Published on: 1 August 2014





Ten boys played tennis across England, as well as Munich and Madrid, over the July school holidays. The tour group played on world-class clay courts and spent a day at the 2014 Wimbledon Championships.

Firsts Tennis Coach Darren McPartland, who was accompanied by Teacher in Charge of Tennis Drew McDonald, said the tour was a great success. In previous years, boys have had the opportunity to visit Melbourne and the Australian Open; however, Mr McPartland believes this is the School’s first international tennis tour.

The group spent about two weeks visiting and competing against some of England’s oldest and most prestigious schools including Sevenoaks, Abingdon, Eton and Tonbridge. Mr McPartland said the team’s performance against the English schools was impressive, most notably Tim Gray who did not drop a set.

A highlight for many boys, despite the long queues, was the day at Wimbledon. Enjoying a pleasant English summer day, most of the group watched Kevin Anderson and Fabio Fognini (20th and 16th seeds), and then moved around to several courts getting up-close to the action and several players.

Of the UK experience, Angus Barber said it was “a real eye opener to the incredible grandeur of some of the classic English schools”, while Liam Donovan said it was great to meet up with Christ Church boys Tim Guggenheimer and Devon He, who were on exchange at Tonbridge. “The boys gave us a tour of the school including their array of cricket pitches, one of which was rolled four hours a day to retain Tonbridge’s accolade of the flattest cricket pitch in England!”

Sam Ng said while travelling through the English schools and winning matches was a highlight for many of his teammates, taking the journey as a team was his highpoint. “The comradeship and banter amongst the group was the unlikely apogee of a long, arduous journey to England,” he said.

The group then flew to Munich, where they stayed at the BTV Tennisbase for five days. The routine included morning and afternoon training sessions with free time in between to explore the city and surrounds. Sightseeing included visits to the Olympic Stadium, BMW Museum, Allianz Arena and Dachau Concentration Camp.

The final tour stop was Madrid where the boys trained at the Federation de Tennis de Madrid under the guidance of its head coach and assistant coaches. Each day, the boys completed a grueling fitness and training program, which often involved hitting with a former world number one junior who was transitioning to the professional circuit. When not on the courts, the boys enjoyed shopping, exploring the city, swimming, the Madrid theme park and a visit to the home ground of Real Madrid.