The Okotoks Tennis Centre is breaking ground on the season in more ways than one. This weekend’s Tennis Alberta U12 Championship series event at its Tower Hill courts marks the first time the club has hosted a provincial competition in what is the unofficial kick-off to the season. “What we have coming to us is the top 48 U12s in the province and it’s split evenly, 24 girls and 24 boys,” said tournament director KJ Read. “They have three or four of them throughout the year at different locations and the kids use these tournaments to accumulate points in their seedings and standings which allows them to qualify for the year end provincials or even year end nationals.” The championship series event is the first of the outdoor season for the young athletes. OTC applied to host the tournament three months back as a means to grow the game in the area. “The fact that we’ve never hosted before you don’t know what to expect,” Read added. “I’m organizing it and learning as I go. We’ve got a good volunteer base to get through it. “I enquired to Tennis Alberta and said ‘hey we’re looking to get involved, what’s available?’” There was only timeslot available in any age group for the outdoor season, which just happened to be the kick-off event. “It’s right of refusal, so once you host it and if you do a good job and it goes smooth you have the opportunity to host again next year,” he said. “That’s what we’re banking on. We’re trying to promote the sport here in the town, build up our exposure and membership and what better way to do that than to start getting these grassroots tournaments at the youth age.” Okotokian Cody Genereux will be flying the Foothills flag as the lone local competitor in the event. That’s a number organizers hope to improve upon the future. “Hopefully it’s more than Cody next time we host this, that we have three or four kids,” Read added. Read, who umpires during the indoor tennis season, has been thoroughly impressed in the youthful talent he’s seen in the province. “I’ve seen the U12s play and man alive, for 11, 12 years old, the way they hit the ball they could wipe out half our adult membership,” he said with a laugh. “They’ve got the form down, they’ve got personal coaches already. You expect that from U18 to 14, but man these kids can really play tennis.” The single elimination tournament, held May 17-20, will have the athletes play three set matches. The third set, if needed, will be a super tiebreak, which goes to the first player to reach 10 points. Okotoks Mayor Bill Robertson and Highwood MLA Wayne Anderson will be on hand for an opening ceremony on May 18 at 6 p.m. at the Tower Hill courts. For more information on the event go to okotokstennis.com
