Female tennis players from across the region take part in first regional Tennis Australia program in WA

Junior tennis players in the Great Southern were part of the first regional Tennis Australia program in WA, the Females in Tennis Development Camp that was held in Albany last Friday. A total of 28 female tennis players from across the region took part in the special one-day session run by Tennis West and the Lower Great Southern Tennis Association. Children participated in exciting activities for seven hours, with a focus on building connections on and off the court to the sport and between fellow players as well as working on the drive volley fundamentals. The girls watched vision from some of Australia’s leading female players performing the drive volley and took notes before heading on to the court to work the craft. The day also consisted of getting in teams to come up with their own drills to work on building their teamwork along with improving on the basics of tennis. The nationwide camps will run for at least the next three years. Former women’s world tour member and Tennis Australia’s talent operations manager in WA Emma Hayman and Tennis Australia talent program coach Marisa Gianotti presented the event. “We’re able to strip out some of the winning and losing and focus more on development and the idea of a collaborative attempt to push each other along,” Hayman said. “We want these girls to feel a sense of belonging and that they are a part of Australian female tennis community. “These camps are going to be delivered nationwide across the regions, and due to WA being in such great condition during COVID we thought we would roll out the first one in WA more importantly Albany, due to the exciting proposal of the new tennis facility. “We absolutely loved Albany, the place, the people and the support from the community in Albany was incredible.”