Mackay star Joshua Wilson wins three North Queensland tennis tournaments in a week
A tennis prodigy on the rise has dominated in North Queensland tournaments, and is ready to compete with the best Australia has to offer.
Sport
Don't miss out on the headlines from Sport. Followed categories will be added to My News.
There are no limitations in the efforts one can put in to reach greatness in a sporting code.
The passion and desire to excel in a craft far outweighs the constraints placed on young prodigies developed in regional towns and cities.
Joshua Wilson is Mackay’s newest champion, and has enjoyed a prosperous month of tennis.
In the space of a week, Joshua found won two under-12s bronze singles tournaments, in Cairns and Innisfail, and the under-12s boys singles at the Silver Cairns Open Age Tournament.
Joshua’s coach James Rogers said the lad was beginning to reap the rewards from his effort.
“Josh has great tennis skills and works really hard to achieve results,” he said.
“Over the weekend he proved he can compete with the best in Australia.”
Rogers is one coach at the recently opened Rogers Tennis Academy, a family-run business that includes his father Ken and his sister Natalie Rogers.
Ken said it was important to develop talent and push the players to reach their full potential.
“Just because we live in a region with a smaller population does not mean we have to settle for less,” he said.
“Look at what James and Nat have achieved having trained in Mackay as youngsters, and now Josh is showing it can be done too.”
Ken trained James and Nat in their youths, with the siblings both captaining Queensland during their playing days.
James also captained the St. Edward’s University team in the United States and was ranked third in the country on the college circuit in 2013, while Natalie played for the Australian Merit team.
The trio is now a close-knit family team committed to building local talent, like Joshua, and pushing them to compete on national stages.