Fourteen young Cook Islands tennis players will be representing the country at the East Pacific Qualifiers in Tahiti from April 8 to 13.

National tennis head coach Malcolm Kajer says the team comprises players competing in the Under-12, Under-14, and Under-16 age divisions.

“We’re taking 14 players altogether, mainly in the U12s, that’s our big age group, and there’s a few in the under-14s, but we’ve got more in the under-16s as well.”

The East Pacific Qualifying Championships will feature top players from the participating countries Tahiti, Tonga, American Samoa, Western Samoa and Cook Islands.

“We will be competing, and all the top players in our little region will go and compete in Lautoka, Fiji. The North Pacific’s having their own, and the West Pacific’s having their own.”

Kajer says the best players are selected from these regional events and through the International Tennis Federation and the Oceania Tennis Federation, the players then go to Fiji to compete, adding that is a pathway to further their tennis skills.

Gilles De Gouy, head of Tennis Pacific Islands, who was in Rarotonga last week and spent some time with the national team, said the players were training well at the tennis centre in Nikao.

Gouy said that the four best players in each age category group will then play in the Junior Championship in Tahiti.

He added that if there are only two or three top players within the region, they compete in another regional championship. The winner (or the two best players, for both U14 boys and girls) will receive a year-long programme fully funded by the International Tennis Federation.

“So they get trained all year around Belgium, Auckland in New Zealand, and then they play 20 tournaments overseas, within the region, including Australia.”

He said that tennis, as an individual sport, can provide the best opportunities for an individual to travel and gain scholarships.

The Tennis Cook Islands team to the East Pacific Qualifiers includes:

U16 boys: Charles Trevor Woonton; Tane Marsters Wichman; Benson Herman.

U16 girls: Raetea Rongo; Tekura Tamangaro.

14 boys: John Tui-Tonga Gibson; Tekaria Matheson.

U14 girls: Maiata Matheson

U12 boys: Mareko Webb; Luca Rossouw; Evan Moore;

U12 girls: Aviarna Williams; Tera-'itirere-ki-Avaiki Rongo; Taylor-Anne Marsters.