Lawn Tennis Association Competition 2023
The annual Lawn Tennis Association Competition 2023 has taken place and well done Anita, Olivia, Erin, Lucy and Willow on their fantastic tennis. The team won 5-1 against High School of Glasgow, lost 4-3 to MES (match tie break decider!) and lost 5-1 to a strong St Leonard’s team.
The Kilgraston team showed amazing fighting spirit. Olivia had a fantastic win against the MES number 1 player, winning 7-6. Amazing effort girls, super proud of you.
Billy Mcneil, Kilgraston Tennis Academy coach
Kilgraston Tennis Tournament 2022
On Friday 27th and Saturday 28th May we hosted our annual Kilgraston Tennis Tournament, the Kilgraston Invitational Doubles event. This is always the most important date in our season and it was a very special two day tournament.
On the Friday, we competed against other independent schools including Morrison’s, Craigclowan, Dollar, Strathallan, Mary Erskine’s and Lorretto. There was some amazing tennis on display as the girls competed for the under 12 and under 14 trophies. The Kilgraston team did incredibly well, with Olivia and Willow winning the under 14, A Pool, winning all 6 matches. To top it off, our Upper Four team came third in the B Pool, which meant that Kilgraston won the overall under 14’s event (A and B pools combined).
On the Saturday it was time for the under 18 event, where we played against Dollar’s top four pairs and Morrison’s top two pairs. Kilgraston’s number one pair: Olivia and Pauline (both only 13 years old) won the A pool beating the Dollar first pair (both 17 years of age) 6 games to 3. It was an inspired performance by Olivia and Pauline, who stuck to their game plan throughout the match and executed their tactics with conviction – well done girls!
I am so proud of the Kilgraston Tennis Team. The girls showed amazing team spirit, fair play and determination throughout. Now it’s back to training for next year!
Billy McNeil, Kilgraston Tennis Coach.
Kilgraston Tennis Academy - season update
Kilgraston tennis stars have done so well this term, showing amazing determination and team spirit. We’ve been so busy with coaching and matches and we would like to share with you some highlights from the last couple of weeks.
On April 28th, we had a very well-earned draw against Strathallan seniors, we were over powered by their A Team, but the youngsters in our B Team, fought incredibly hard to get a 5-4 win – which was incredible so well done to you all.
Last week we played away at Glenalmond and again it was a very close encounter, with both teams producing some fantastic tennis. Our under 14 team won overall and our under 15’s lost narrowly to a tough side so again well done on a fantastic team effort girls.
I would like to mention our Tennis Academy players - Olivia and Willow (both L4), who have been a standout doubles pair this term. They were undefeated against Strathallan under 13, under 14, seniors, St Leonards under 15 and Glenalmond under 14. It took the might of Dollar’s Senior Team (both 18 years old) to defeat Olivia and Willow who are both 13 years old and the score was so close 7-6 6-7 8-10 to Dollar. Incredible effort girls, we are so proud of you.
Our next match is against Morrison’s on Saturday 14th May at home, please come down and cheer the players on.
Billy McNeil, Kilgraston Tennis Coach
National squad hockey success for Kilgraston pupil
Lower Sixth’s Lexie has had a phenomenal summer playing for Scotland under 17 squad, winning three caps in a matter of months. Lexie, who has been playing hockey for seven years, plays for a number of hockey squads including Perthshire’s First XI team.
She said: “This year has been a great year for my hockey. I started of going to trial out for a regional team called Dundee Devils. I was really thankful to be selected for this and I was made captain of the team.
“Then, at the start of the summer holidays, I was scouted to play for Scotland and over summer I played for Scotland against England in Leeds, then again for Scotland against Wales where I scored two goals at the School Games. At the end of the holidays, Scotland played in a tournament called Futures cup in St Albans, near London and we won the bronze medal and that meant I won my third cap for Scotland all in the space of a few months.”
But when it comes to sport, Lexis does not just shine at hockey, she also has superb tennis skills and has also played District netball. She said: “I play tennis for my club and have played for north of Scotland.
“The tennis facilities at Kilgraston are amazing with two different types of courts and a very hard working and dedicated coach. Last year I also played netball for Perth and District but I struggled to fit everything in so I had to drop netball at this level but I’m looking forward to playing for the school.”
In the future Lexie would like to continue to her sport. She said: “I would like to go to university and do something sport related but I’m not quite sure at the moment. The school have wonderful facilities to accommodate hockey, from our all-weather pitch to the gym in the PE department and the hockey coaches initially with Mrs Stott and now with Mr Stott, have all helped me on this journey.”
Amazing work Lexie, we are all so proud of you.
Tennis at Kilgraston - the Adam Brown Doubles Open
Well done to all the girls who took part in the Adam Brown Doubles Open. This was a LTA Event (Lawn Tennis Association), featuring county level doubles pairs from around Scotland.
Kilgraston pupils who took part performed brilliantly so congratulations to Olivia and Willow who came 6th out of 10 pairs in the 12/under event.
Willow and Olivia took the overall winners to a tie - break, which is fantastic!
In a different age group, well done to Lexie who came 3rd in the 16/under’s and 3rd in the 18/under’s which is an amazing effort!
We hope to run more LTA events at Kilgraston, we’re lucky to have such a great venue for tennis so get in touch with Kilgraston’s tennis coach Billy McNeil via [email protected]