The Salmon Arm Tennis Club hosted their annual Rogers Rookie Tour event June 3, featuring three flights of juniors competing in this progressive tennis event. The competitors were divided into red court (under eight), orange court (under ten) and green got (under 12) competitions.

The Rogers Rookie Tour is a national program designed to bridge the gap between entry-level tennis and the provincial competitive junior circuit. Prior to 2009, Rookie Tour events were met with a great deal of success in many provinces.

This success led to the development of the national Rogers Rookie Tour program that was launched in 2009. This program has the potential to reach thousands of juniors each year at tennis clubs and tennis centres throughout the country, and can encourage these players to continue through the tennis pathway to become regular competitors or lifelong tennis enthusiasts.

A band of hard working volunteers prepared the SATC grounds and facility for 20 kids and their families, with some of these competitors coming from as far as Vernon, Kelowna, West Kelowna and Kamloops for this popular annual event.

Unfortunately rain showers meant the original start time of 1 p.m. needed to be pushed back for safety reasons to 2:30 p.m. when the courts had been mopped and dried enough to safely commence competitive play during a window of clear skies and even some sunshine before the rains came down again.

All players and spectators had enjoyed food and soft drinks donated by Askew’s Foods before the competition got under way.

The break in the rain showers did not last long. The organizers, headed by tournament director Bill Spencer, did manage to complete the red ball event where five-year-old Elijah Neufeld came out on top by winning each of his matches against a strong group of local girls. Unfortunately, due to the renewed rain, not enough matches could be played to establish a winner in the orange and green groups but notable showings and accomplished tennis play and sportsmanship was demonstrated in particular by local players Zeka Neufeld and Ronan Wiens in the orange event and by out of town players Cooper Corbett and Berkley Klarich in the green dot competition.

Submitted by Bill Spencer

Salmon Arm Observer