After an unbeaten regional campaign, the U18 boys tennis squad travelled to Nottingham for the National Tennis Championship Finals. The finals consisted of the 16 best schools from each region of England and Scotland.

In our first match we lost to the eventual winners; Reeds School team. A brilliant experience for all the boys to play on the indoor courts.

In our second match we battled away against Peter Symonds School on the Show Court and Court 1. All the boys fought tooth and nail in exceptionally hot conditions. Eventually the lads were broken down by their opponents. Stanley Jones managed to survive the longest with his match lasting close to 3 hours. Eventually the tie ended at gone 7 o'clock in the evening!

In our third match we came across Millfield 'B' team. An excellent win from Sam Austin and Oliver Shelton in both their singles and doubles matches left the score tied at 3-3 meaning it would require a Championship tiebreak set to divide the teams. The Balcarras duo of Sam Austin and Seb Vera-Morales faced up against a more experienced Millfield pairing. The tiebreak went the full distance with Balcarras taking the win 11-9 to the delight of the rest of the team! This meant that on the final day we would be playing Repton School in the 13th and 14th play off. 

The match against Repton School would once more prove to be a thriller. In the singles, Sam Austin won in a championship tiebreak set after surviving 7 set points against a close rival of his. Oliver Shelton won his match 4-3, 4-3. In the doubles Stan and Seb showed brilliant resilience to force the match to a third set against two more experienced Repton players. In the 1st pairing doubles, Sam and Oliver came out victors, leaving the scores at 3-3 again! Once more Sam and Seb took to the court in a shootout decider. Unfortunately, this match proved one too many for the boys. Leaving Repton as the winners of a thrilling tie.

This meant Balcarras finished in 14th position in the competition and the top ranked state school in the Country!

The team were a credit to Balcarras both on and off the court. We look forward to competing to reach the finals in 2025