16/01/24: The final EFA Individual tournaments of the season took place last Sunday, with simultaneous U14 events taking place at Highgate and R/repton.
Over 80 pupils - boys and girls - took part across the two venues, representing a wide variety of schools. Karen Hird masterminded the northern half of the event at R/repton while Howard Wiseman had his hand on the southern tiller at Highgate, where a good number of parents enjoyed the opportunity to see their children play.
These events are a crucial part of the EFA's schools' programme, enabling youngsters from a wide range of schools and differing levels of experience and ability to come together and play a series of fun and friendly matches over the course of an afternoon, playing with and against different players each time and engendering immediate colloboration and friendship between pupils at different schools.
The focus of the schools' events now switches to the team competitions, with the Hughes Cup and Bowden Bowl (U15s) and the Pett Plate (U13s) all taking place this Sunday following which the qualifying tournaments for the N/national Schools' Championships will begin in earnest.
This year's Individual tournament series has been once of the best attended we have ever had and I would like to thank Howard, Karen and the other organisers for their help as well as all of the schools, staff and parents who have supported these events and made them such a success.