Disclaimer:

This blog reflects personal experiences and opinions. It is not affiliated with, nor endorsed by, Somerset LTA, Taunton Tennis Centre, or any official organisation. All names mentioned (except family) are either public figures or anonymised.

Whilst still officially on holiday, our son was invited to attend the Somerset U9 tennis trials last Sunday.

Now, being a proud member of the U8 setup doesn’t automatically give you a golden ticket into the next age group. Forms needed filling, signatures needed scribbling, and the Somerset LTA needed convincing that our little warrior was worthy of a shot.

So, after returning the paperwork, we made our way to the Taunton Tennis Centre (Blackbrook) on Sunday morning.

Rusty but ready

The timing wasn’t ideal. After The Great Slide Accident last month, sport had been on the backburner, apart from hitting a few balls at the Ion Țiriac Academy in Brașov while we were abroad.

He managed one Thursday session back home but missed Wednesday’s due to both parents being otherwise chained to work. In short: he was rusty.

When we arrived, the usual suspects were already there, alongside a few new faces. A new coach—new to us at least—was running the U9 group, assisted by Kerry (Manager of Tennis in Taunton) and a mystery man we hadn’t seen before.

Curiously, the coaches didn’t introduce themselves to parents. Maybe they did to the kids, but not to us, which felt a little odd.

Twenty strong contenders

Around 20 kids turned up, including just four girls, all familiar from the U8 setup. While chatting with other parents, we learned that two talented female players have recently moved away—a real blow for Somerset tennis.

After a quick warm-up, the children were launched into 105 minutes of drills, drills, and more drills. Parents watched, speculated, and sipped lukewarm coffee while secretly hoping their offspring wouldn’t trip over their own shoelaces.

The verdict

At the end, our son casually reported that we’d receive an email during the week. If he’d made the cut, there’d be more county training sessions to pay for—Friday evenings, once a month, two hours at a time.

Well, the email arrived today. He’s in. Along with the news came a cheery reminder of dates, times, and (of course) the bank details. Yay.

Tomorrow, weather permitting, we’re heading to Devizes for a tournament. The main reason? To avoid Yeovil. The bonus reason? He’ll get to play some different boys and girls. Variety, after all, is the spice of junior tennis.