Kingswood College gave its umpteenth “Our Hero of the Week” to 17-year old Grade 11 James Kelly who was recently been selected to take part in the South African Schools tennis tournament next April.
Kelly was recently invited to the Eastern Province top 10 selection tournament, where he finished as a runner up, securing his spot in the national tournament.
The youngster’s tennis career started when he enrolled into Kingswood in 2013 (Grade 7). He played a few matches for the school’s 1st team in Grade 8, and was then became a permanent 1st team player in Grade 9.
“I just enjoy the game, the fitness and the opportunity to play the sport. I like the fact that, like golf, if you hit a bad shot, you don’t loose and can still win the next point,” Kelly said.
In 2016 Kelly won the Port Elizabeth Brian Bands Series 1 event, finished third in the Eastern Province PE Mini 4, Boys 16 and played in the Eastern Cape PE Mini 7 where he was a quarter finalist. He was also crowned Albany’s number 1 player.
In 2017 Kelly won the PE Brian Bands Series 1 and made the 1st round of the PE Brian Bands Series 2 Grand Prix. He was a quarter-finalist at the Cradock mini tournament, finishing fifth and was invited to the Eastern Province Top Ten selection where he finished as runner-up.
Kelly finished as Albany number 2 this year.
