School players club together to court success

MEÁNSCOIL IOGNÁID RÍS, NAAS CBS:The courtless school bested the traditional powers at Fitzwilliam Lawn Tennis Club, writes SEÁN KENNY.

THERE IS hardly room to swing a racquet in the concrete-rich grounds of Meánscoil Iognáid Rís, Naas CBS. An onsite tennis court is a luxury the school has never enjoyed. Nonetheless, tennis has thrived in the school since the early 1990s. Teacher Ciarán Spring, who is still involved, initiated the sport in response to demand from pupils.

"I've been involved pretty much all the way along. I suppose we do look after minority sports here. We have things like golf, for example, and it was in that line we decided on the tennis. There's a lot of interest, in fact more than we can cater for, seeing as we don't have our own courts. Kids would like to get involved more but unfortunately we're tied down without our own courts."

The presence of a tennis club in Naas provided a physical framework around which a school team could be built. The club abounds in astroturf, having 11 courts at present. Its help has been essential.

"I must admit, the tennis club are great for facilitating usage. They allow us to use it any time it's free. All our home matches are played there. I suppose the tennis club in the town is really the thing that got it going here in the school. That was the impetus."

Last year the school claimed the Leinster Senior Schools Cup at Division Two level. It was their second such success, competing as the lone provincial and non-fee-paying school in Leinster.

Those victories in Leinster finals were moments of no little pride. They came courtless from Naas with their racquets and bested the traditional powers of the schools game in the sleek, verdant surroundings of Fitzwilliam Lawn Tennis Club.

Last year's win saw the school promoted to the province's top division.

"We're proud to be competing at this level. And to have won the Leinster Senior Cup at Division Two level was brilliant.

"A lot of the schools we'd be playing would sometimes have people from the national squad and they're players who are being coached constantly, even in the school. We wouldn't have anything like those facilities. We are underdogs. If you look at the other schools we're playing - St Gerard's, Gonzaga, Belvedere, Blackrock - we're the only non-fee-paying one."

They are glad to be able to upset the applecart now and then. Still, Susan Campbell, another teacher involved in the sport, counters the notion tennis should be linked to affluence.

"There's this image that tennis is very expensive to play, that it's expensive to join. There is that impression. But if you go down to Naas Tennis Club on any given evening, you'll see all kinds of people from all walks of life. As my dad says, it costs less than the price of a pint a week to be a member of the club, when you divide it out.

"So really, once you have the racquets and the balls, there are far more expensive sports out there, which are seen as less snobbish, in a way. It's bizarre actually, the impression that's grown up around it."

The school tennis season is short, just running the course of that final, feverish month of term, May. Fixtures must be fulfilled regardless of the vagaries of the Irish summer.

Whatever rain and wind arrive with the day must be borne as part of the game. The competing pressure of looming exams must also be managed.

"It is very difficult," says Spring. "But the school is great. Management are great; they facilitate it. Last year we had two sixth-years on the team that won in Leinster. It was coming up to their exams, but they were still very committed to the tennis."

Campbell also remarks on the dedication of her charges.

"The things I like about the coaching are the same things I like about teaching. I like being around young people. They're energetic; they remind me of what I was like when I was their age.

"They're really good, lovely lads. You never find a bad egg playing tennis really. And they're very trustworthy. You can trust them, if there's a practice on, that they'll be there. They're very committed to it."

Despite the sport's largely individual nature, a spirit of camaraderie exists within the school's small band of players. Many have grown up together through the sport, knocking around in Naas Tennis Club over the years, as rivals and friends. As Campbell notes, there are lessons in life to be learnt out on the court.

"The lads are all great friends. They've nearly all grown up together and they all spend their summers in the tennis club. I was actually discussing this with another teacher the other day: it's amazing how they're so serious and intense on the court playing their best friends and then they come off and it's fine - they're best friends again, win or lose.

"It's very nice. It teaches them a lot about how to deal with losing and winning and how to be gracious in defeat."

That good grace throughout the vicissitudes of the game is of particular importance in the schools tennis world. There are no referees, no umpires, no beeping sensors to regulate the game. Competing players must act as the arbiters of their own matches.

It is difficult to imagine such a system functioning even at schools level in other sports. And yet, it works in tennis. A credit, surely, to the young players?

"I think it's the only game at schools level where there's no one in charge," says Campbell. "It's up to the players themselves. There could be a ball on a line, for example, but they'll agree something."

There must be an odd John McEnroe moment?

"Ah, there would be. But there isn't anybody there to say, 'These are the rules.' So it's up to them to work it out."

Once this season has drawn to its close, the CBS boys will keep playing at Naas Tennis Club. It is this link to the club above all that has allowed tennis to thrive against the odds in the school, says Campbell.

"We're very lucky in that we have such a great club in the town. It does an awful lot for its juniors and we benefit a lot from that. The fact that all the lads that are tops in the tennis club, bar one or two, are in school here is great. It's due to the work of the club that the school team is so good."

FACT BOX

School:Meánscoil Iognáid Rís, Naas CBS

Founded:1871

Number of pupils:780

Sports played:Tennis, Gaelic football, hurling, soccer, rugby, basketball, golf

Major recent sporting honours:The school has won two Leinster Senior Tennis Cups at Division Two level

Notable past-pupil:Jockey Niall Madden, 2006 Grand National winner

INSIDE TRACK - Christopher Behan

Name:Christopher Behan, member of Naas CBS senior tennis team.

Age:17.

Tennis heroes:Roger Federer is just so skilful. Also Serena Williams. She got me started watching Wimbledon one year.

Sporting dream:Just to win a club tournament. Obviously I'm too old to go anywhere professionally or anything. Just to do well at club level.

Any perks from playing tennis?Yes, we got off six classes the other day. It was crazy. And going away to see what other schools are like is good.

Hard to juggle sport and study?It's hard because there's so much pressure on us with the Leaving Cert now. It is hard to balance it out but you have to plan the week ahead. We know when we're playing matches, so that's how you work around it.

Play any other sports?No, but I coach gymnastics

Describe the food in the school:They sell sandwiches, wraps. In the morning there's a breakfast bar with yoghurts and sausage rolls, that kind of thing.