Townsville’s Lelani Kipping wins ‘trip of a lifetime’ by creating poem
A 9-year-old girl from Townsville is ‘extra excited’ to be jetting off to the US with her family on the trip of a lifetime after winning a nationwide competition with her clever poem.
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Nine-year-old Lelani Kipping of Townsville said she is ‘extra excited’ to be jetting off to the US with her family on the trip of a lifetime.
Winning a national competition run by Hot Shots Tennis, a junior tennis program for kids aged 3 to ten run by Tennis Australia, Lelani beat out entrants from across the country with her poem about Aussie tennis superstar Alex de Minaur.
Lelani said she has been playing tennis since kindy and loves ‘hitting the ball back’ and playing with other kids.
“It’s a really good way to make different friends,” she said.
On how she came up with her winning poem Lelani said she ‘sat at her table and thought of different rhyming words about tennis.”
The keen tennis player is left handed just like her favourite player, Aussie Storm Hunter.
“Storm is my favourite, my middle name is Storm and she is left-handed like me,” she said.
The Kipping family are getting ready to head off to New York this month, scoring the prize worth more than $25,000.
The trip includes return flights, accommodation, Centre Court tickets, a behind the scenes tour and spending money.
Apart from seeing the US Open Lelani said she had other things to tick off her American bucket list.
“I want to see the snowy leopard at the Bronx Zoo,” she said.
“I want to see the biggest toy shop in the world and watch the tennis.”
The Hot Shots Tennis program is supported by Aussie men’s number one player Alex de Minaur, who began playing tennis when he was three.
“Kids get so much out of learning tennis, and Hot Shots Tennis lays the perfect foundation, building not just skills but a genuine love for the game,” he said.
Competition entrants were instructed to submit in 25 words or less who they want to win the US Open this year and why.
Lelani’s winning poem:
US Open, Twenty-Four,
Aussie winner, Alex de Minaur.
He burns through shoes with his speed,
Pepperoni Pizza is all he needs.
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Originally published as Townsville’s Lelani Kipping wins ‘trip of a lifetime’ by creating poem
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