Ilkley Lawn Tennis & Squash Club’s Boys U18 Premier Team were crowned National League winners this month at the National Tennis Centre, in Roehampton London.
The Ilkley Team, comprising of JB Pickard, Thomas Horsley, Joe Kelt, Scott Hillerby, Jack Batchelor, and Joe Conaghan earned the chance to represent their region, by winning the North Region National League Title earlier this month. During that tournament, the Ilkley Team came through to beat all the teams in their division, including Ashby Castle (Leicestershire), Cultiv8 Leeds and Bolton.
Team Captain Simon Ikckringill commented, “Leeds is the Elite Centre for Yorkshire and Bolton the Elite Centre for the Northwest, which shows the standard of play that our players perform.”
Saturday 17July the Ilkley Team was drawn against David Lloyd Bristol and overpowered the opposition with a decisive 6-0 victory to secure their place in the final on Sunday. Sunday’s opponents were Woodford Wells (Essex) who defeated the number one seed on the Saturday.
The formidable team of JB Pickard, Thomas Horsley, Scott Hillerby and Joe Kelt performed with great team spirit and camaraderie to come through as worthy winners, with a sound 5-1 finish over Woodford Wells. “As team captain I would to thank all the players for their sustained effort throughout. It’s a fitting end to their time in the junior performance program at Ilkley as they move on to their next chapter playing tennis in the USA and Spain,” said Ickringill.