BPTA NEWSLETTER
01/09/12 – 31/03/13
It’s been another busy six months for the BPTA’s players. Many of our players
have battled through the horrible winter conditions putting in some great
performances and improving their Mini Tennis Ratings, which has allowed
some players to move up to the next colour ball early. In our players report
below you can read all about some County and Regional Identification success
as well as some promising statistics in the County and Regional Competition
Leaderboards. There is also news of our youngest BPTA players who are
starting to get a taste for competition with some early success.
MINI TENNIS RATINGS AND COMPETITION
If you don’t know how the Mini Tennis Ratings and Competition system works
then let me quickly explain; there are different ratings for each mini tennis
level e.g. Red, Orange and Green. For Mini Tennis Red players the ratings start
at level 4 and go down to level 1, 1 being the best. It’s similar for Orange and
Green players, but they can get down to a level 1*. You improve your rating by
competing and playing matches. For a player to get down from a level 4 to a
level 2 it’s simply about playing a certain amount of matches which varies
throughout the levels, but has no emphasis on winning or losing. For a player
to get down from a level 2 to level 1 it’s again about playing a number of
matches but also a player must record a certain amount of wins as well. In
Orange and Green for a player to move from level 1 to a level 1* it’s about
recording more wins in Grade 3 or lower competitions only! These are Regional
and National competitions.
I feel it’s important readers know how the Ratings and Competition system
works so they can appreciate how hard some of our BPTA players have worked
and what they have accomplished. At the BPTA we set a goal to all our players
who are old enough to start competing that they must reach their level 2
rating. Players who only participate in the Matchplay events within their
squads will struggle to make this target, whereas the players who travel to LTA
events at different clubs are the ones who reach their level 2 rating. If a player
has reached their level 1 rating then you know they are very committed and
have not just played in many events but have also been successful against
other level 1 and 2 rated players.
The BPTA now has its very own website at www.bptacademy.co.uk where you
can find out all the information about the BPTA and the programmes we run.
There is a very helpful section for parents explaining all about how the
competition and ratings system works as well as offering useful advice on how
you can help you child progress. You can also read up on all the latest news
and forthcoming events including holiday camps and competitions. You can
also find this information on the BPTA noticeboard, which is down at the club
on the wall next to the Men’s changing rooms.
OLI AND WILL IMPRESS AGAIN!
Oli Spooner and Will Green, who consistently impress in every season, have
once again excelled themselves by both reaching the top Orange rating
possible. Both boys managed to get to an Orange 1* this season which has not
only enabled them to compete at Green level early but also means they go
straight to a Green 1 rating allowing them to play in the top Green
tournaments. To achieve an Orange 1* rating, which is the top level you can
reach at Orange, you have to win an extra 20 matches against players with an
Orange 1 or 1* rating. This is a hard enough task on its own, but to make it
harder you can only record these wins in tournaments graded 1-3 which are
National and Regional level competitions. This is a fantastic accomplishment
and the boys deserve a lot of praise for their efforts. Well done Oli and Will!
Please see a picture of the boys with Oli Spooner(right) and Will Green(left):
Due to their hard work and success the boys now train with BETA
(Berkhamsted Elite Tennis Academy) more than a year early. The boys are a
great example for the younger BPTA players to follow and we hope for more
success stories like these. Oli also finished a very impressive 22nd in the East
Regional Tour Competition Leaderboard and Will not far behind in 54th
position. The British Tennis Leaderboards are a mathematical method of
ranking players who compete in a competition circuit over a specific period of
time. They come into play at 9&under, which is Orange level, and work all the
way up to 18&under. The Regional Tour Competition Leaderboard is for all
players in the region, in our case East England, who have been competing in
the grade 3 regional tour events. Again, I feel it necessary to explain how this
system works so you can appreciate how hard the boys have worked and what
they have achieved.
HANNAH AND LOLA IN THE TOP TEN!
Hannah Davis and Lola Hannah have also had a very good season as both girls
have managed to move up to an Orange 2 rating and finish inside the top ten
on the girls County Competition Leaderboard for Bucks. The girls have
managed to move up a rating by entering some County Tour events which are
grade 4&5 competitions. As soon as you compete in these events you start to
record results which count for the County Leaderboard in your area.
The Matchplay events we play within our BPTA squads will help towards your
mini tennis ratings but to move up to a level 2 or higher, or qualify for the
County Leaderboard you must look to enter these County Tour events. A big
well done to Hannah and Lola for looking to compete outside of their squads
helping them get their Orange 2 ratings and a huge well done for such an
impressive finish on the County Leaderboard, with Lola finishing the season in
4th and Hannah 6th.
Please see a picture of the girls with Lola Hannah(left) and Hannah Davis(right):
WHAT A GREAT SEASON FOR MADDIE!
