Beaconhurst tennis star Ali Collins, from Dunblane, talks about her future ambitions and how she combines schoolwork with competing in major tennis tournaments all over Europe ….
“I started playing tennis when I was five-years- old and went for lessons at Stirling University. When I was nine or ten, I was picked to join the tennis performance programme at the university and I’ve been involved in the squad there ever since.
I’ve always loved tennis. I like everything about it - competing, playing matches and winning and I enjoy the training too. The amount I play has gradually increased as I’ve got older and now I train with my coach, Mark Walker, every week day.
I use the weekends as rest time to catch up with my friends and do normal things unless I am playing in a tournament.
I’ve played in Scottish junior tennis competitions since I was nine and did my first tournament abroad when I was 10 - an Under 11 tournament in France. Since then, I have gone on to playing in more tournaments abroad. I recently won an U14 tournament in Cyprus and got through to the quarter finals of an U16 Tennis Europe competition in Malta. I was also selected to represent Great Britain in the Tennis Europe Winter Cup tournament held in Turkey in January this year.
This will be my second year of competing in the U14s age group and it’s going to be very busy with a lot of competitions in Europe and the UK. I’m looking forward to the various tournaments and although I feel a bit nervous before the matches start, once I get onto court I’m fine and I enjoy competing.
I live in Dunblane with my dad Lee, mum Dawn and my 11-year-old brother Max and attended Dunblane Primary School before moving to Beaconhurst School in Bridge of Allan.
I was offered a scholarship at Beaconhurst which makes it easier for me to fit in my tennis and my studies.
I’m allowed time out during the schoolday to do my training and because
the school is so close to the university it’s easy for me to get to training.
When I go away for competitions, my teachers give me the work I’m going to miss so I can do it in the evenings and there is also a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) system I can log into. My teachers are supportive and help me keep up with my schoolwork and my parents and friends are also very understanding.
I want to keep progressing with my tennis and carry on enjoying it and my aim is to be a professional tennis player once I finish school. I’ve met Andy Murray once and he’s my favourite player - his mother Judy has also been very supportive. I want to follow in Andy’s footsteps because he’s such an amazing player - and I hope to play at Wimbledon one day.
I like the fact that Andy is from Dunblane like me because it shows you can follow your dreams and make it wherever you live.”
By Ali Collins, S2, Beaconhurst School.
Beaconhurst School runs a Scholarship programme for gifted children to help them combine academic excellence with their particular talent – whether that be in music, art or sport.
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School Jotters
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