South Africa under 12 tour to Italy and Germany July
The SA under12 team: Jan Paul Berry, Jan Louis Maritz, Morgan Dickason and Marsha Ann Jansen van Rensburg and manager/coach Bridget Visee set off to Europe on 11 July. Two of the four were flying overseas for the first time. We flew from Johannesburg to Cairo had a 6 hour wait then flew to Milan. We were fetched from the airport and taken to our hotel which was another hour and a half drive. The youngsters travelled very well and proved they would all be able to handle a life on the road.
The SA under 12 team with Manager/Coach Bridget Visee
We managed to have a few good practises on the clay and the boys particularly enjoyed the “sliding”.
Ten countries were represented in the Nations cup. We were drawn into a group with Great Britain and Lithuania and also drawn to play our matches on clay. (Two sections played on clay and two played on hard court)
back - Jan Louis Maritz and Jan Berry front - Morgan Dickason and Marsha Ann van Rensburg
Day 1 saw us playing Lithuania with the boys playing first. Both boys won their singles and were also victorious in the doubles. The girls played in the afternoon and both lost their singles but managed to pull one back when they won the doubles.
Day 2 saw the boys playing Great Britain and Jan Louis Maritz had a titanic battle in his singles winning a marathon match in 37 deg heat. Jan Paul Berry also had a very tough match going down in straights. With the tie being one all it came down to the doubles. The boys lost the first set in a tiebreaker and then hung on to win the second set 7 – 5 and so it came down to the third set super tiebreaker. This was very exciting and the boys pulled through 10 – 7. Winning both their ties ensured the boys won their section and were through to the semi final.
Day 3 saw the girls playing Great Britain and both had very tough matches but eventually both went down in straights. The doubles was alot closer and after losing the first set 4 – 6, they went up 5 – 2 but unfortunately let it slip and lost the set 5 – 7.
The boys were drawn to play Hungary in the semis and Jan Louis got SA off to great start by winning his match in 3 against the no. 3 ranked Hungarian player. Jan Paul Berry was up next and played the no 1 ranked under 12 player from Hungary. He put up a great fight but went down to one of the tougher players in the tournament. Once again we were 1 all in matches and it came down to the doubles. The boys lost in straights after putting up a great fight. The Nations cup was a wonderful experience for the children and they certainly gained from it.
We stayed in a lovely hotel and were treated very well by our Italian hosts. (The pizzas are as good as people say!!)
We then flew to Bremen, Germany to play in an under 12 tournament on clay. None of the children had to qualify which gave us more time to practise on the clay, with everyone getting better and better and getting a better understanding how you have to work harder to win the points.
Jan Paul and Marsha Ann both got tough first round draws and went down in straights. Jan Louis and Morgan won their first round matches. Jan Louis made it to the last 16. Both boys and girls made it to the semi finals of the doubles. A excellent achievement all round.
Having a day off before we left we went into to Bremen and did a harbour tour and looked at the wonderful buildings and churches. The rest of the time was spent on shopping for bargains with the boys defiantly being the bigger shoppers.
The next day saw us being picked up at our hotel and at 8.30 am and we flew a similar route home and were at our various destinations the next afternoon. A long time on the road and the children once again travelled very well and from the feedback received, they had a great time and learnt alot about life on the road.
