A dream is set to come true for twenty two learners after they jetted off to London on Wednesday to attend the greatest tennis event on earth, the 2017 Wimbledon Championships.
The learners make up the under 19 and under 15 TSA High Schools tennis teams - who were capped at a ceremony at OR Tambo International Airport, by the President of Tennis South Africa (TSA), Gavin Crookes, and the TSA CEO, Richard Glover.
The team will not only attend the Wimbledon Championships, they will also play two matches against top English tennis establishments namely Millfield College on indoor grass and the Lawn tennis association (LTA) Academy in Sutton on red clay.
The players were selected after the recent Junior High Schools Inter Provincial event in Gauteng North which included players from all 14 tennis provinces.
The teams are as follows;
- Tife Bakre - St Cyprians Cape Town (Western Province)
- Maretha Burger - Stellenbosch Hoërskool (Boland)
- Anja De Beer - Brandwag Hoërskool Uitenhage (Eastern Cape)
- Corin De Waal – Hoer Meisieskool Bloemhof (Western Cape)
- Tamsin Hart - St Mary's Waverley (Gauteng Central)
- Olivia Isaacs - Tuks Sport High School (Gauteng North)
- Samantha Johnson - St Dominics Boksburg (Gauteng East)
- Hunsa Kathrada - Westville Girls High(Kwa-Zulu Natal)
- Amukelani Mokone - St Mary's Waverley (Gauteng Central)
- Gizelle Naude - Oranje Meisieskool (Free State)
- Sisipho Ndlabhu - Hudson Park East London (Eastern Cape)
- Rochelle Pienaar - Hoer Meisieskool Bloemhof (Boland)
- Jessica Portwig - Helpmekaar Kollege (Gauteng Central)
- Linge Steenkamp - Oranje Meisieskool (Free State)
- Maud Tsaura - Curro Hazeldean (Gauteng Central)
- Mieke Van Deventer - Helpmekaar Kollege (Gauteng Central)
- Kiara Wakeford - Hoërskool Diamantveld (Northern Cape)
- Alec Beckley - Hoërskool Linden (Gauteng Central)
- Ruben Fortuin - Paul Roos Gimnasium (Boland)
- Luke Geduldt - Groote Schuur High (Western Cape)
- Kwanda Mbalekwa - Hudson Park East London (Eastern Cape)
- Daniel Tam - Hoërskool Cradock (Eastern Cape)
Photo caption:
Back row (from left to right); Linge Steenkamp, Corin De Waal, Marius Masencamp (coach), David Jaquire (manager), Jenny Koster (manager), Sisipho Ndlabhu, Ruben Fortuin, Alec Beckley.
Middle row (from left to right); Jessica Portwig, Anja De Beer, Samantha Johnson, Olivia Isaacs, Tamsin Hart, Kwanda Mbalekwa, Kiara Wakeford, Amukelani Mokone, Maud Tsaura.
Back row (from left to right); Hunsa Kathrada, Maretha Burger, Mieke Van Deventer, Daniel Tam, Luke Geduldt, Rochelle Pienaar, Tife Bakre, Gizelle Naude.