Well we have come to the end of another TennisFest. After seven days, thirteen individual and team events, four schools events, two professional development opportunities, five activations and the return of the ever-popular Australian Open trophies Norm and Daph, the truly inclusive and diverse event offered opportunities for people of all ages, abilities and backgrounds to get involved.
TennisFest went regional for the first time in 2019, making a special trip over to Cowell to surprise ten-year-old Eva Schmucker. Eva got the surprise of her life when TennisFest paid a visit to Cowell Area School to announce her as the winner of the TennisFest design competition during a special school assembly.
Here is a recap of the event that was…
The Australian Open trophies, Norm and Daph, started their TennisFest appearances on Thursday 15 November at the ANZ Tennis Hot Shots Gawler District Schools Competition, visiting students from Trinity College and Immanuel Lutheran School.
Friday 16 November saw 15 coaches take part in an Inclusive Coaching Workshop, held alongside a Special Olympics Kids Tennis Schools Day involving 39 children from three schools along with 10 teachers, carers and parents.
10/u Green Ball State League and Junior State League girls also took part in a Statewide Super super round at Playford City Tennis Centre on Friday night.
Saturday 17 November saw the South Australian Tennis Championships for Players with an Intellectual Disability kick off at Next Generation Memorial Drive. Matches were played in great spirit throughout the day, with some closely contested results.
TennisFest kicked up a gear on Super Sunday with 44 courts running simultaneously around Adelaide and over 350 hours of tennis played in one day.
At Playford City Tennis Centre, the ANZ Tennis Hot Shots Carnival gave children the opportunity to test out the custom made modified Playford City Tennis Centre ANZ Tennis Hot Shots courts, along with the Speed Serve and Hit the Target.
The final two rounds of the Super 10s were played across eight courts with some excellent tennis and sportsmanship on display throughout the morning.
The second annual 12/u Challenge Cup took place with Emily Briggs and Christian Salmeron taking the win following some very close and exciting matches.
The Glenlea and Grange Lawn Multicultural Programs took to the court during the afternoon, with more than 40 players taking part in matches and games throughout the afternoon.
Off court, the Tennis SA Associations Lunch saw Association Presidents and Secretaries celebrate TennisFest and enjoy lunch together before joining the action on court level.
In the State League Grand Final rematch, Trinity Gardens took the win over Collingrove in the men’s, four rubbers to two. In the women’s, Seaside defeated Memorial Drive, also with a four rubbers to two victory.
Compass Draw matches took place at West Lakes Tennis Club and Seacliff Tennis Club, with over 100 junior club players from Metropolitan Adelaide taking part in the event. Eastern Districts Blue won the 13/u event, whilst Southern Districts Blue won the 15/u event.
The South Australian Tennis Championships for Players with a Disability continued with both male and female finals taking place. In the Division 1 men’s Sam Von Einem defeated Mitchell James, while in the women’s Carla Lenarduzzi defeated Fiona Taylor. In Division 2, James Butto defeated Chris Farmer and Heather Cleary overcame Anne Rossiter.
At the City of Playford Gold AMT, Brydan Klein defeated Nathan Eshmade 6-2 6-2 in the men’s final, and Amber Marshall defeated Natasha Russell 6-2 6-2 to win the women’s.
TennisFest came to an end on Wednesday when Australian tennis legend, John Fitzgerald joined 110 students from 11 schools for the ANZ Tennis Hot Shots School State Final at Memorial Drive.
Cobdogla Primary School (Cobdogla, SA) and Prince Alfred College (Kent Town, SA) were named the 2018 ANZ Tennis Hot Shots South Australian school state champions, after winning their respective round robin pools at Memorial Drive.
A special thank you also to the following people:
- Tennis SA Board and Staff
- Official Apparel Partner – DG Sport
- White Marquee Event Hire – Greg Evangelou, Meaghan Creeney and team
- Brigid, Neil, Eva, Samson, Millie and Tomas Schmucker
- Cowell Area School
- Cowell Tennis Club
- Seacliff Tennis Club and West Lakes Tennis Club – Compass Draw
- Junior Association Coordinators and Team Managers – Compass Draw
- Elaine Caldana – Tournament Director South Australian Tennis Championships for Players with an Intellectual Disability
- Bronwyn and Peter Smith – South Australian Tennis Championships for Players with an Intellectual Disability
- West Lakes Tennis Club – South Australian Tennis Championships for Players with an Intellectual Disability
- Michael Smith – Disability Recreation and Sport
- Super 10s and 12/u Challenge Cup coaches
- Arzy Boorowa – Tournament Director City of Playford Gold AMT
- Officials – Referees, Court Supervisors, Chair Umpires and Line Umpires
- Peter Mundy – Photographer
- Brett Hidson and Ben Fullerton for accompanying Norm and Daph on their flights
- Ballkid Squad
- …there are just so many people to thank, so to anyone else we might have missed, thank you, we really appreciate your support.
Finally, thank you to all of the participants and spectators who were a part of TennisFest, we really appreciated your involvement and look forward to seeing you next time!
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