Sport
4 October, 2019
Huge finale for “New Kids On The Court”
JUNIOR tennis participation at the Mareeba Club has been declining in recent years so there was a need to find a way to get kids at the grass roots level back into the sport.
JUNIOR tennis participation at the Mareeba Club has been declining in recent years so there was a need to find a way to get kids at the grass roots level back into the sport.
The Club was successful in gaining a grant through Get in the Game, Get going clubs: delivered through Sport and Recreation Queensland.
A project called New Kids on the Court was developed to encourage kids aged 8-11 years who have never experienced tennis before to have a go and learn to love the sport for life.
This included the delivery of an 8 week development junior program, culminating in an interschool competition in week 9. The program provided a safe, supportive fun environment for beginners to learn to play in a non-comital manner with all equipment and coaching supplied.
The “New Kids on the Court” interschool Tournament was held on Friday the 13th of September at 5:30 pm. Schools represented included Mareeba State, St.Thomas’s Mareeba, Dimbulah State, St. Anthony’s Dimbulah and the Steiner school from Kuranda.
Kids were divided into teams of 6 and each school played each other once. Each match was timed and a rotation system was used to ensure all kids played against different opponents.
At the end of the event Mareeba State School team 1 were declared the winners of the inaugural trophy. Organisers of the program were excited and extremely proud to see the level of enthusiasm and sportsmanship these kids displayed.
Parents were invited to play tennis with the children after the tournament and seemed to have as much fun as the kids Thank you to Councillors Lenore Wyatt, Mary Graham and Mayor Tom Gilmore for attending and presenting certificates and the winner’s trophy.
