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Bermuda’s success in Curacao last week may have come as a surprise to many given the team’s lack of experience.

The island’s four-member team, that included three rookies, beat the odds to successfully defend their ITF Under-13 Caribbean Development Championships team title.

Proud coach Jerome Bradshaw attributes the island’s success to dedication and a hard work ethic.

He said: “The players individually did their own training but four to six weeks out we got together as a national training team. It is summer time and difficult to get all the players together at once. 

“But the times we did have we took great advantage of it working on strategy and conditioning. It was very hot in Curacao but I think the training and conditioning was a big help.”

In addition to defending their team title, top player Chris Rego, the sole survivor from last year’s team that won the team title in Trinidad and Tobago, captured the singles boy’s crown and, along with rookie James Finnigan, finished runner up in doubles play.  

Finnigan finished third overall in the boys singles play while another rookie, Eva Frazzoni, finished runner up in girls singles play after coming up short in the final against her St. Vincent rival.

The team’s display in the Caribbean left coach Bradshaw a happy camper.

Tremendous

He said: “The overall team performance was tremendous. I’m duly proud and the country should be proud having repeated as team champions from the previous year, which is something not many countries have achieved. 

“We did it very well considering we only had one player (Rego) from the previous year. Three of our players were new players and so I think we did great all around.”

Perhaps making the island’s achievement more special was the fact Bermuda’s players had to stand on their own two feet during tournament play.

“This is a development tournament and many times, without the support group, they are out there by themselves and may lose track of the strategy,” Bradshaw added. “In this event there’s no coaching so we give them a few words of wisdom when they start and once they are on the court they are all alone. This is what the ITF is looking for in developing young kids.”

Praising the team’s recent success in Curacao was Bermuda Lawn Tennis Association president David Lambert.

He said: “I would like to acknowledge and thank Jerome Bradshaw and the team for playing a very hard and gruelling tournament. Not every country can say they won the title back to back and we are very pleased to say that we have another tennis success story.

“This is a joint effort and we have to thank Allison Towlson and the junior development committee, the Elbow Beach Celebrity Tennis Classic for being the major sponsors, Bermuda government for their support as well as all of the volunteers who help throughout the year to make local junior tennis successful.” 

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