On Saturday 14th December, Ballymena LTC hosted their annual junior awards morning in the Ballymena Academy Sixth Form Centre.
This was their biggest junior awards morning in the clubs history, with over 130 juniors and parents in attendance.
This year’s guest of honour was Ballymena Senior Club legend Mike Morarean. Mike has been a member of Ballymena LTC for over 20 years, helping the club win numerous league titles in singles and doubles throughout this time.
He is also an Irish ranked senior player, ranking number 7 in Ireland for his age category.
Mike, over the years, has also taken the younger players under his wing, giving them guidance and support during senior club play and leagues.
He is a truly respected Ballymena member and we were honoured to have him present at the ceremony.
The awards morning began with a wonderful welcoming speech from our junior committee chairwoman Eleanor Ireland.
This was followed by our two junior captains, Peter Gamble and Jessica Alexander explaining to those listening what Ballymena LTC means to them. Their opinions of the club were both heartfelt and rewarding to hear by all club officials.
The main event was obviously to congratulate and celebrate our junior members and their achievements both on and off the court.
This was the club’s biggest trophy presentation ever, with some 28 trophies to be distributed.
Trophies were given to those aged between 5-18 years of age covering a wide range of categories, including singles, doubles and mixed championships.
Players were also recognised for their contributions off court with our volunteers being celebrated through the Volunteer Now Impact Awards.
Members had achieved distinction certificates, along with gathering volunteering hours accumulating to 50,100 and over 200 hours.
The club also awarded junior players who showed respect, competitiveness, creativity and exploration. This is part of the club’s evolution programme which celebrates the juniors character.
Throughout the event several special awards were given out.
Firstly Catherine MacDonald was recognised as volunteer of the year for her endless service to the club’s junior tennis programme.
At 17 years of age Catherine has amassed well over 200 volunteering hours, helping the club in all weathers, for various events both internally and externally.
She is a wonderful role model for junior members coming up.
The club’s Under 14 Girl’s team were awarded the BLTC Juvenile League Shield (Sponsored by Moy Park).
The team consisted of Bianca Buzea, Isla McCullough, Lizzy Goodrich, Zara Cumming, Penny Shaw, Mya Connaughty,Sarah Lyttle and Stella Brown.
These girls have been recognised for their unwavering support for each other during this league. This was the first league they participated in, with several players playing in a competitive external event for the first time.
The girls finished mid table in their division, finishing higher than larger and more established clubs including, Belfast Boat Club, Hawarden and Downshire.
During each match they showed great sportsmanship and respect to both their fellow Ballymena players and opponents.
Each week they had smiles on their faces whether they gained a win or loss. They finished with a very respectable 2 wins, 2 draws and 2 losses in the Belfast and District League.
BLTC Coaches Cup (Endeavour Award), Sponsored by The BLTC Coaching Team was this year awarded to 8 year old Leo Jacko.
He has been recognised as an up-and-coming next generation player on the Ulster Tennis Kids Tour.
This year, at the age of 8 he won the Orange Ball Competition at the County Antrim Junior Championships, while also winning the November edition of the orange ball event for the Tennis Ireland Kids Tour.
On Sunday the 15th December he travelled to Bangor Lawn Tennis Club and competed against 12 of Ulster’s finest Orange Ball Players, where he battled windy conditions, finishing second. This event featured players from all over Ulster.
This is a testament to his dedication to the sport, where he regularly attends club play, training squads and travels to various external tournaments throughout Ulster.
Leo is a great role model to all our young players, highlighting what can be achieved by being part of our community tennis club.
Club chairman Nicholas Cumming closed proceedings of the event.
He wanted to highlight the clubs gratitude to the coaching team, lead by Director of Coaching Barry Clarke and his staff.
The team includes, Ian McClean (Junior Coordinator), Pol McAleese (Assistant Junior Co-Ordinator), Charlotte Wilson (Assistant Coach) and Eleanor Ireland (Volunteer Coordinator).
They help to ensure the club runs all these events throughout the year, while providing coaching of the highest standards.
The success of the club junior programme is further highlighted by comments made by junior parents after the event.
Some of their comments included,
“The club creates such a supportive environment, it's a pleasure to be a part of”
“It was a great morning and we really enjoyed being there. The tennis club has come a long way since when I was a member during my childhood - a great credit to Barry and his team.”
An event like this couldn’t take place without the support of sponsors.
We would like to thank Knox Electrical, McCarroll McConnell, Sarah Baked It and Ian McClean Coaching and Stringing Services for sponsoring our club championships.
Steve Whelan of My Tennis Academy sponsored all the 5-11 year old awards and prizes.
Thanks must also go to Ben’s Ice Cream Studio (Portglenone, Toome and Magherfelt) who sponsored our first time Ulster tournament players and Evolution Programme Winners.
Gotto Sports, Stranmillis Road, Belfast, kindly sponsored tubes of tennis balls for all the runners up of our doubles events.
Ballymena LTC also has wonderful parental support. Karen Mui, part of our parental support group, sponsored runners up key rings for all singles events, which is a wonderful keepsake, and was very much appreciated by all recipients.
The Corner Bakery Ballymena provided guests with scrumptious refreshments afterwards, which were warmly received by everyone who had these.
A massive thank you must be given to 14 year old Stella Brown, who along with the assistance of her father Darren Brown, took all the photos at the event. These were outstanding, and she is one incredibly talent individual.
Director of Coaching Barry Clarke stated,
“To see the entire room filled was a wonderful sight to behold. It’s a testament to all the hard work the club puts in behind the scenes. Sessions are meticulously planned, to cater to the individual players needs.
As a community tennis club, we rely on the generosity of others. We haven’t the luxury of having our own courts, or large amounts of funding from a governing body.
What we achieve is through hard work, creativity and a love of the sport.
Tennis in the Ballymena Borough will continue to grow, as here at Ballymena LTC we look to cater to the needs of the wider community, not just a minority.
Thank you to everyone involved this weekend. We hope you all enjoyed yourselves”
Please read the attached awards programme document for all award winners.
All Photos are copyrighted to Stella Brown
