Over the Christmas period, 9 of Cayman’s most promising junior tennis players competed in a series of international tournaments held in Miami Florida.

The players competed in The Casely Tournaments held at Miami Dade College. These tournaments are held back to back and serve as warm up tournaments to the Orange Bowl, a tournament that attracts the top junior tennis players from all over the world.

For many of the players it was their first time competing outside of Cayman. Travelling with the players and their parents was Dale Avery, a teaching pro at the Cayman Islands Tennis Club.

He is optimistic about the future of Cayman’s tennis players stating: “Shot for shot our juniors are on par with the top players in the world. I think   the boys were surprised that they were not just participating, but competing with some of the best juniors in the world. They put themselves in positions to win but fell short mainly due to lack of experience. These trips will change that.”

The boys surpassed everyone’s expectations and achieved some good results. Harrison Clough made it to the under 10 final of the 2nd Casely tournament and Calum Lindsay and John Ross Clough won their under 10 and under 12 consolation sections respectively. Another notable mention is Bobby Lomax, who  twice narrowly lost out to the eventual winner in both tournaments. Bobby has remained unbeaten for the last two years in the local pwc mini series tournaments. The youngest members of the group, Jack Lomax and Jake Serpell both aged 8, performed beyond everyone’s expectations and gained valuable experience.

Of the 9 players competing in the Casely Tournaments 2 players , Daniel Reid (under 14) and Callum Theaker (under 12), also participated in The Orange Bowl.

Daniel Reid made it to the 2nd Round of the main draw, winning his first round in a tough 3 hour match. Callum was knocked out in the 1st round in a match that was closer than the 6-1, 6-0 suggests.

“This is the exposure young tennis players need if they are to grow their games” said coach Dale. “The more we do these tournaments the harder players will work when they are training back home because now they know what the standard is and where they need to be”.

The trip, which was funded by the parents of the players with help from the Cayman Islands Tennis Club, is hopefully the first of many trips to play abroad. Coach Avery hopes  that the success of the players should encourage organizations like the Tennis Federation and the Olympic Committee to support future endeavors  “It’s a real eye opener for these kids” says Steve Theaker, Callum’s dad adding “It’s the only way for them to improve and to realize that in Cayman they are big fish in a small pond”

The Cayman Islands Tennis Club will be hosting the 2013 pwc Cayman Open Adult Tennis Tournament January 18-26.  All Tennis players on the Island are invited to play in the largest tournament of the year and some of these juniors will also be getting the chance to play amongst the adults.  Sign up by January 14^th at [email protected]

These juniors all compete in the local pwc tournaments and train regularly at the Cayman Islands Tennis Club. For more information on these tournaments and the Club’s

tennis programs you can visit www.tennis.ky or just drop in at the club any day of the week to see the juniors in action.