Disclaimer
No children, referees, or baked goods were harmed in the writing of this blog. Any tactical observations from the stands were made by highly qualified parents with at least Level 3 expertise in sideline coaching (i.e. folding arms, nodding knowingly, and whispering “he needs to keep it in”).
All views are those of a tired parent who spent the morning cleaning a conservatory instead of doing a parkrun. This article complies with the NMC Social Media Guidelines, the Lawn Tennis Association spirit of fair play, and the unwritten rule that cake is an essential performance enhancer.
Whilst the day is still fresh in my mind, I thought I’d better start writing this now. If I leave it until tomorrow evening, important nuances will be lost. Possibly replaced by vague memories of scorelines and a strong recollection of Apple cake.
The day began unusually late. Instead of the standard 7:00am wake-up call, our son generously granted us a lie-in.
7:33am.
That’s an entire 33 minutes of additional sleep. Practically a holiday.
We had planned parkrun, but decided to skip it — only to discover later it had been cancelled anyway due to lack of volunteers. Apparently the Taunton Half Marathon had something to do with this. Either way, fate clearly wanted us to stay home and tackle a far more demanding endurance event: the conservatory clear-out.
For context, the conservatory doubles as our son’s playroom. What started as a tidy-up became a full archaeological excavation. By mid-morning we had rediscovered toys from previous geological eras, several tennis balls of unknown origin, and at least one object that may once have been a craft project.
Lunch was appropriately performance-focused: pasta with tomato sauce, cheese, and salami sticks — the diet of champions.
Then it was off to Blackbrook Pavilion for the U9 County Cup.
Arrival and Early Observations
We arrived around 12:30pm to find the girls’ competition still in full swing and running about 90 minutes behind.
Gradually the Somerset boys assembled: Austin and Monty Carroll, Charlie Tackle, Zachary Meehan and Henry Deem. Boys being boys, they spent the waiting time analysing the matches they were watching and quickly reached the scientific conclusion that the girls “weren’t very good”.
I’m fairly certain several of the Avon girls could have provided a rapid reality check.
Meanwhile, Henry’s parents had brought blueberry muffins, and my wife — somehow after cleaning an entire conservatory — had produced a fresh Apple cake. I’m not entirely sure how she does this. I suspect either exceptional organisational skills or access to an industrial bakery.
The Format (Also Known as The Waiting Game)
Play eventually began. Each tie consisted of:
- Four singles
- Two doubles
- Fast4 format: first to four games, no advantage scoring, with a tie-break to 7 at 3-3
Interestingly, all singles of all the matches were played first, followed by the doubles. This meant long waiting periods, followed by everyone suddenly being asked to play again at the end. It felt slightly inefficient — the waiting time could easily have accommodated doubles — but perhaps there is a higher strategic logic known only to tournament schedulers.
With six boys and only four singles spots per match, rotation was inevitable. In the opening tie against Avon, our son and Henry sat out the singles. Avon won the tie 6–0. Our son and Henry played a doubles match which was competitive but lost 2–4.
Devon beat Cornwall 5–1 in the other match.
Somerset vs Devon — The Big One
Realistically, Somerset and Devon were battling for second place. Our son played at Position 4 against Joel Fitzpatrick — their first meeting.
He started strongly, racing to a 3–0 lead, and closed the match 4–1 to give Somerset a crucial 1–0 start.
Henry followed with a tight 4–3 win (7–2 in the tie-break).
Austin made it 3–0 with a comfortable 4–1 victory.
Monty narrowly lost 2–4 to Devon’s No.1.
Somerset led 3–1 after singles.
The doubles sealed it:
- Monty & Charlie: 4–1
- Austin & Henry: a dramatic tie-break win (9–7)
Final score: Somerset 5–1 Devon
At this point, second place was firmly within reach.
Somerset vs Cornwall — And a Rules Moment
Our son opened the final tie against Otto Campos Trolle.
He fell behind 1–2 after a slightly contentious point. His return had clearly gone long (visible from the stands), but play continued and he hit a winner. Otto then stated he had called the ball out — which it was — but neither the referee nor our son had heard the call.
After discussion, the referee awarded the point to Otto rather than replaying it.
For clarity: Under LTA competition rules, if a player makes a line call on their side and the ball is out, the point is awarded to them — even if the opponent didn’t hear the call — provided the call was made promptly and in good faith. A replay is only appropriate if there is genuine doubt or interference. So while frustrating, the decision was consistent with the principles of player-officiated matches.
Our son wasn’t impressed.
Enter Kerry, one of the Somerset coaches, who had a calm and timely chat during the changeover. Reset achieved. He refocused and closed the match 4–2.
Henry, Charlie and Zachary then won their singles, giving Somerset an unassailable 4–0 lead.
In the doubles, our son partnered Austin but lost 2–4.
Zachary and Monty won 4–2.
Final score: Somerset 5–1 Cornwall
The Final Standings
- Avon
- Somerset
- Devon
- Cornwall
A significant result — Somerset haven’t finished second in recent years at U9 level.
Individually, all Somerset players finished with non-negative records. Henry led the team at 3–1, while the others went 2–2, separated only by games won — which placed our son third within the team on game differential.
The Long Day (and the Inevitable Reward)
We had arrived at 12:30pm.
We left at 6:50pm.
That’s over six hours of tennis, waiting, cheering, cake consumption, emotional regulation, and tactical sideline analysis.
A McDonald’s stop on the way home was therefore not indulgence. It was recovery nutrition.
Final Thoughts
It was a long day, but a very positive one. All the boys competed well, supported each other, and showed real commitment. This is a strong group — and if they stay together, they have every chance to keep improving.
With Ted Perry not playing today and Edward Smith already waiting in the wings (and already competing at U9 despite being born in 2018), this group looks well set for the long run. There is depth coming through, which is always encouraging.
What stood out most was the mindset. These boys have clearly spent time on the tournament circuit. When they fell behind, there was very little drama, no visible panic, and generally cool heads under pressure — often noticeably calmer than the watching parents, it has to be said.
All of them are committed to training hard and then putting themselves on the line in tournaments across Somerset and the surrounding counties. That experience is starting to show.
Focusing briefly on our son: Serve, serve, and more serve needs to be the main agenda for this year. In a few games today, a slightly vulnerable serve was exposed rather efficiently. At this level, opponents don’t miss many opportunities to attack a second serve. Technical work and repetition will be key.
A quick word on the girls’ event earlier in the day. The Somerset girls unfortunately lost their matches 6–0 across the board. In total, they won 18 games out of a possible 72 (six rubbers, four games per match, three ties). That’s not a criticism of effort — they all competed — but the gap in standard was noticeable. Whether this reflects a smaller player pool, differences in competition exposure, or coaching structure is hard to say.
I’m certainly not claiming expertise here (if this were chess, different conversation entirely), but there may be some wider development questions for the girls’ section in Somerset.
Because at county level, simply turning up probably shouldn’t feel like the end goal.
Overall, though, a very encouraging day for the Somerset boys.
Also, critically, the Apple cake and Blueberry Muffins were excellent.
Which, as any experienced tennis parent knows, remains the true performance metric.
Pseudocyst 
What do you think?