Juniors to serve at academy

FIVE local junior tennis players have been selected for the prestigious Gippsland Academy Tennis Squad for 2007.
The Gippsland Squad comprises 16 talented Gippsland junior players who will train on Sundays at various venues on different surfaces under the guidance of experienced coaches Amanda Dundas (Bairnsdale head coach) and Paul Osborne (Pakenham and Upper Beaconsfield head coach).
The squad will also compete in eight junior tournaments throughout the year and have access to a sports psychologist, a dietitian, a physiotherapist as well as the Victorian Institute of Sport training facilities and staff.
All squad members have now started their preseason fitness programs and are looking forward to the competitions and hard training sessions they will face next year.
The members are:
Sam Hall, 14, who plays his junior tennis with the Haileybury first team, as well as senior tennis in sectionone men’s for Pakenham and night competition in sectionone for Pakenham.
Sam is also a member of the Upper Beaconsfield Tennis Club and I the current Pakenham Tennis Club junior club champion.
Jonathan Collins, 14, attends Beaconhills College, plays sectionone juniors for Upper Beaconsfield and seniors in sectionone men’s for Pakenham.
He is also the current senior doubles club champion at Upper Beaconsfield.
Berwick Secondary College student Ben Anderson plays sectionone juniors for Upper Beaconsfield and sectionone night comp for Pakenham.
He is also the current junior club champion at Upper Beaconsfield.
Robert Panozzo, 13, also from Beaconhills College, plays sectionone juniors for Pakenham.
In the same sectionone junior team is 13yearold Brendan Herman who attends Pakenham Secondary College and also plays sectionone night comp for Pakenham.
These five boys and their families will be looking to obtain sponsorships from local businesses to cover the high costs of the academy and their travels to the various tournaments throughout Victoria during 2007.
Anyone that can help with sponsorship is invited to contact Gippsland Tennis Academy coach Paul Osborne, 5629 2121 or the Pakenham or Upper Beaconsfield Tennis Clubs.