Penticton preteen makes tennis tournament debut

A young Peach City protégé made her tournament début at the recent Penticton Tennis Club (PTC) Ainsley Cup women’s doubles tournament.

Twelve-year-old Mia Lemieux, teamed up with fellow PTC member Kersten Grant – 47 years her senior – to compete in the two-day event and while they didn’t win the coveted cup what the pair, especially the tournament’s youngest entrant, took away from the event was much more important.

“I was the one who asked her to play with me in the tournament,” said Grant who, with husband Bob and Lori Grant, run the PTC junior and high-performance summer programs “There’s probably not many 12-year-olds who can hit the ball that well and it was fun for me and a great experience for her.”

Mia and younger sister Sola, 10, also help out with the coaching duties at the club’s summer junior camps, the final one wrapping up at the end of this week (July 19).

Mia, who’s been taking lessons since she was eight, admitted being just a little nervous about competing in her first tournament against some much older players.

“But I love playing and being outside and Kersten was good, she’s fun to play with,” said Mia. 

At the tournament a total of 10 doubles teams from as far away as Kamloops joined local competitors playing in five, round-robin pro sets (eight games) over the two days.

Winners of the ‘A’ Division were: Lily Clerf from Kelowna, who partnered with Penticton’s Marisa Leboe.

Winners on the B side were Penticton’s Janice Taylor and partner Jacquie Hertlein.

According to Kersten, the junior programs are key ingredients in the success and survival of PTC.

“These kids are are the future of our club,” she said. “Some of them will continue to play and some won’t but the bottom line is now they are club members and can enjoy the experience and the camaraderie of tennis. Maybe somewhere down the road they will become club members again and that will only make us stronger.”