Wimbledon is just around the corner and as everyone hopes for a home-grown win in the form of Andy Murray, closer to home, the stars of the future have been competing to win the coveted Yorkshire Team Tennis Comp- etition.

Eight of Ilkley’s most talented six, seven and eight year olds competed in the Aegon Team Tennis Yorkshire 2013 event at the John Charles Tennis Centre in Leeds at the weekend.

There was delight as the Ilkley A team came out on top to be crowned the under-8 Yorkshire Team Tennis Champions.

Both Ilkley A and B played teams from across the county, including from as far afield as Huddersfield, Sheffield, Leeds, Hull, Bradford and York.

It was the team of Will Spencer, Nayan Cant, Will Spivey, and Lara Woffindin which came out on top to win the coveted title with the B team of Julia Horsley, Sami Pattinson, Will Baker, Sam Liversage finishing a respectable fifth.

Ilkley’s talented youngsters are coached weekly by the expert coaching team at Ilkley Lawn Tennis & Squash Club and on the way to the final their A team, beat Batley by 5 rubbers to 4, Thongsbridge A by 6-3 and in the final they beat Thongsbridge B also by 6-3.

The Ilkley Mini Tennis Team is sponsored by Harrogate Ladies’ College who not only back their national and local league teams, but also the club’s Winter and Summer Series of competitions which are open for any child to enter.

Alan Cutts (Ilkley Tennis & Squash Club’s Junior Tennis Co-ordinator) said, “We are delighted that our club and players have been crowned Yorkshire under-8 champ- ions “this achievement reflects all the hard work and practice that the players and coaches have put in. “The support of Harrogate Ladies’ College has been invaluable and has enabled us to deliver tennis excellence as part of our LTA performance accreditation and to extend our competitive programme for our mini players.

Nicky Butters, director of P.E. at Harrogate Ladies’ College said, “We are delighted that our sponsorship of the club has contributed to the success of the mini tennis programme at Ilkley and it is a fantastic achievement to be crowned Yorkshire champions. Congratulations to all involved.”

There are plenty of opportunities for all children to come down and play at the club with holiday courses taking place throughout the summer as well as the weekday and weekend term time tennis courses for children (all from ages 2 to 16).

A free two-hour coaching course will also take place on the morning of Saturday, July 13 for children aged 10 and under .

This is a Search for a Star event and this aims to identify children – many of whom will have never played the game before.

The winners of the event will also be offered free weekly coaching at the club.

For further information on all Summer courses and to obtain a Search for a Star application form log onto www.iltsc.co.uk or contact 01943 607182.