Ayr Tennis Juniors Flourish In The Delta Cup

In the same week three Aussie men made it to the last 16 at the US Open, the Ayr Tennis Association was overflowing with local juniors playing in the annual Delta Cup tennis tournament. Ayr tennis coach Patrea Bojack said the weekend was an enormous success with some exciting youngsters heading for higher honours after surviving some close calls on the way to finals.  

Alex Swinney and Michael Lindley led the way in the yellow ball top division while Keegan Carter and Nash Christie fought out the green ball final. Additionally, Tom Chandler and Adison Robertson secured victories in the red ball and orange ball divisions.  

Still in its infancy, the Delta Cup is designed for local kids that are coached by Patrea and her team at Delta Tennis to put the skills they’ve learnt since the start of the year into action in a full tournament.  

“Having this for them you really see the improvement and the main aim is getting them into match mode,” Patrea said.  

“I love to see the kids actually playing a match as tennis is not an easy sport to pick up - it takes time to learn and build skills and I know their parents love seeing them in action”  

Patrea also added Alex Swinney has really started to improve in 2024 and is has been competing in the regional JDS circuit this year. On the back of that Michael Lindley has played consistently to secure a spot in the JDS final this weekend, with the Ayr Tennis Association wishing him all the best for the tournament.

Patrea explained that you are never too young or too old to start playing tennis, and the sport has changed to embrace juniors of all talent levels.  

“We have 5-year-olds, we have 17-year-olds and different coloured levels in tennis now with blue as a pre rally then Red, Orange, Green & Yellow Ball for the juniors to progress to.  

They continue to handle the ball and court better as they progress with the smaller court for the youngest players with lower compression balls and bigger courts and harder balls as they get older,” Patrea said.  
Ayr Tennis Association was fortunate to receive a grant from the Rural Sustainability programme at Tennis Queensland.  This made the weekend a free event and the juniors received a free Delta Cup shirt that represents the colours of their talent levels.  

Patrea Bojack was very thankfull for the support of the club and its volunteers for making the weekend a huge success with great weather as well.  

Friday the Red ballers got the competition underway and after that the club had a social tennis family night where all the courts were full.   

Red Ball results:  
Div 1 winner -Tom Chandler  
Runner up - Lincoln Harvey  
Div 2 winner- Sebastian Belke  
Runner up- Harper Beltrame 
Div 3 winner – Koa Wight 
Runner up – Brydie Mc Shane 
Div 4 winner- Eloise Frau 
Runner up- Mila Bunyan 

The older players took part in the tournament on Sunday and excelled in fantastic conditions.  

Orange ball results: 
Div 1 winner Adison Robertson  
Runner up – Archie Sgori 
Div 2 – winner- leytonn Vidler 
Runner up- Cooper Cordie 
Div 3 – winner -Ebony Cordie 
Runner up- David Holm 
 
Green ball 
Div 1 winner- Keegan Carter 
Runner up- Nash Christie 
 
Yellow ball 
Winner- Alex Swinney 
Runner up – Michael Lindley 

Anyone who would like to take tennis lessons or be part of the next Delta Cup can consult the Delta Tennis or Ayr Tennis Association Facebook sites or come down to watch the JDS finals this weekend at Ayr courts or on Tuesday & Wednesday afternoons.  

Contributed with thanks to Patrea Bojack.

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Delta Cup Red Ballers brought plenty of skill and action to the courts last weekend!
Orange, Green and Yellow Ballers enjoyed the fantastic morning.

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