Last weekend, two members of the Tortola Sports Club Elite Tennis Programme, Paul Oliver and Justine Bryson, both came home with their Age Group Championship Titles from a Tournament held in Puerto Rico. Photo: TSC

“I only started practicing intensively last September so playing tournaments is still a new thing for me. I played two international tournaments so far – one in Jamaica this summer and now this tournament in Puerto Rico. I managed to get to the finals in Jamaica and win in Puerto Rico, which is an amazing feeling and it motivates me to practice even more and start playing more and more tournaments,” said Justine Bryson. Photo: TSC

Justine Bryson in action. Photo: TSC

“Playing a tournament is always exciting as you can test the hard work you put in during practice. You never know what to expect from the opponents whom you don’t know so you go into the matches blindfolded and have to play one point at a time and focus on one match at a time. It felt really good to move through the draw and end up with a trophy,” said Paul Oliver. Photo: TSC

Paul Oliver going through his paces. Photo: TSC

On October 10 - 13, 2014 Centro de Tennis Honda in San Juan, Puerto Rico, organized a tennis tournament for junior players of all ages with a total of 185 entrants. Paul Oliver and Justine Bryson represented the Virgin Islands and the Tortola Sports Club (TSC) in the categories of Girls’ 14 Singles and Boys’ 16 Singles.

Out of 20 participants in each draw, Paul and Justine became champions in their respective age categories.

Together with Jeron Smith, Paul Oliver and Justine Bryson form the Elite High Performance (HP) Junior Tennis Team at the TSC, which for the past year has been training with Amine Elouazzani, TSC Director of Tennis.

“We are very proud of the progress all three players from our Elite HP Junior Tennis Team made. It is a very nice stepping stone in Paul’s and Justine’s tennis development to bring home trophies and a great motivation to work harder. We are also looking forward to seeing Jeron join Paul and Justine in representing BVI at the next international tournament,” he said.

Mr. Elouazzani added, “Our Elite HP Junior Tennis Team consists of the oldest advanced junior players but we also have a good number of 10 & Under and 12 & Under players who are ready to start playing tournaments too and we are looking forward to seeing them compete internationally soon. Our goal is to continue developing players into a competitive level, promoting the sport in the BVI, and be able to send more children across the Caribbean to represent BVI in different tournaments.”

Scott Bryson, TSC Tennis Captain, who accompanied Paul and Justine to Torneo de Desarrollo 4, said, “The organizers put together a very nice event. Over the weekend, they completed over 150 matches in twelve different age categories. The majority of participants came from Puerto Rico, but apart from Tortola, there were also a lot of players from St. Thomas, St. John, and St. Croix. It was very nice to see our players compete and win.”

“Playing a tournament is always exciting as you can test the hard work you put in during practice. You never know what to expect from the opponents whom you don’t know so you go into the matches blindfolded and have to play one point at a time and focus on one match at a time. It felt really good to move through the draw and end up with a trophy,” said Paul.

“I only started practicing intensively last September so playing tournaments is still a new thing for me. I played two international tournaments so far – one in Jamaica this summer and now this tournament in Puerto Rico. I managed to get to the finals in Jamaica and win in Puerto Rico, which is an amazing feeling and it motivates me to practice even more and start playing more and more tournaments,” said Justine.