Talented tennis aces from Perthshire are shining on the national stage.
The Strathallan students have advanced through to the final of the Scottish Schools Team Championships.
Serving up the success has been Marcus McLaren from St Madoes, Ben Cooper from Perth and Auchterarder duo Nic Bradley and Jed McMillan.
The quartet, all who compete regularly north and south of the border, celebrated a semi-final win against Glasgow-based Hutchesons’ Grammar last week.
Earlier in the tournament, Strathallan managed to get the better of Wallace High, Mackie Academy and Prestwick Academy. Impressively, all of their victories to date have come on the road.
The school’s director of tennis, Tommy Ogilvie, said: “At the start of the school year our goal as a team was to reach the Scottish schools final but, now we are in the final, we want to go on and win it.
“It has been a long journey to get there with away ties against Wallace High, Mackie Academy, Prestwick Academy and Hutchesons’ Grammar.
“But we have a strong team and our depth of player is good, which means we can achieve wins at numbers one to four. It really is all about the team.”
Who Strathallan will come up against in the final is still to be decided but the team will be training hard and remaining sharp in the meantime. Potential opponents are Merchiston or Fettes College.
The girls’ team at Strathallan has also been enjoying a strong tournament run and have worked their way to the semi-final stage.
Wins over Robert Gordon College, Morrison’s Academy and Dunblane High School resulted in the last four spot.
Next up and standing in the way of a place in the showdown is Mearns Castle High School.
“Our girls team has their semi-final against Mearns Castle High still to play,” Tommy added.
“That will be very tough as they have a couple of Scotland internationals in their team.
“But we are confident we can go out and get the win and, hopefully, have a team in both the boys and girls final.”
Both of the teams’ success comes on the back of a special moment at the recent Tennis Scotland Awards.
The awards celebrated the outstanding individuals, clubs, programmes and competitions that made a significant contribution to tennis in 2021. Strathallan was delighted to receive the School of the Year award.
Director of sport, Jim Thompson, had said: “We are very proud to receive this prestigious award from Tennis Scotland.
“We are delighted that our tennis programme, which is offered throughout the whole school, has been recognised, which is led by our brilliant director of tennis, Mr Tommy Ogilvie.
“Congratulations to all involved – coaches, staff, volunteers, students and families for their continued support of all things tennis at Strathallan.”
