ISC is delighted to have hosted an LTA Grade 3 competition last week welcoming almost 250 junior players from all over the country taking part in 25 different events.
With one of the most challenging weeks weather-wise ever experienced, the match schedule had to be quickly adapted with some taking on the Fast 4 format. ISC members are very lucky to enjoy 3 fabulous indoor courts all year round (with an additional 3 during winter months) and these certainly came into their own this week with constant use to keep the schedule on track.
Many local competitors from our neighbouring Suffolk clubs also took part and the standard of tennis on display was highly impressive. Very well done to all players that took part – some that are seasoned Grade 3 participants and some for whom this was their first experience of competition at this level. A big thank you goes to all parents and supporters for their patience this week given the weather – hopefully you’ve all had an enjoyable time and met some new friends along the way.
Our congratulations go to ISC academy players Alana who won the Girls U10 event, Toby won the Boys U16, Amay was runner up in the U8 singles, and Scarlett came runner up in Girls U14 singles and won the Girls U18 doubles. ISC’s Tennis Manager, Chris Daynes, was delighted with all academy pupils’ performances and commented:-
‘Our team of coaches here at ISC put in many hours of practice on court each week with every pupil so it’s really rewarding to see them stepping up to bring out their best tennis at such an event. This provides invaluable competitive match experience with players often facing several different opponents with varying abilities all in one day. Over the coming weeks we’ll be reviewing with our pupils which tactics and competitive strategies were successful and concentrate on the importance of self-reflection and performance evaluation such as:-
- What did I do well?
- How was my opponent better?
- What aspects of my game can I improve on & what should I focus on in training in the coming months?
We’ll also focus on resilience and a match never being over until the final point has finished – as has been demonstrated at Roland Garros this past week with Iga Swiatek coming back to win from match point down and 3-5 down in the final set against Naomi Osaka, and Holger Rune coming back to win from 5-0 down in a 5th set tie-break’. Results can be seen on the LTA website here:
A huge vote of thanks goes to tournament organiser Chris Rudolph, who’s pictured below with Craig Lambert, one of a team of volunteer helpers who have worked tirelessly to manage such a successful event
If your children or pupils are interested in taking part in future competitions at ISC or you have any questions about such events please feel free to contact either:-
Chris Daynes – ISC Tennis Manager on chrisdaynes@hotmail.com
Chris Rudolph – Event Organiser on chris.rudolph@btopenworld.com
