Uplands Tennis Tour to the UK
Jun/Jul 2009

During the 2009 July holidays seven boys, seven girls and Mr and Mrs Pienaar had the privilege of going on a Tennis Tour to the UK. It was definitely a once-in-a-lifetime experience. It did not rain in England for the duration of the tour!

The group arrived at London Heathrow early on 25 June and after a quick shower, spent the day seeing the sights of London. The pupils learnt how to get around on the tubes and buses, saw the London Eye, Trafalgar Square, and Buckingham Palace and, of course, had some much- needed retail therapy on Oxford Street! After a pub dinner, the group headed home when the sun eventually set at 10h00 - something everybody took a while to get used to.

For the next two days the group had the privilege of going to Wimbledon! They were fortunate to have Court 2 and Court 1 tickets, but still had to queue (for 8 hours - we were number 8316 in the queue) for more tickets! It is a wonderful feeling walking around on the Wimbledon grounds. It is such an impressive sports complex and to watch Rodger Federer warming up from a mere 10 meters away is enough motivation for any tennis player.

The group was fortunate to see players like Lleyton Hewitt, the Williams sisters, Dinara Safina, Tsonga, Djokovic, Ana Ivanovic, Tommy Haas, to name but a few! A few of our touring group were even lucky enough to obtain Roger Federer’s autograph after one of his practice sessions on an outside court! It truly was a wonderful experience – one which everybody hopes to repeat one day.

After Wimbledon the group headed to Bath for the first match against Kingswood College. The school is 260 years old. The group attended an Assembly and also visited the boarding houses - all very interesting. Playing on Astroturf tennis courts was a real challenge at first. Many of the players struggled to adapt to the new surface, but did well under the conditions. We then had the opportunity to explore Bath for a morning, visiting the famous Bath Abbey and once again doing some shopping! The pupils were hosted by the College and were able to make some friends.

Our next stop was in Hertfordshire to play our second match against Haileybury. The matches were on a hard tar court, which once again proved a difficult adjustment! The school had beautiful facilities and grounds. We were also fortunate to be able to attend a short church service in their beautiful chapel.

The next stop was Woodbridge. After visiting a typically English pebble beach, the pupils were happy to see some familiar faces from last year’s exchange. Good tennis was played, with a resounding win by the girls.

We then went to the well known university town, Cambridge, for the final match against Culford College. The group spent a morning in Cambridge, once again doing some shopping and seeing the renowned Cambridge University. Everyone stayed in a hostel at Culford. Culford is registered at the LTA (Lawn Tennis Association) and runs a brilliant tennis academy with four indoor and five outdoor courts.

After the four matches, the group headed back to London and spent a day hopping on and off tubes and visiting Oxford Street again to shop at the cheapest shop in London – Primark! The group also went to see Chicago at the West End and really enjoyed the experience of London theatre. On the last day in England the London Eye gave a wonderful view of the fascinating city. The group also visited Madame Tussaud’s, which produced some of the funniest tour memories for some of us! We then boarded their flight to Dubai.

The heat in Dubai was overwhelming. The group spent some of the morning exploring the markets, making yet more purchases and were able to spend the afternoon at Atlantis, the biggest water park in the Middle East. Everybody really enjoyed the rides and the escape from the heat.

Everybody had an absolutely amazing experience, not soon to be forgotten! Thank you to the touring team for being such a great group. The tour really would not have been the same without Sharee’s laugh and Garth’s hilarious comments! We owe many thanks to Mr and Mrs Pienaar for being such great “parents” to us and for all the hours planning and preparing the tour, as well as all the fundraising done by them and our parents. It was a truly unforgettable experience. Thank you!

The girls beat Kingswood and Woodbridge and drew against Culford and Hailebury.

The boys drew with Woodbridge and lost to Kingswood, Culford and Hailebury.