Brentwoodian 2019

58 Tennis This term, tennis has been a big part of school life. I have been able to get to know some of the Second Years in my AEGON team and had some fun experiences with them playing against other schools. Our team was very strong and we were competitive in every match we played. The team consisted of myself, Emre Keeling, Thomas Gennings, and Rory Philpot. We started off the season with a great victory over New Hall’s B team, alongside wins against Coopers’ B, and Sandon’s A. We then held the Mid-Essex doubles tournament on Monday 17th June, where I played in the First Year team with fellow pupils Ellis Sooprayen, Robbie Johnston, and Suhruth Akula. I played with Ellis and we won our group, advancing to the finals. Unfortunately, we lost in an extremely close final but we certainly enjoyed the experience! However, in the AEGON division we had qualified for the main draw and progressed to the quarter- finals, playing Coopers’ B team again, and won in a triumphant match. This meant that we advanced to the semi-finals of the tournament, where we played Thorpe Hall and lost in a very close match, drawing 3-3, losing 10-7 in a shoot-out. We were annoyed to lose in this way, but were proud of the performance, and at least had improvements in mind for next year. One of my personal highlights this season, was the U14 Road to Wimbledon that Miss Simpson organised. I progressed to the finals at Redbridge tennis centre, where the winner will have a chance to play on the courts of Wimbledon. At the end of the tennis season, we were lucky enough to visit the prestigious Eton College for the Independent Schools’ Tennis Championships, where we faced some tough opposition, but managed to grasp some good wins, getting to the plate final. It was a two- day tournament and was a great experience for us!! In conclusion, this tennis season has been a great experience and has been thoroughly enjoyable. I would like to thank Miss Simpson for organising all of the events and pushing us to the best of our abilities. I am looking forward to next year’s tennis season. By Reggie Edwards This year the U13 girls’ tennis team had a great season. Our team had many highs throughout the year, with Evie Jarman and Grace Kingaby winning the team challenge, beating New Hall in the final. The team also faced some challenges along the way when we played against Belfairs School losing in the last match by 1 point overall. I think our greatest match was when we were invited to play at Eton College in the Independent Schools’ Championships which we had never competed in before. On the first day, the team played well with Araminta Smalley and Ellie Foley winning most of their matches. On the Tuesday, only one of the pairs from our team got through to the finals which was Tobias Jones and Reggie Edwards who were placed second overall. The tennis season has been thoroughly enjoyable, entering in some new competitions! We have all improved our tennis thanks to the coaching of Miss Simpson and we all look forward to next season! By Evie Jarman