BPTA PLAYERS REPORT - MARCH TO SEPTEMBER 2012
It’s been a very busy six months for the BPTA’s players. Many of our players
have been competing a lot throughout the summer season and have travelled
to many different clubs and competitions in the surrounding counties.
If you don’t know how the Mini Tennis Ratings and Competition system works
then let me quickly explain; there are different ratings for each mini tennis
level e.g. Red, Orange and Green. For Mini Tennis Red players the ratings start
at level 4 and go down to level 1, 1 being the best. It’s similar for Orange and
Green players, but they can get down to a level 1*. You improve your rating by
competing and playing matches. For a player to get down from a level 4 to a
level 2 it’s simply about playing a certain amount of matches which varies
throughout the levels, but has no emphasis on winning or losing. For a player
to get down from a level 2 to level 1 it’s again about playing a number of
matches but also a player must record a certain amount of wins as well. In
Orange and Green for a player to move from level 1 to a level 1* it’s about
recording more wins in Grade 3 or lower competitions only! These are Regional
and National competitions. Competitions and Matchplay events are graded
from 7 down to 1, with 1 being the strongest. Grade 7 and 6 events are
normally held within the club programme. For e.g. from our BPTA Red
Competition squads upwards we play Matchplay every fifth week. These
results will then be sent off to the LTA to be processed and will count towards
our player’s ratings. Grade 4 and 5 are county level competitions and then as
mentioned above Grade 3 are regional competitions and 2 and 1 national
events
If you would like to know more details on the Mini Tennis ratings or how to
start competing then all the information is on the BPTA notice board, which is
on the wall by the Men’s changing rooms. This information will also be
available on the BPTA website which I’m hoping to get up and running before
the New Year.
I feel it’s important readers know how the Ratings and Competition system
works so they can appreciate how hard some of our BPTA players have worked
and what they have accomplished. At the BPTA we set a goal to all our players
who are old enough to start competing that they must reach their level 2
rating. Players who only participate in the Matchplay events within their
squads will struggle to make this target, whereas the players who travel to LTA
events at different clubs are the ones who reach their level 2 rating. If a player
has reached a level 1 then you know they are very committed and have not
just played in many events but have also been successful against other level 1
and 2 rated players.
BPTA PLAYERS REPORT
I feel it’s been a great summer season for our BPTA players with many new
faces competing as well as some good tournament wins. It all started early this
year for Oli Spooner (Orange 1) and Hannah Davis (Orange 3) who have both
reached their Red level 1 rating thus allowing them to play up at Orange early.
They were invited to a Bucks county selection day where I’m very pleased to
say they were both selected to represent Bucks at the East regional counties
event. It was a little tough for the two as they have been training at Orange
and had to go back to the Red ball, but they were happy to do this if it meant
representing their county. They were obviously up against some very strong
players but both held their own and recorded some good wins. Both players
then attended the Bucks County ID day where they gave impressive displays on
the Orange court. Well done Oli and Hannah! Photo of Oli Spooner and
Hannah Davis below:
Another player who reached their Red level 1 rating early was Oli Sanders
(Orange 3). Oli had a great end to last year and was invited to a Herts Red
County ID day back in January. He did fantastically well and impressed so much
that he was selected from Herts to attend a Regional ID day for East England.
This is a great accomplishment and Oli should feel very proud to have been
selected. He attended the Red regional event back in March and battled hard
with some very strong players. Due to his success at Red he is now competing
at Orange level early. Well done Oli! (See photo of Oli below)
I’m very pleased with the amount of BPTA players who are now looking to
travel to different clubs to compete. This to me shows the commitment that
we are looking for at the BPTA and it’s no coincidence that the majority of
these players have reached their level 1 rating and are now playing up a level.
Oliver Spooner (Orange 1) and William Green (Orange 1) have excelled again
this season. When they were Red players they both reached their Red 1 within
the year. This allowed them to play up at Orange level early and it didn’t take
them long to work down to Orange 1’s. They are now both very close to
achieving their Orange 1* ratings, which you can only achieve by defeating
other Orange 1’s or 1*s in grade 3 regional events or lower. If you look at our
BPTA Ratings/Competitions table you will see they top the leader board with
Oli having played 91 Competitions and Will 87. They will both be allowed to
compete at Green from September six months early due to their impressive
displays and ratings.
