Year 9 student, Sarah Rokusek, has been selected to represent Australia at the 2020 Asia/Oceania World Junior Tennis Competition. Sarah is currently ranked number two in the country in her age group and will attend the event on the Gold Coast from 22 to 27 March.
Sarah will don green and gold for the first time to play in the Under 14s category against the best young tennis players from sixteen nations. National teams that finish in the top four spots in the qualifying event earn a place at the 2020 U14 World Championships, which will be held in the Czech Republic in August.
Sarah, who trains six days per week both before and after school, said there was a lot to love about tennis.
“I love travelling for competitions because I get to meet new people and explore different places,” she said.
“I also really enjoy representing Meriden at Tildesley and other school tennis events because I get to play alongside my friends.”
Sarah will play for Meriden at the annual Tildesley Shield Tennis Tournament just two days before she takes to the clay courts for her country at the World Junior Tennis event but she has taken the back-to-back competitions in her stride.
“I will be maintaining my routine as I always do and focus on my warmup and recovery habits to avoid injuries at this time,” she said.
Sarah said Meriden’s Olympus Program helped to ensure she kept up with her academic studies during these periods of intense training and competitions.
“The Olympus Program helps me organise my schoolwork alongside my training. The ‘Finding Time’ elective allows me to complete my homework during the day so I have less to do after training. Also, the Olympus workshops are very informative and help me keep on top of the latest research on things like nutrition and injury prevention.”
Congratulations, Sarah, on earning your place on the Australian team. Your determination to succeed is inspiring to all girls who see how hard you must work to achieve excellence. The Meriden community wishes you the best at your upcoming event.
