Ke and Shona Europe 2016

Two players from Sparta Tennis Academy at Campbell Park Tennis Club, Ke Ren and Shona Nakano, have been invited to play in the Kim Clijsters Cup in Belgium. It is a worldwide tournament for 10 and 11 year olds who are ranked in the top three in their country. To be invited players must be ranked in the top 3 in their age group and endorsed as part of a national tennis federation. We need your help to get them there.

As well as playing this event the girls will join the Tennis NZ delegation to train and play at European Tennis Tour events in the Netherlands and Germany. This is an invaluable opportunity to measure themselves against the best players in the world and to play on European clay courts.

The road to becoming a top tennis player starts very young and opportunities such as this are vital to keep up their development relative to overseas players. Tennis involves a lot of training, travel and support in the early years which doesn’t come cheap so we are asking for financial help for Ke and Shona’s travel and accommodation costs. Help support two future stars of New Zealand tennis!

A bit about the girls.

Ke is 10 and the top-ranked 10 year old in New Zealand. She is ranked 187th for all females in NZ and the highest ranked 10 year old ever in New Zealand tennis history. She was runner up at the recent 12 and under Kiwi Tennis Nationals in March and 10th place in the 14 and under nationals in January. She also has two runner up trophies in National Doubles 12 and under tournaments (partnering Shona) as well as numerous singles and doubles regional titles in 12s and 14s age groups. She is undefeated lifetime in senior women’s tennis and helped the Campbell Park first grade team win promotion to Caro Bowl Reserve this past summer.

Shona is the number 2 ranked 11 year old in the country (behind only Ke), and the 206th ranked female. She was recently 3rd at the Kiwi Tennis National tournament in March 2016, and has two doubles runner up trophies national events (partnering Ke). Recently she became the youngest ever Campbell Park senior women’s club champion and also helped the club’s first grade team win promotion to Caro Bowl Reserve.

They were also both part of Tennis Auckland’s regional 12 and under team which won gold at Nationals Teams event in January.

Ke and Shona are two of New Zealand’s most talented, dedicated and focused young athletes - spending up to 20 hours a week training. They have the work ethic, passion and ability to reach the upper echelon of tennis.

We hope you can contribute here to their first big international event in Europe. This trip is the next step to playing against the best juniors in the world, to have a dedicated training block away from the NZ winter and get some experience on the clay courts of Europe.

The girls’ families, Tennis Auckland, Tennis New Zealand and Campbell Park Tennis Club have been extremely generous in supporting the girls in any way that they can. We hope you can contribute too.

Thanks!