The boys have been training with the BPTA since the summer of 2009 and from
September will be training in one of the BETA squads more than a year early
due to their hard work and dedication. They have both enjoyed tournament
wins this summer and are competing in top regional events.
Will won the Aylesbury Matchplay event back in April as well as winning the
knockout draw of the Penny & Sinclair tournament in Oxford, where there
were players competing from all over England. He then finished a very
successful summer season by winning the Chesham Bois Grade 5 county tour
event. Will is now an impressive 27th in the regional rankings for East England.
Oli has also had a great summer season. He added to his solid displays for the
Bucks county team by winning our very own Berkhamsted Grade 5 county tour
event. Oli is an impressive joint 28th in the regional rankings for East England.
He and Will also teamed up together in the Gerrards Cross grade 3 regional
doubles event where they finished runners up. Well done to Oli and Will!
Photo of Oli Spooner(right) and Will Green(left) below:
Another BPTA player who has had a very impressive summer season is Maddie
Keohane (Red 1) who has been training with the BPTA for just over a year now.
Maddie was selected to join the BPTA from our club programme in April 2012
when she turned six years old. She has slowly increased her programme in the
past year and is now training four times a week.
Maddie attended her first Herts County ID session in June where she
impressed but was informed she needed to play in more tournaments in order
to improve her Matchplay and help her develop her tactical awareness. She
had already worked her way down to a Red 2 by playing matches within her
squad programme and representing the club in the Mini Red league. Maddie
entered an impressive 6 tournaments through the summer holidays. In her first
two events she battled hard and made the quarter final of the Chesham 1879
grade 4 county tour event. This helped Maddie gain valuable Matchplay
experience as well as grow in confidence as she then went on to win her next
three tournaments. The first win came on home ground at the Berkhamsted
Mixed Grade 5 county tour event. Maddie battled very hard and beat three
Red boys from the quarter finals onwards to win the Competition. She then
played two Grade 3 girls regional tour events at Gerrards Cross and Radlet
winning them both. Maddie then reached the quarter finals of the Grade 4
mixed Welwyn event. The only losses Maddie incurred through the summer
were 15-13, 12-10 and 14-12 so could have gone either way. Maddie then
topped off her fantastic season by moving to a Red 1 level which means she
will be able to compete at Orange events a year early. Well done Maddie!
(Picture of Maddie below)
As I mentioned above there are more and more players from the BPTA who are
competing on a regular basis. Alex Baptist played 5 tournaments and 2
Matchplay events through the summer. He won 2 of his tournaments and is
now an 8.2 rating as he is moving out of Mini tennis and on to junior events.
He is ranked 10th in the county for his age group. Louis Hanwell (Green 3)
trained hard through the summer and played in the Berkhamsted Grade 5
county tour. Hannah Davis (Orange 3) managed to achieve her Red 1 rating
allowing her to play up at Orange level early. Hannah played in two county tour
events over the summer picking up some good wins on the way and gaining
experience competing with the Orange ball. Kofi Cripps (Orange 3) played in his
first Grade 5 county tour event at Berkhamsted where he qualified through the
group stages and lost in three sets in the quarter finals. Ursula Keohane
(Orange 3) also played in the Berkhamsted event and battled hard in her tough
group. Other BPTA players who’ve been competing regularly this year include
Joshua Hayes (Green 2) and Jack Pemberton (Orange 2) who both reached
their level 1 rating early to enable them to play up a level early
We have many younger players coming through from the BPTA who are
competing regularly in red events. Jack Gill (Red 2) also played in the
Berkhamsted Red county tour where he qualified through his group and lost in
a tight quarter final match to the runner up. Esme Ivory (Red 3) and Kane
Roberts (Red 3) gained valuable competition experience and moved closer to
their Red 2 ratings. Alexander Davis (Red 2) played in two events through the
summer facing some tricky older opponents but still managed to pick up some
wins. Jack Callaghan (Red 2) and Annie Whale (Red 2) played in the Chesham
Bois county tour event where Annie got to the final of the consolation. Other
players who have been competing consistently through the year are Annabel
Hopwood (Red 2) and Amelie Spooner (Red 2).
It’s no coincidence that the majority of players mentioned above have all
reached their level 2 rating. At the BPTA we are looking for our players to do
more than just compete within their squads as this is how they will achieve
their goal of a level 2 rating.