Street.
At cost of $29 per day or $77 for the three days, it is a great way to keep warm during this chilly break.
For further information contact Hunter Tennis Academy 6572 3889 or Gary Brenton 0417 977 940.