This competition begins Saturday October 7/Sunday October 8 and concludes at the end of Term 1 in the 2024 school year. There are no matches over the school holidays, public holidays or when a public holiday falls on or adjacent to a weekend. You are expected to play matches both at home club and away clubs within the Eastern Suburbs.
Please be aware that players who are selected in a club team are expected to play for the ENTIRE SEASON. Please consider carefully any commitment to apply for a Willison Park junior team. Financial penalties are imposed on the club for team withdrawals.
Saturday home matches start at 8.30am and finish at 12.15pm (latest), Sunday matches start at 9.00am and finish by 12.30pm (latest).
The new beginner competition - Orange Ball comp will run again on Sunday mornings only and suitable for beginner players and serves as a great introduction to competition. If you’re new to tennis inter-club competition, are unsure about your playing ability and would like to give it a try, please nominate Orange Ball on the form. NB this is for under 9’s only. These formats will only run if we have sufficient player registrations.
Entries must be accompanied by a $50 competition registration fee. This covers the cost of tennis balls, court maintenance and ERT administrative costs (including fines and team entry fees) This fee is to be paid for each new season and on a child by child basis.
If you wish to apply, parents and players must complete and return the attached registration form accompanied by $50 registration fees or evidence of electronic funds transfer to the club.
PLEASE NOTE that players MUST be financial members of Willison Park Tennis Club to play and that the registration fee alone does not cover club membership. (https://www.willisonparktc.org.au/membership.html)
Requirements of Participating Juniors and their Parent:
1. Please consider very carefully your availability before committing yourself for nomination. You have a responsibility to yourself, your team and the club to play when rostered. Selection into future season teams will consider player and parent adherence to this commitment in this season.
2. Parents need to be available to carry out club duty responsibilities on 1-2 occasions per season. Duty teams will be assigned and rostered at the commencement of each season and each duty team is expected to complete their contribution to the maintenance and cleanliness of the club house and facilities.
3. Parents need to be prepared to act as Team Manager in the event that their child is chosen to captain the team for the season (roster preparation etc. as per duties list).
Notes on Team Selection and Grading
Teams will be selected according to the best guides we have as to their order of merit. Statistics provided by the ERTA as to the child’s performance in the previous season will determine the team seeding. While we try our best, it is not always possible to arrange for friends to play on the same team. Annette Sheppard from Kanga Tennis Coaching, the head coach at Willison Park Tennis Club, will advise with selection of teams.
We do strive to place friends together in teams, but on rare occasions this may not be possible. The ERTA may exclude a player from participation in the competition. Willison Park Tennis Club have a capacity of 6 teams playing at home at any one time (with 6 teams playing away, a maximum of 12 teams on each Saturday and Sunday mornings). Once capacity is reached no more teams can be entered into the competition. Priority will be given to players submitting their entries first. In case a player cannot be entered into a team registration fees will be refunded.
While many kids will be eager to advance within their division each season, from time to time we have players experience a season where the competition is too challenging. It’s most important the kids enjoy playing tennis, so please nominate a lower grade on your entry form if this is the case.
Similarly, if the season commences and its immediately apparent that your child or the team has been grossly mis-graded please contact me immediately. If in the very early stage of the competition it may still be possible to have the team re-assigned to a different section.
Some families may not be aware of the different competition formats available. The following explains the different format options within ERT.
- JDC may run 3 or 4 sections in colour group a season. Typically, there is no difference in standard between these sections. The teams are grouped according to geography rather than ability. (i.e. JDC1 (Green), JDC2 (Green), JDC3 (Green)). JDC Green can be played up to 12 years. JDC Orange up to 9 years.
- JOD is the next step up from JDC green. This is suitable kids too old for JDC, will have some competition playing experience but remain fairly early stage in their playing ability.
- GSD/BSD/JOSD. This is the most popular format and gives players some experience at singles and doubles. Last summer there were:
o 11 grades open to boys, 6 grades open to girls and 10 grades open for mixed on Saturday.
o 8 grades open to boys, 5 grades open to girls and one grade open for mixed on Sunday
- JOR. Open Rubbers is the most competitive format and gives more experienced players greater exposure to singles match play. Rubbers is open to boys and girls. Last summer there were:
o 20 grades of rubbers open to players on Saturday
o 4 grades of rubbers open to players on Sunday.
NB: Summer is the most popular season for playing tennis and our court availability does come under pressure, especially on Sunday. Generally, Saturday has more sections open for entry than Sunday and the competition on Saturday tends to be more challenging. The grades on Saturday and Sunday do not necessarily equate. i.e. BSD2 on Saturday may be more challenging than BSD2 on Sunday.
Willison Park is proud to have one of the highest junior participation rates of all the clubs in the Eastern suburbs and we are proud to have just over 50% female junior players.
Please view our child safety policy and code of conduct here: http://www.willisonparktc.org.au/childsafe.html
The deadline for entries is September 1 2023. Late applications may not be accepted.
All enquiries to: Timothy Sheppard (0400 312 724) Junior Convenor
Willison Park Tennis Club: willisonparkjuniors@gmail.com
(Willison Park Tennis Club committee members and competition organisers work on a volunteer basis)
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