California club donates tennis prizes

Budding tennis players have a whole heap of awesome prizes to win when the junior tennis tournaments and programmes start thanks to Judy Briggs (centre) from the North Country Tennis Patrons Club in California.

Briggs is pictured here at the National Tennis Centres with Tennis Cook Islands president Madeilene Sword (far left), Jan Mellor, junior tennis coach Malcolm Kajer and budding tennis stars from Avatea Primary School.

Last year Briggs and a friend brought tennis gear to Rarotonga for the local tennis association to help with the junior development on the island.

As well as donations of gear, the pair also opened up a bank account on Rarotonga where funds deposited were used to give children extra tennis coaching lessons.

Briggs, who has spent 30 years developing tennis at her club in California, is back on the island and has brought with her a few boxes of goodies including racquets, racquet-grips, balls, caps and much more.

The gear will be used as prizes for upcoming junior tournaments.

Sword would like to thank Briggs and the North Country Tennis Patrons Club in California for helping developing the sport in the Cook Islands.

You can see the joy when their eyes light up when they get one of these gear as prizes, says Sword.