Sunshine Beach State School have successfully defended their state title at the Brisbane International 2018. They are the first state school in Queensland to complete back to back titles in the primary schools competition. The three day competition, which starts with regional trials in August brings together Queensland’s best primary school tennis teams to compete at the Brisbane International where the students have the chance to play along side some of the world’s best players. The Brisbane International Schools State Finals is a mixed team competition for all Queensland primary schools.
Sunshine Beach remained undefeated throughout the competition and ended as clear winners on day three to be crowned 2018 State Champions for the second time. Teams play in a round robin format to decide the final groups before the competition heats up. Each team consists or 4 or 5 players. Each tie consists of four singles and 2 doubles.
Sunshine Beach made it to the top pool on day 2 with 3 victories on day one of the competition. The teams that Sunshine Beach would eventually have to compete against in the championship pool were Brisbane Boys College, Somerset College, Marymount Primary School, St Peters Lutheran College & Peace Lutheran College(Cairns).
Sunshine Beach were in a strong position going in to the competition thanks to the fact that both Christian Caldwell and Maison May had remained in the team from last year. Playing in the number one position again, Christian won an amazing 16 matches out of 16 and Maison also helped anchor the team with an equally impressive 15 out of 16 match victories playing as the number 2. The pair remained undefeated in the doubles throughout the competition putting the team in a commanding position in each tie. The team also included Callan Paul, Pia Walpole and Brooke Terrell. Callan and Pia constantly stepped up their intensity and effort in the singles matches and managed to win enough matches and games between them for the team to pull through.The team has been coached by Nick Caldwell from the Noosa Tennis Academy. The program for Sunshine Beach was started four years ago as a way for the Noosa Tennis Club and Academy to link with the local state school. Cameron Porter of Sunshine Beach State School has been very supportive of the program and is constantly developing the skill and agility of the players through their PE classes.
