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Talented junior tennis player Caleb Sewell will join the ranks of the Mid West Academy of Sport (MWAS) after recently been awarded an Athlete Scholarship and inducted into the Academy’s Development Squad at the official induction ceremony which took place at the end of July.
Joining a total of 65 elite athletes across 19 different sports, Sewell’s selection was based on his performance at recent regional, state and national tournaments. The prestigious Mid West scholarship will afford the talented twelve-year-old access to group based cardio and resistance training in addition to sport psychology, nutrition and athlete development workshops.
Excited to receive the MWAS scholarship, Sewell who hails from a prominent tennis family, says he’s most looking forward to learning about what it will take to become a professional athlete.
“This type of scholarship will help me understand what it takes to become a professional athlete,”
“It will help make me be the best athlete that I can be,” Sewell said.
Tennis aside, Sewell is renowned for his athleticism and talent across multiple sports including both AFL and cross country running. Mature beyond his years, Sewell looks forward to the scholarship teaching him how to be a well-rounded sportsman across all disciplines.
“It will also help with the other sports I complete in, as the skills I learn will be transferable between tennis, cross country and AFL,”
“It will help build me as an overall sportsman,” Sewell said.
Selected by the MWAS team for his talent and ability to achieve future sporting goals, Sewell was awarded the athlete scholarship by MWAS Executive Officer, Darren Winterbine who says the scholarship will provide the young hopeful with the opportunity to access specialist support services as well as technical coaching enabling him to pursue his future goals in sport and life.
“Operating since 2014, the Mid West Academy of Sport aims to provide an exceptional home training environment for talented Mid West athletes and Caleb is a fine example of the standard of athletes who’s sporting endeavors we strive to support,”
“MWAS works to increase the number of Mid West athletes capable of reaching elite performance levels without the need to relocate,”
“Our systems ensure our resources are directed at helping our athletes achieve elite performance levels and we do this by building regional capacity which creates the strongest possible impact for our everyone involved in the program,” Winterbine said.
An avid tennis player since first picking up a racquet at the age of two, Sewell has been involved in holiday clinics, the ANZ Tennis Hot Shots program and private coaching lessons ever since. Spending most weekends as a family at the tennis club, the Sewell family’s love of tennis runs deep, with three generations often seen playing at the club together. Whilst Caleb’s ultimate ambition is to compete at the December Showdown National Championships in Melbourne, his short term goal, having already beaten his grandfather, is to now secure a win over his dad.
Having travelled to Victoria at the beginning of the year as part of the state’s Judy Dalton Cup team, the aspiring Geraldton Tennis Club player is learning a lot from being on court with the clubs more senior members where his focus remains on what he can learn from the experience.
“I like playing with the adults as they teach me things while also giving me a high level of competitive match experience,”
“Whenever I compete I try not to worry about winning and just do my personal best. I was once told that it’s not always good to come first place because you don’t know how to lose when you compete against better players,” Sewell said.
Tennis West Regional Lead Craig Vinci says Caleb has done incredibly well to secure a place on the MWAS development squad.
“It’s been a number of years since we’ve seen tennis player represented at the Mid West Academy of Sport so it’s great to see Caleb join the ranks,”
“Caleb’s achievement is a credit to himself and his commitment to his sporting aspirations and I’m sure he’ll make the most of the opportunity in front of him,”
“The academy is an essential service to aspiring athletes who reside in the Mid West and is critical in helping to pave the way forward as they pursue their athletic aspirations,”
“We wish Caleb all the best as he continues to develop as a player and most importantly as a sportsman,” Vinci said.
About the MWAS –
The Mid West Academy of Sport Inc (MWAS) is open to all sports and operates in close collaboration with sporting associations to provide service-based and development-based scholarships for all sporting talents including athletes, coaches, officials and administrators. The MWAS operates across the Mid West region comprising 18 local governments including the City of Greater Geraldton (including Mullewa) and Shires of Carnamah, Chapman Valley, Coorow, Cue, Irwin, Meekatharra, Mingenew, Morawa, Mount Magnet, Murchison, Northampton, Perenjori, Sandstone, Three Springs, Wiluna and Yalgoo.
To find out more about the MWAS, please head to www.mwaswa.com.au