Tennis Europe and the ITF in cooperation with the Norwegian Tennis Association recently conducted a training camp for the Icelandic Tennis Association 13 and under team at the headquarters of the Norwegian Tennis Federation in Oslo Tennis Arena.
The Icelandic players in the trip were five girls and one boy all 13 and under: Anna Soffía Grönholm, Sofia Sóley Jónasdóttir, Sigurjón Ágústsson, Hekla Maria Olivier, Melkorka Pálsdóttir, Sara Lind Þorkelsdóttir. Along with them was their coach Jón Axel Jónsson and Jónas Páll Björnsson, the General Secretary of the Icelandic Association. Oivind Sörvald, Sports Chief and Aslak Paulsen, Player Development Officer, were responsible for the program on behalf of the Norwegian Tennis Federation.
The players got a lot of practice with the Norwegian players and were delighted to get the opportunity to play and train against new players. Aslak and Oivind were also on the court with the team, where Oivind took the opportunity to conduct video analysis of all the players.
To finish off their trip, all of the visiting players took part in tournaments in Stabekk and at the Oslo Tennis Arena where they got to play a number of matches against Norwegian players, giving them important competitive match experience.
The Icelandic kids, Jón Axel and Jónas all agreed that all the coaching and the trip as a whole was both highly enjoyable as well as instructive, and that the video analysis had given them a new perspective on their games.
ITF/Tennis Europe Development Officer Hrvoje Zmajic said, “This is a great example of a bilateral cooperation between two federations. Herewith, I would like to express special thanks to the Norwegian Tennis Association for organising this training and competition for the promising Icelandic players. Due to their geographical position, players from Iceland can feel quite isolated from the rest of Europe and can greatly benefit from the opportunity to travel in a group and test themselves against new opposition. We hope that the two federations will extend their cooperation in the future. ”