There was more Tennis Tens action at Enniskillen Lawn Tennis Club near the end of December. There were 15 young participants. Two had travelled from Belfast, seven travelled from Butt Hall Tennis Club in Donegal and six were our Enniskillen players.
The day started off very wet but the weather couldn’t dampen the spirits of the kids. All seven children in the Under 8’s on red court played each other in short matches. The top performers were Rory Smith (Enniskillen) and Luka Browne (Butt Hall), who each won 5 of their 6 matches. There were many close matches with good rallies and smart tactics. It was impressive to see how well these youngsters play.
The U9’s group on orange court were no less impressive. They were split into two round robins so everybody got to play three good matches. All 3 Enniskillen boys, Marcus Davies-Kunze, Fabio Ledwith and Reece Byrne were taking part in their very first tournament. In fact, Reece has only just taken up the sport yet he won all his matches in his group. He then played a final against the winner of the other round robin group, Ryan Galvin from Butt Hall, another tennis newbie. Reece played well and showed instinctual tactics. He took the match in straight sets. Marcus and Fabio both continued the excellent form for Enniskillen. They both came second in their respective groups winning 2 of their 3 matches.
As the matches were being played those who weren’t on court took part in a challenge to see which girl and which boy could hold the longest rally. It was between Aoibheann King from Enniskillen or Emily Rose from Harden, Belfast for the girls. Aoibheann easily won the girls challenge with a rally lasting 122 shots! The boys were even more competitive. Nearing the end of the challenge the number to beat was 137. Then Kyle Deery from our home club started his attempt. It went on and on and on and on…He finally finished on a rally of 1031 shots. That’s not a typo, it actually lasted over one thousand shots! Amazing! Louise McGann, their coach, was very impressed with her young performers. With this kind of talent at the club the future for tennis at Enniskillen looks very bright indeed.
Thanks has to go to the volunteers from the senior performance squad who umpired for us and helped make the longest rally challenge fun for the kids. The parents who helped out looking after our visitors make our club a very hospitable and welcoming one. We look forward to the tennis year to come. It is set to be a very exciting one!
