Shropshire tennis youngsters raring to go for Junior County Championship

Shropshire tennis youngsters raring to go for Junior County Championship 

Promising tennis players from around the county have the chance to showcase their talent when the Shropshire Junior County Championship starts this weekend.

The popular annual tournament, previously known as the County Closed, will be held at The Shrewsbury Club from this Sunday, August 27 through to the following Saturday, September 2, when a presentation evening will be held. 

A fun tennis festival for all ages, ideal for new players and starter level abilities, will take place at the Sundorne Road venue on Saturday ahead of the Championship getting under way the following day.  

Bob Kerr, the chairman of Tennis Shropshire, said this event was always a highlight for junior tennis players in Shropshire.
He added: “It’s open to under-eights through to under-18s, boys and girls, and we hope for a big field. We’ve had record entries year on year, certainly for the last three years, so we’re hoping the numbers will go up again this time. We introduced doubles to the tournament two years ago for the first time and it proved so popular that last year we had to put on an additional day."

“This really is the highlight of the year for junior players. We like to try and add a little extra value to the tournament so that it’s not just about ability and about the best players playing. Of course, they will come to the fore during the course of the week, sometimes quite surprisingly, but more than ability, what we’re really interested is juniors coming along and having a good time, having fun."

“That means there will be some off-court activities in between the tennis like rounders, touch rugby possibly, while we hold a barbecue on the Thursday evening for players and their families before the week ends with a presentation evening on the Saturday evening which is always enjoyable and well attended.” 

The winners of the Shropshire 12 and under singles event will be invited to take part in the Babolat Cup national finals day at Birmingham’s Edgbaston Priory Club next month. Spectators are welcome to enjoy the action at The Shrewsbury Club throughout the week. 

Bob added: "Our main aim as the county association is to raise participation levels and to give the opportunity for more people to play tennis more often. The County Championship is important in doing that. We would like every junior in Shropshire, regardless of ability, to come along, compete and have an enjoyable time."

For more details, visit http://www.tennisshropshire.co.uk/tournaments/shropshire-junior-county-championship/3042/ 

Pictured: These youngsters represented Shropshire in the Aegon 9U County Cup at Edgbaston Priory last weekend and are now looking forward to competing in the Shropshire Junior County Championship, from left: Kornel Rogaczewski, Sam Spiby, Sarvesh Karthikeyan Kilariaar, Adela Home, Sian Collins and Isla Linney with team mascot Kevin.