11U Girls County Cup Captains report – 18/19 June 2022
Incredible effort from the 11U girls this weekend, at the Regional Qualifier, hosted at Kings LTC in Bristol.
Day 1 saw the girls take on both Devon and Cornwall in a day that was a bit stop start with the rain but that’s what we expect from a British summer! Our team consisted of Olivia, Febe, Lara, Natalia and Rebecca. All the girls played a combination of singles and doubles finishing the day with a 5-1 win over Devon and a 4-0 lead verses Cornwall going into day 2.
The sun came out for day 2 where the girls quickly swept up the remaining 2 Cornwall doubles and took a 4-0 lead V somerset; ultimately taking those 2 doubles later in the day for a 6-0 overall win.
Our last match was the deciding fixture of the group with the girls taking on Wiltshire. Natalia took a convincing singles win at 4 with Lara headed into a nail biting championship tiebreak at number 3 position. Febe fought hard against an exceptional number 2 player, unfortunately losing that match despite an amazing performance. So, at 1-1 we were back to Lara’s singles tiebreak – which she won! Displaying absolute nerves of steel (unlike the parents and Captains watching.) The final singles match on was Olivia at number one, who cruised through the match to take Avon to a 3-1 lead, heading into the doubles. All the girls were pumped for the last 2 matches and went on with high energy and excitement, ready to go an compete, and it paid off. Febe and Natalia swept through the second pair comfortably with brilliant tactical play with Olivia, and Lara edging the 1st pair in another Championship tiebreak (coming back from 5-1 down) . With a 5-1 overall win against Wiltshire, the girls deservedly qualified for the National Finals in Wrexham in July.
The weekend was a massive success in so many ways. Big thanks go to Kings for hosting brilliantly with lots of friendly committee and members supporting the event across the 2 days. More thanks to the parents, siblings, grandparents and others (including many dog mascots) who came to support. Special mention to Maya and Amalie as team/squad members, who came down despite not playing. Last and biggest thanks to our team Olivia, Febe, Lara, Natalia and Rebecca who were simply outstanding across the board. On court the determination and professionalism was exemplary and their conduct towards other players, specifically kindness, was second to none (and commented on by other county captains). Off court the girls didn’t leave courtside if they were not playing, making sure their teammates knew they were supporting them and were always aware of when they needed to be warmed up and ready to play, and this was without us as captains saying anything to them!
We thoroughly enjoyed the weekend and that is due to the group of girls that represented Avon so brilliantly. Girls you have truly done us proud! Get on that Avon train to Wrexham 😊
Captains Ali and Lizzie
11U Boys County Cup – Captains Report
With a strong team and good depth, we felt confident in the lovely setting of Ivybridge Tennis Centre but had realistic expectations that Devon and Somerset were strong. We started out against Somerset and after 2 singles wins a piece and a doubles win each, it went to the tiebreak shootout and a nail bitting 10-8 win was a great start. Later on the Saturday, we played Cornwall and a solid 5-1 win was achieved .
So onto Sunday v Devon, who had 3 players ranked in the top 50 of the country, so it was going to be a big challenge and although we fought hard we went down 4-0 after singles, however, very closely losing 3 out of the 4 matches in a 3rd set deciding tiebreak. We won one of the doubles, so although a 5-1 loss, it could so have easily been 3-3 but perhaps Devon just very marginally too strong. Our last match was a solid win against a good Wiltshire side 4-2 but again very competitive.
A great time was had, with long days and great support from parents; with the kids supporting each other admirably. Well done Arthur, Tommy, George, Jamie, Isaac and Archie.