After 47 years, Scots College has finally claimed its maiden firsts AAGPS tennis premiership

From perennial wooden spooners to world-beaters: Scots College has brought a 47-year drought to an end by claiming its maiden firsts AAGPS tennis premiership.

(L-R) Scots College’s firsts tennis team: Ms Carmel Meachen (1st Coach), Tom Buchanan (Year 11), Jeremy Zhang (Year 9), Christian Waked (Year 12), Charlie Thompson (Year 12), Lachlan Littlejohn (Year 12), Tom Mitchell (Year 22), Mr Andrew Sun (Coordinator of Tennis, 1st Coach). Picture: Kim Buchanan

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Since 1972, Scots College has been trying everything it can to capture its maiden firsts tennis premiership.

After 47 years, that search has finally come to an end.

Scots’ firsts team of Christian Waked, Charlie Thompson, Tom Mitchell, Jeremy Zhang, Lachlan Littlejohn and Tom Buchanan dominated in 2019, claiming the shield with an undefeated season.

“To win the maiden title for the Scots College is very special,” the school’s co-ordinator of tennis Andrew Sun said.

“When I first came to Scots, the firsts came seventh. The next year we came sixth. Then fourth and then last year third. In five years Scots tennis has gone from the easy beats and wooden spooners to the dominant school in the AAGPS.

“It really demonstrates to the boys that setting a goal, executing the plans, working hard and thinking a little differently really does pay off.”

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So after going so long without a title, just how did Scots manage to turn their fortunes around?

Surprisingly, the answer was found away from the court.

“The biggest change that we have instilled in the program is a sense of team,” Sun said.

“One individual won’t and can’t win the premiership on his own. It needed everyone in the team to help each other get better and perform.

“The culture among the program is now so positive where boys are finding it rewarding to assisting their teammate.

“The team of coaches valued every boy in the program, not just the boys in the firsts and seconds. The philosophy was to develop every single boy and not impose a one size fits all approach. The coaches took the time to understand the constraints and demands on each of the boys and assisted them to get the best from every training session.”

(L-R) Australia’s team for the World Junior Tennis Finals: Coach Damian Ward, Alex Despoja (SA), Zach Viiala (WA) and Jeremy Zhang. Picture: Tennis Australia

The success of the college’s tennis program is also stretching into the representative arena with year 9 student Jeremy Zhang becoming the first Scots boy to ever play tennis at the international level.

Zhang will travel to the Czech Republic in August to represent Australia at the ITF World Junior Tennis Finals.

Sun hopes that Jeremy will be just the first of many Scots tennis players to pull on the green and gold.

“We want to facilitate more individual successes like these and eventually have more players represent Australia,” he said.

“We want to continue to integrate a fantastic academic opportunity and allow players to realise their tennis passion.”