South African U12 girls tennis team represented South Africa with pride as they finished second at the ITF/CAT African Junior Teams competition from 2 – 8 October 2023, in Casablanca, Morocco.
“Coming second was a great accomplishment, as we were not seeded going into the tournament.”
Terrey Schweitzer, Coach of the SA U12 Girls’ Tennis Team
The team comprising Lily Haley (Western Province), Megan van Vuuren (Western Province), and Lea Dube (KwaZulu-Natal) qualified for the tournament earlier this year in Mozambique, and in a tournament that has twelve competing African Nations and competing for the first time on clay, it was remarkable achievement for this young side to have placed second.
As much as the team was nervous, they were also very motivated going into the tournament.
They finished second in their group, which took them into the semi-finals against host nation Morocco.
They made easy work against Morocco and advanced to the finals where they faced Tunisa, where they unfortunately lost one singles match and the doubles match, but emerged to bask in the glory of a hard-earned second place.
Coach of the SA U-12 girls’ team, Terrey Schweitzer spoke to gsport on the achievement and the growth of the team: “This tournament is for players to gain the experience, get their CAT (Confederation of African Tennis) rankings, to work hard and test their ability of what they can achieve.”
“The girls bring back a lot of positives and lessons from the tournament and will need to apply that at local tournaments. With North Africa being so strong, it was so good for our girls to be able to do so well – not just for South Africa, but for themselves as well.
“We missed out on first place, but we are working towards being placed first at the next tournament.”
Main Photo Caption: The national U12 Girls Tennis team represented South Africa with pride as they finished second at the ITF/CAT African Junior Teams competition in Casablanca, Morocco. Photo: Tennis South Africa on Facebook
Photo 2 Caption: The national U12 Girls Tennis finished second to Tunisia, with hosts Morocco finishing in third place at the ITF/CAT African Junior Teams competition in Casablanca, Morocco. Photo: Tennis South Africa on Facebook
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