Kingaroy welcomed more than 80 players for their biggest junior development tournament yet.
The Maccas Junior Development Series round at the Kingaroy Tennis Club was held on Saturday 2 and Sunday 3 August.
The regional round was part of the Sunshine Coast junior tennis tournament series.
Sunshine Coast Tennis Development Officer Jack Mellish noted this was the biggest round Kingaroy had ever hosted.
“We’re stoked, we’ve almost got double the number of entries we had last year,” he said.
A total of 83 junior players ranging in ages from 8 to 17-years-old braved the chilled Kingaroy winter air for the tennis tournament. Over the weekend, the juniors accumulated points.
Kieran Boynton of Mr B’s Professional Tennis, shared a total of 15 South Burnett children participated in the competition.
“For a lot of the local kids it was their first JDS, experience was a big thing,” Boynton said.
Of note, South Burnett tennis player Rachel Riley won the green ball event, and her twin brother Andrew Riley received runner-up.
Fellow Kingaroy tennis player Henry Harch was pleased to win the best effort award in the orange ball competition.
Boynton was stoked with how the junior tournament went overall.
“There may have been teeth chattering on the sidelines, but the kids played really well,” she said.
She noted the Kingaroy round attracted more entries than the Toowoomba JDS.
Mellish shared the other junior players travelled from various locations including the Sunshine Coast, Toowoomba, and Dalby.
“It’s really great for rural tennis, because it was huge in the past but it’s kind of died off in the last 10, 20, 30 years,” Mellish said.
“It’s great to see people from different areas coming together, and for our kids at least seeing what it’s like out in the country.”
Tournaments like these help challenge the junior players and further develop their skills.
“It’s pretty common for these kids to play the same sort of players each weekend in the JDS series at the Sunshine Coast,” Mellish said.
“When we come out rurally and we get this different crop of kids it’s great, it’s a whole new bunch of kids, it is a good experience for everyone.”
The Maccas Junior Development Series forms monthly tournaments hosted at different locations from Caboolture to Gympie and Kingaroy.
The series forms an entry-level pathway for junior players to make the Sunshine Coast Development Team.
