Frank Sedgman Cup Teams Training Hard

The Frank Sedgman Cup is an annual representative teams competition run by Tennis Victoria which brings together the best 11 & Under players in the state.  All children playing competition in either Bayside Regional Tennis Association or Moorabbin & Districts Junior Tennis Association are invited to trial for positions in the teams that represent each Association.  The 2019 trial held at Royal Avenue Tennis Centre in February saw 36 children compete for the opportunity to represent their local tennis Association in the Cups series that includes the Wayne Arthurs Cup for 10 & Unders and the Alicia Molik Cup for 12 & Unders.

The 2019 teams are:

BRTA

1. Kalan Lai                            Royal South Yarra
2. Hamish Farquharson      Port Melbourne Tennis Club

1. Madison King                    St James
2. Grace Thomas                   Beaumaris Community Centre Tennis Club

Team Manager: Bernard Lai

MDJTA

1. Kurtis Bartholomeusz     Beaumaris Lawn Tennis Club
2. Thomas Flood                  Beaumaris Lawn Tennis Club

1. Savannah James              Beaumaris Community Centre Tennis Club
2. Ruby Kirkwood                Beaumaris Community Centre Tennis Club

Team Manager Malcolm Kirkwood

This years event will be held at Traralgon Tennis Centre 27-28 July, 2019

As part of the program the children receive some unique training and coaching opportunities.  This year the eight players spent 3 hours on the Mornington Peninsula working with 10 time Grand Slam Champion Cara Black and her husband Brett Stephens.  Cara spent 163 weeks ranked as World No 1. in doubles (145 consecutive, second only to Martina Navratilova all time).  She has won 60 WTA doubles titles and 10 Grand Slam doubles titles (from 17 Grand Slam finals) including a career Mixed Doubles Grand Slam.  

Brett played over 130 senior AFL games and captained the Victorian State AFL Team as well as representing Australia in the International Rules series against Ireland.  Upon retiring from football he spent over 20 years on the Professional tennis tour as a Mental Fitness trainer helping a variety of players get to No. 1 in the world.  Today he continues to work with a number of professional golfers and touring surfers to help them compete at their very best.  Brett is best known for his work with Mark Philippoussis and then with Pete Sampras, where he was employed full-time for the last five years of Pete’s career including the US Open victory in Pete’s last Grand Slam event.

Cara instructed the children on how to cross and be aggressive at the net.  She made sure that rather than crossing in a straight line parallel to the net that they actually moved diagonally going forward and across.  She also explained that when she was playing she did not have the power of Venus and Serena Williams so when playing doubles she had to rely on attributes like speed and reflexes to counter her opponents.  Brett talked to the players about becoming competitors and what it takes to compete.  He focussed on ambition and dreams relating it to Cara’s upbringing in Zimbabwe – if you think you can do something never let somebody make you think you can’t, was his message.  The children where enthralled hearing the story about how Cara and her brother came back from four match points down to win the Wimbledon Mixed Doubles crown.

The day finished with a spectacular volleying drill against the wall where the players tried to beat Cara’s record of 100 volleys in 30 seconds.  The children were encouraged to keep a low base and use their legs for power.  Cara demonstrated that she had not lost her touch.  Doing the wall drill regularly helps build strength in the arms and wrists.

Good Luck to this year’s teams.