Under-14s look to make mark at regional tennis tournament

A six-member Jamaica Under-14 team will leave today to compete in the World Junior Tennis North/Central America and Caribbean qualifying competition, which will be held in Trinidad and Tobago from March 29 to April 4.

The team consist of three boys - Andrew Bicknell, Simon Levy and Dylan Levy; and three girls - Nia Rose, Shaddae Findley and Michaelann Denton.

Peter Berry, the coach, is expecting a good performance from all his players.

"They are the best junior players in the island and if you compare them to Central and South American players they are right up there with them, so I am expecting a good performance from them," said Berry.

He added: "This is a big stepping stone for them because it will help them to move onto the bigger international tournaments abroad and in this competition they will be going up against the best players in the region and it should be a great experience for them."

The boys will be competing alongside 17 other countries. They are Aruba, Antigua & Barbuda, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, The Bahamas, Barbados, Guatemala, Honduras, Netherlands Antilles, Guyana, Nicaragua, Panama, Puerto Rico and Trinidad, while the girls will compete with the same teams, except for Antigua, Grenada and Nicaragua.

The World Junior Tennis Under-14 team competition is administered worldwide by the International Tennis Federation. The top finishers will advance to the final qualifying round with the United States, Canada and Mexico.

- R. Bailey