Maddie Keohane has continued to impress this season after a very successful
2012, where she won two grade 3 competitions and a grade 4 at Berkhamsted
last summer, as well as achieving her Red 1 rating. Maddie’s 2013 started
busily as she attended the Herts County Identification day. This is where clubs
send their most promising seven and eight year olds to be identified by the LTA
talent team. They take part in some physical tests at first and then move on to
look at their tennis skills and finally matchplay. If selected, players are then
invited to attend a Regional Identification day which indicated the child is
playing at a very high standard! Maddie obviously impressed as she was then
invited to attend the regional ID day for East England for her age group, which
is a great accomplishment by itself! Maddie did very well and her report was
very encouraging. She is now working hard training with the Orange ball as she
will be assessed again at this level in June.
When Maddie was taking part in her County ID day she was also spotted by the
captain of the Herts 8&under team, who was very impressed by Maddie and
invited her to join the Herts County training squads. These squads were in
preparation for the County Team Tournament for all the Counties in East
England. Maddie attended three training sessions where six were to be
selected to represent Herts. Maddie was selected and played for Herts who
went on to win the whole event. What made this even more impressive for
Maddie is she was one of the youngest players there as she still has another
year where she can compete at this level. Fantastic effort Maddie and very
well done!
Please see photo of Maddie below with the cup:
TOP RATINGS AND EARLY SUCCESS FOR BPTA PLAYERS!
We have already read about the success of Oli and Will on how they reached
the top Orange 1* rating. The 1* ratings are only possible at Orange and Green
level so in Red the top rating is Red 1. If you can reach your Red 1 rating this
wil allow you to play up at Orange one year before your age will let you. We
have many young players who are just starting out and are working towards
this top Red rating. As I mentioned above to achieve your Red 1 rating its
about playing a high number of matches and winning a cerain percentage
against other Red 1&2 rated players. This will only be achieved by playing
competitions at different clubs and centres around the county. You will
struggle to make this top rating by only playing the mataches within your BPTA
squads, although these will help of course. There are four BPTA players who
have managed to reach their Red 1 rating at seven years of age. These players
deserve great praise and should be used as an example to a youngest BPTA
players as this is the committmnet we are looking for from all out players. I
would like to congratulate Maddie Keohane, Jack Callaghan, Amelie Spooner
and Finn Bullen for reaching their Mini Red 1 rating. Well done!
Please see a photo of below:
There are also many young Red players who are working hard and playing
competitions . These players have worked there way down to their Red 2
ratings and are not far away from that top mark. Some of these players have
now moved to Orange ratings due to their age but still deserve credit for
achieving the goal of BPTA players which is to reach their level 2 rating. So
congratulations go out to the following players: Annabel Hopwood, Jack Gill,
Sam Hardwicke, Kane Roberts, Alexander Davis, Ethan Fienson, Barney Baines
and Esme Ivory. Esme Ivory is still only six years old as has already managed to
reach her Red 2 rating which is fantastic. A big well done must also go to
Barney Baines who played in his first Red Competition in November which he
won. This was the Grade 5 competition at Berkhamsted for Red 3&4 rated
players. Well done Barney!
Please see a picture of Barney below with his winners medal:
BPTA PLAYERS RATINGS
The list below shows the BPTA players who have managed to work down to
their level 1 & 2 ratings. We have many BPTA players at Red, Orange and
Green 3 ratings who are very close to adding their names to this list. If you
manage to achieve your goal and reach a level 2 rating then please let me
know and I will add you name to the list. You will receive an email when your
rating or ball colour changes if you are a British Tennis member. Remember
the only way of reaching you level 2 rating is by competing and looking to
travel to tournaments to nearby clubs and centres. If you would like to know
your rating or how many competitions you’ve played then you can look this up
on the LTA website at find a player. You can view a list of all the BPTA players
and their ratings on the new BPTA website at www.bptacademy.co.uk or on
the BPTA noticeboard in the clubhouse.
NAME
Oliver Spooner
Will Green
Maddie Keohane
Finn Bullen
Amelie Spooner
Jack Callaghan
Hannah Davis
Olivier Mcloughlin
Ursula Keohane
Lola Hannah
Jack Gill
Sam Hardwicke
Annabel Hopwood
Kane Roberts
Alexander Davis
Ethan Feinson
Barney Baines
Esme Ivory
RATING (01/04/13)
Orange 1* /Green 1
Orange 1* /Green 1
Red 1 /Orange 4
Red 1 /Orange 4
Red 1 /Orange 4
Red 1 /Orange 4
Orange 2
Orange 2 /Green 4
Orange 2 /Green 4
Orange 2
Red 2 /Orange 4
Red 2 /Orange 4
Red 2 /Orange 4
Red 2
Red 2
Red 2
Red 2
Red 2
COMPETITIONS PLAYED (01/04/13)
108 Played
102 played
22 played
12 played
17 played
15 played
25 played
19 played
21 played
10 played
13 played
6 played
15 played
13 played
14 played
6 played
6 played
11 played
PLAYED IN LAST SIX MONTHS
17 played
15 played
6 played
n/a
4 played
6 played
6 played
10 played
3 played
7 played
4 played
4 played
7 played
8 played
3 played
5 played
5 played
8 played