Leicestershire performed very well, beating Oxford (8-1) and then Cornwall (6-3). The last day’s match was against Devon where they lost to to a very strong team (5-2). Leicestershire finished in 2nd place.

Paula, Leicestershire’s Captain, allowed their young reserves to play one singles each and Ana played against Devon. Ana played at number 6 against a  higher rated player and lost the match 6-1, 6-4. Devon overall had the highest rated players, giving Ana a very tough initiation into the older age groups. Ana really enjoyed her experience though!

With the 14U County Cup coming up in May, Ana is ‘all set’!

Most of the teams had some combination of experienced and new new match players. It was a great way to get the young players used to playing competitively but in a friendly atmosphere.

The Teams were:

Thrapston A – Zoe Chisnall, Josie Phillips, Hugh Roberts and Joseph White.

Stamford – Lucy James, Harry Atkin, William Stanier, and Will Barker

Oakham – Joshua Sennet, Max Dean, Jenna Davies and Daniel Bradford

Bourne – Daniel Nieuwenhuizen, Sullivan Cooke and Harry Leverton

Oundle - Cameron Hodnett, Samuel Webster, Jakob Bonnett and Dylan Hooper

Thrapston B – Kieran Queenan, William Pratt, Harvey Borrett and Thomas Cowell.

The closest group were the 3^rd seeds with Thrapston A, Stamford and Oundle all winning 4 matches to tie the group.

All the players seemed to have a great time, the end result was very close, coming down to just one match. Bourne managed two wins which was a good effort when taking into consideration that they had only novice players and were also a team of only 3 due to injury.  Joint 4^th  position went to Oundle Tennis Club and the hosts, Oakham, with eight wins each. Third place was claimed by Thrapston +District B team with nine wins. September’s winners Stamford achieved an excellent tally of 13 wins but could only finish in Runners Up position, pipped at the post by winners,  Thrapston + District A team, with an impressive 14 wins.

Tournament organiser Pete Harding said the whole event was played in a friendly manner which all the children enjoyed. Every player gave 100 percent effort and nothing more could have been asked from them.

Final Positions:

1st: Thrapston &District A – 14 Wins, 2nd: Stamford – 13 Wins, 3rd: Thrapston &District B – 9 Wins,

4th=: Oakham and Oundle – both with 8 Wins, 6th: Bourne – 2 Wins

The Leaderboard is compiled from qualifying tournament results over the six months of the Summer season.

From left to right: Charlie James, Felix Beech, Will Bourne and Ralph Clarke. In front: Mini Red William Barker

Will finished runner-up in the 16 and Under event while Felix followed up his success in the Winter Tour Leaderboard 14 and Under by winning the title again over the summer.

The tour leaderboard is run throughout the season and records all the results of qualifying tournaments that the boys have played in.

Coached by R2R coach Ralph Clarke at Stamford Tennis Club, the boys have put in the hard work over the year and are now reaping the rewards.

Twelve players entered the competition at Corby so the event began with three groups of four. The first two matches were comfortable victories of 10-1 followed in his third match by a 10-0 whitewash. Will’s next match was a closer fought game with a 10-4 win for William taking him through to the knockout matches.

His first knockout round was a nail-biting close match against Danny from Corby, ending in a win for Will 10-7. Will appeared more relaxed in his following round, winning comfortably, 10-3, against Hugh from Thrapston. In the final, William played against a girl from Corby and won 10-3 to give him his first victory in a singles competition.

Will then headed off to the West Bridgford Red County tour 8&U Singles,  Grade 5 tournament in the first weekend of November.

There were 11 boys in the tournament, playing in 2 groups where each boy played 4/5 matches and then the winners of each group played each other in the final to decide the overall winner. After a very nervous start from William he got into his
stride and won his first match 10-0 against a strong opponent. This gave him the confidence to then win his next match 10-5. His following match was against the tournament favourite, Dillon S (a Red 1 rating and with 64 matches already under his belt).
This turned out to be a cracking match, very long rallies and with both players hitting balls accurately around the court to get their opponent moving. Will proved to be the slightly more consistent player and won 10-8, in a very closely fought match. On a high from this momentous win he went on to win 10-1 and 10-2 respectively in his following games.

These good results put William through to the final against Hayden. Will showed great effort and determination along with  some good serving and good shot selection to win the match 10-6 and thus his second singles title.

Will’s next event is at Cambridge on the 27th November. Watch this space!

Birthday boy Nathan Strudwick is the second youngest player in the group. He was born in America and now lives in Kettering. Nathan celebrated his 5th birthday on 4th November 2011 - the very day of the photo!

A progressive and colourful future lies in store for a host of young mini red tennis players who embarked on a new indoor series of sessions at the Kettering Conference Centre.

The Friday afternoon switch indoors is part of the latest initiative spawned by the R2R coaching company and Kettering Tennis Club. And it proved an instant winner.

Head coach Peter Lock and Kettering club player Jon Burrows, who joined the team at the end of the summer, currently front the active role at the venue which also gives the enthusiastic youngsters the chance to sport their bright yellow T-shirts outdoors on a Saturday morning.

R2R Tennis also currently run programmes in the county at Oundle, Earls Barton and the rapidly expanding Thrapston club which currently has over 200 members in total, and which will next year stage a series of four junior tournaments in February, March, September and October after a recent successful dip into the water.

When aspiring young tennis players first come along to any of the R2R sessions, they offer an initial first session free of charge at any of the four Northants clubs in question.

R2R director Ralph Clarke oversees operations from nearby Oakham and said: “We currently have 14 or 15 coaches working in close proximity. In addition to the mini tennis courses in Kettering, Jon has now started coaching in the schools.” He added: “We have been delivering tennis coaching and courses in Kettering at mini red, green and orange level since 2008, initially through Peter Harding who has gone on to front successful operations at Thrapston and Oundle.”

Lock said: “We now have an eight-week course at Kettering in the run up to Christmas. “Kettering and Wellingborough areas
will be targeted during the next year with extensive schools’ programmes with links to both Kettering and Earls Barton tennis clubs.” He added: “R2R have also forged strong links with Corby Tennis Centre, the accredited performance centre in the area, who will help to further develop any outstanding young players in club programmes, while the company has become one of the premier coaching providers in the East Midlands at 12 venues across Rutland, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire and Leicestershire.”

Having become fully established across the East Midlands, it is a far cry from R2R’s humble beginnings in 2006 when Clarke, an ex-professional and Academy coach, was running the Oakham programme. He then teamed up with local coaches,
including Richard Wilson, a local leisure businessman and coach – hence the name ‘R2R Tennis’.

Coaches at the Training Day