22 June 2023 | Tennis West

More than 180 junior tennis players will gather on the Gold Coast for the annual Australian Teams Championships this week.

The championships will be played at KDV Tennis from Friday 23 June to Sunday 2 July.

Players from every state and territory, as well as Pacific Oceania and New Zealand, will play at the annual junior team competition, with teams vying to be crowned the best tennis state in their respective age groups.

Teams will compete in a round-robin format. Finals for the 11 and under, as well as 13 and under, team events will be played on Tuesday 27 June, with the 15 and under finals on Sunday 2 July.

According to tournament director Francis Soyer, the Australian Teams Championships provide an important opportunity for juniors.

“National tournaments like these give Australian junior tennis players the best opportunity to compete at the highest level, alongside their peers and team-mates,” Soyer said.

“It’s also a chance to bring players together, in what is usually a relatively individual sport, to experience shared support and camaraderie at the highest junior level.

“This is the fourth year we’ve held the Australian Teams Championships on the Gold Coast, and we always have such great support from the community and our host venue. It’s also a location for players to engage in a variety of off-court activities which break up the week.”

In addition, junior players from Pacific Oceania will compete at the competition as part of a partnership with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s Pacific AusSports program to support Women and Girls in Tennis in the Pacific.

A three-day training camp will run before the tournament. The players and three coaches from Fiji, Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu will benefit from a 10-day mentoring program, where they will be able to gain invaluable experience to take back to their home environments.

“The Pacific AusSports partnership is really vital in providing women in sport from the Oceania and Pacific region to gain valuable experience and mentoring through the program and for Tennis Australia to connect and support some of our neighbouring countries, coaches and athletes,” Vicki Reid, Tennis Australia Director of Government, Social Impact and Stakeholder Relations added.

The tournament is one of four Australian Junior Championship events held annually, which take place on each of the Grand Slam surfaces – clay, grass and hard court.

A Junior Masters event for the highest-ranked juniors in each respective age category is contested in Melbourne in December each year.