For almost 40 years, the third Sunday in March has seen east Auckland tennis courts full of local youngsters contesting the annual Charman Cup competition.
Teams from Bucklands Beach, Cockle Bay, Howick, Pakuranga and Sunnyhills Tennis Clubs participate, with each club fielding a team of 20 made up of 10 girls and 10 boys, aged between nine and 15-years-old.
With every player wearing a club shirt proudly, and a different age group hosted at each club, it was an impressive sight across the local area to see these 100 juniors demonstrating their tennis skills.
The Cup was founded in 1985 by Joy Charman, a strong player herself, who was a much-respected tennis administrator including as a long-time committee member, president and life member of Tennis Auckland (the governing body representing all 50+ affiliated tennis clubs in Auckland).
Charman was instrumental in establishing the midweek ladies doubles competitions played on Monday and Tuesday mornings across Auckland, as well as being a keen member and former president of Pakuranga Tennis Club.
In this year’s competition, Bucklands Beach Tennis Club, led by their highly-respected coach, Julia Sim, won again, but only a few points ahead of Cockle Bay juniors, with Pakuranga in third place.
All five local clubs welcome new members and provide play and coaching for juniors and seniors, and at all levels of ability.
Contact for more information:
Bucklands Beach Tennis Club tennis@bbtc.co.nz
Cockle Bay Tennis Club admin@cocklebaytennis.co.nz
Howick Tennis Club howicktennis@xtra.co.nz
Pakuranga Tennis Club paktennis@xtra.co.nz
Sunnyhills Tennis Club sunnyhillstennis@gmail.com
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