By Hollie Harris
Sunshine Beach State School conquered all to be crowned 2017 Queensland Schools Tennis Champions last Sunday.
In one of the most dramatic and exciting competitions in years, Sunshine Beach accomplished the impossible when the team of Christian Caldwell, Harry McNamee, Maison May and Josh Moody played some incredible tennis over three big days.
The Brisbane International Schools Challenge is a mixed team competition for all Queensland primary schools and the finals were during The Brisbane International, which is held at the Queensland Tennis Centre.
The Sunshine Beach team has been training since August for the event after winning the regional trials, with even the powerhouse tennis schools of Brisbane Boys College, Kelvin Grove Tennis School of Excellence, St Paul’s and Fig Tree Pocket unable to stop Sunshine Beach from finishing on top.
With Christian playing at number one he had some incredibly tough matches against some of the top five players in the country, which is a massive effort for a Year 4 student.
Harry was amazing at number two after clawing his way back in many matches over the weekend and Maison was so outstanding at number three he remained undefeated all tournament and was chosen in the All Stars team for his efforts.
Josh put in a huge effort over the three days and saved his best till last, exactly when his team needed him the most, claiming his final singles and doubles against TACAPS to help the team claim the ultimate prize in primary school tennis and Jet Calwell was ready to go in as a strong reserve for the team.
Noosa Tennis Academy’s Nick Caldwell managed and coached the team all year and the Noosa Tennis Club were generous with free coaching and assistance, allowing the school team to train at the club.
