On day 1 of the Norfolk School Games 128 eager tennis proteges from schools across the county took to the indoors halls a the UEA Sportspark to contest the Year 3/4 Mini Tennis Finals.
All eight School Sports Partnerships had previously held qualifying events, with the top four teams progressing to todays county finals.
Each school competed in a knockout competition, with every team guaranteed five matches. With 4 players in each school team this amounted to over 80 matches!
The atmosphere was electric with players raring to go from the start. The matches continued thick and fast, with team mates cheering their friends on. Every point was to play for as tied results would mean a countback on points won. (this happened on several occasions due to the closeness of the competition).
The semi finals were tense affairs with Catton Grove narrowly edging out North Wooton. In what had to be the match of the day, Woodlands A clinched the match against Hethersett A by virtue of winning the No.1 Singles match. The teams were tied at 2-2 and also tied on the same number of points!
In the final, Catton Grove came through to claim the title against Woodlands A, with Hethersett A winning the 3/4th play off with North Wooton.
Schools who lost there first match continued to play off to determine a placed finish. In the end, having won all four of there remaining matches, St Francis of Assisi defeated Blofield to win the consolation event.
The trophies and medals were handed out by She Rallies Ambassador for Norfolk, Kim Burgess. On the day Kim also managed to get 3 more teachers signed up for a ‘Mishits’ workshop. An LTA initiative aimed at providing teacher/training to support female members of staff with coaching ideas to deliver to girls aged 5-8.
A big thank you to all the competing schools and to all the club volunteers who supported the event from:- Hingham TC, Wymondham TC, Norwich Parks Tennis, East Anglia Tennis & Squash Club, KES Community Club (Kings Lynn), Cromer TC, Thetford TC
Everyone of today’s competitors received a letter inviting them to a FREE taster tennis session at one of the above listed clubs.
Enjoy Wimbledon 2018 and keep practising!
For a look at some photos from todays action please see link below:-
