Ayrshire Clubs and Mini Tennis Centres are invited to enter a team or teams in the TA mini tennis red league, details below. Entries must be with the league secretary Mr Colin Sutherland, 31 Raith Road, Fenwick KA3 6DB on or before Friday 14 October 2011.

Mini tennis red is aimed at primary schoolchildren and is played on a badminton-sized court with scaled-down rackets (no longer than 23”) and 8cm foam balls.

The league will take place at Prestwick Tennis Centre, from 6-9pm on the following Fridays: 11 November, 2 December, 27 January, 24 February and 9 March.

Clubs/ Mini Tennis Centres may enter more than one team. The cost per team is £40 payable in advance to Ayrshire Mini Tennis. Clubs usually recover this by charging their team players a small fee per match. Entering a team implies a commitment to attend each evening and fulfil all of the fixtures.

Teams consist of 4 players, of whom at least one must be a boy and at least one a girl. There are 8 divisions of 6 teams, covering players of all standards from beginner to advanced. All players, including beginners in the lower divisions, must be able to place the ball into play and maintain a basic rally.

To allow children to benefit from playing in the league, and have a rewarding experience, coaches should indicate appropriate divisions for their teams. Placement cannot be guaranteed, but the mini tennis committee will make best endeavours.

Each match consists of 4 singles and 2 doubles, all of which are 11-point tiebreaks. Typically a match takes place on one (badminton) court and lasts an hour. Each team should expect to play one match every evening, making 5 matches in all during the season. Very rarely, if there is a fixture backlog, a team may be required to play more than one match on an evening. All matches are umpired.

Four medals are awarded to the winning and running-up team in each division. In addition the winning team in each division will receive a shield that is held for the year.

Morris Thompson
Mini Tennis Convenor

Mini League Fixtures 2011/12

Division 1 & 2
Division 3 & 4
Division 5 & Mini Div 1
Mini Div 2 & 3