Juniors From Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba Compete at Inaugural Prairie Cup

48 junior athletes. 8 coaches. 3 days. 1 trophy.

Tennis Alberta, Tennis Saskatchewan, and Tennis Manitoba, with support from Tennis Canada, started something special.

The Prairie Cup.

A team based competition, held over three days, bringing together four squads across the region: Alberta North, Alberta South, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. The squads featured some of the top U10 and U12 players from across the three provinces.

The fun kicked off on Friday with off-court training led by oaches Hichem Saidi (Alberta) and Go Kumagai (Manitoba). The session acted as an icebreaker, blending skill work with team bonding, and gave everyone a chance to meet their interprovincial peers.

The matches got going on Saturday and ran through Sunday, centered at Mega Courts, with some matches happening at Osten & Victor Alberta Tennis Centre. Players competed in a series of singles and doubles matches, capped off with a one-point tournament and a tiebreaker tournament on Sunday.

The matches delivered skill and shotmaking beyond the players’ years, much to the excitement of parents, supporters, and friends who were on site to cheer. But it was more than the on-court moments that made the event special. Rather, it was the atmosphere at the facility, and the in-between moments around the courts that were so memorable.

“One moment that stood out to me was during the finals of the U12 tiebreaker tournament. You could see the friendships built over the weekend come together as the boys rallied behind Arlo and the girls cheered on Isabella. When the match ended, everyone rush on court to support their friends, and then the carryout of Arlo was such an awesome moment. It showed how special these types of events are for building relationships and supporting each other.”

—Adrian Court, Manager, Player Development and Competitions

Results

• Boys U10 Team Champions: Alberta North

• Girls U10 Team Champions: Alberta South

• Boys U12 Team Champions: Manitoba

• Girls U12 Team Champions: Manitoba

• U10 One-Point Champion: Henry Shannon (Saskatchewan)

• U12 One-Point Champion: Adam Hashmi (Manitoba)

• U10 Tiebreaker Champion: Jaxson Gerke (Alberta North)

• U12 Tiebreaker Champion: Isabelle Prusinkiewicz (Alberta South)

Teams

Thank you to the players, coaches, parents, and supporters who traveled to Calgary to compete and cheer. Your energy made the inaugural event a success. See you next year!

Team Alberta North

Coaches: Ikemefuna Odiachi, Matea Roki

U12 Girls: Elliette Tran, Avril Lin, Alexis Sokol

U12 Boys: Smith Lewsaw, Avery Wong, Jason Oduko

U10 Girls: Safiatou Nchange, Michelle Law, Claire Lu

U10 Boys: Jaxson Gerke, Shauryaa Landge, CJ Lewsaw

Team Alberta South

Coaches: Dani Gryckiewicz, Marc Colangeli

U12 Girls: Isabelle Prusinkiewicz, Andrea Sgambatti, Elaina York

U12 Boys: Jaden Han, Daniel Dhillon, Arlo Ryan

U10 Girls: Arianna Chacon, Aria Bloom, Nysa Iyer

U10 Boys: Charlie Joy, Henry Podwalski, Enzo Colangeli

Team Manitoba

Coaches: Olga Berdynskykh, Go Kumagai

U12 Girls: Alexia Djomo, Krystal Sun, Avelyn Deepak

U12 Boys: Viggo Mikulsen, Adam Hashmi, Aviv Arava

U10 Girls: Kaiya Clayton, Sophie Hashmi, Aarya Chaudhary

U10 Boys: Cruz Hindle-Giavendoni, Trent Bertram, Oscar Li

Team Saskatchewan

Coaches: Marek Nehasil, Denise Fernandez

U12 Girls: Scarlett Habeebkutty, Eliana Green, Brielle York

U12 Boys: Etienne Wanson, William Jin, Viktor Ter-Grigoryan

U10 Girls: Vivien Schweitzer, Aurora Habeebkutty, Stella Huang

U10 Boys: Roger Pillipow, Finley Ouellette, Henry Shannon

Photography

High-resolution photos from the weekend are available to view and download.