March 2025 IC Rod Laver Junior Challenge - 2024 Regionals Summary Following a hugely successful 2023 finals in La Jolla, California, attended by Rod Laver himself, 2024 marked that start of the latest edition of the IC Rod Laver Junior Challenge. The competition, which is the only IC event for juniors, aims to provide an opportunity for promising young players to begin a relationship with their respective ICs, travelling abroad to compete while also learning about new cultures in the true spirit of the IC. The competition runs in cycles of two years, with five regional events in year one, and a worldwide final in year two. This year, a total of 18 countries participated in the regional competitions and 6 will be competing in the upcoming worldwide final. South America was the first regional event which kicked off in September in Argentina in the beautiful setting of the Martindale Country club on the outskirts of Buenos Aires. The players were kindly hosted by members of the club and started their stay with a welcome cocktail party. Over three days of competition, the four participating teams – Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Uruguay – each played a match against one other in a round robin format. The level of competition was extremely high across the event and three of the six matches came down to the deciding mixed doubles tiebreak, creating a great atmosphere for the players and fans alike! Argentina emerged triumphant after a close battle with Chile and will participate at the worldwide final. The next regional followed soon after in Europe, hosted in the town of Zaragoza by the IC of Spain. The European competition is the largest of the regionals with a total of eight teams from seven countries participating – Croatia, Great Britain, Italy, Luxembourg, Norway, Slovenia and two teams from hosts Spain. The teams were split into two groups of four teams and spent three days playing a round robin. On the fourth day each team played off against the team of the same position in the opposing group to determine the final standings. Alongside the tennis the players were treated to dinner at a local restaurant, a closing dinner at the club, a sightseeing tour of Zaragoza and helped to run a philanthropy tennis clinic. After fighting off Spain 4-3 to top their box, Italy beat Great Britain in the final to win the regional. They will progress to the worldwide finals, and Spain will also have a spot as the host nation. In November, the North American regional took place with first time hosts Barbados putting together a wonderful sequence of events for the players from Barbados, Canada, Mexico and the USA. Over three days of play the teams each played one another in a round robin event at the scenic Barbados Yacht Club, right on the beach! Despite frequent rain delays, the event progressed smoothly with Mexico defeating the USA in an electric mixed doubled shoot out to win qualification to the worldwide finals. Off court – in addition to enjoying the beachside location, players enjoyed a BBQ and participating in a philanthropy session with children from a local orphanage. The final regional for Asia/Oceania was hosted in December by the IC of Singapore at the Winchester Tennis Centre. This regional featured only 3 teams – India, Japan and Singapore – so a round robin format was played where each team played each other over three days. On their days off the Indian and Japanese teams were taken on a sightseeing tour of the city by representatives from the IC of Singapore, and all teams had a welcome dinner at a Vietnamese restaurant. Last year’s worldwide champions India were back with another strong team and won both their matches to qualify for the finals where they will have the chance to defend their title. In previous editions of the IC Rod Laver Junior Challenge there has been a fifth regional for Africa. However, in light of many difficulties including logistics and the lack of IC member countries in Africa, a decision was made not to hold an Africa regional this year. To ensure continued representation from Africa in the worldwide final, South Africa will be bringing a team selected from their U16 national’s competition. Over time we hope to work out a solution that allows a full Africa regional to be held again. Full tournament reports and scorecards for the four regionals are available here. 2025 Finals Now the regionals are complete, all eyes are turning to the 2025 Worldwide Final, which will take place on the historic courts of the Real Club de Polo de Barcelona and Real Club de Tenis Barcelona in Spain. The event will be held from the 26th – 30th July 2025 and the IC committee and IC of Spain are busy finalising preparations for the event. As well as battling on the court for the trophies, the six teams will be able to enjoy a full programme of events including exploring the city of Barcelona, and bonding with each other over local food. We are very grateful to the IC of Spain for their hard work creating a memorable event for the players and look forward to sharing daily reports of the event on social media and the IC website when it all starts! Participating ICs Argentina Italy Mexico India South Africa Spain (hosts) Full Results South America Winners: Argentina Runners up: Chile 3rd place: Brazil 4th place: Uruguay Europe Winners: Italy Runners up: Great Britain 3rd place: Spain I 4th place: Slovenia 5th place: Norway 6th place: Spain II 7th place: Luxembourg 8th place: Croatia North America Winners: Mexico Runners up: USA 3rd place: Canada 4th place: Barbados Asia/Oceania Winners: India Runners up: Japan 3rd place: Singapore Previous Article Meet a Member: John Feaver, IC of Great Britain
January 2017 What to look forward to in 2017 After a successful year of fixtures and events in 2016, the IC Council and ICs of the World are now gearing up for another full year of fixtures for IC members across the board. Key anniversary celebrations include; IC of Belgium’s 70th anniversary, IC of Germany’s 50th anniversary, IC of Bulgaria 10th anniversary and IC of Barbados 10th anniversary which will be officially celebrated in 2018. Below is a round up of the ‘official IC events’, including the Compass Junior Challenge Regional Events. Further information for each nation’s fixtures, can be found on their individual web pages. Away from the court, the IC website is being rejuvenated and will include improved capabilities on tablets and mobiles. These updates and modernisation will then be transferred across to individual IC pages throughout the year – watch this space… 2017 IC Calendar 4th Bi-annual ‘Deltec Bank & Trust’ Bahamas IC Doubles Week 8th-13th January Bahamas BLTA National Tennis Centre Competing nations – The Bahamas, Barbados, Canada, USA, and an International team Format - men’s doubles, ladies doubles and mixed doubles Men’s and Ladies Potter Cup 1st-4th June LXIII Gran Premi Generalitat de Catalunya and LXIII Campionat Internacional de Catalunya de Veterans, Barcelona, Spain After the 2016 Ladies Potter Cup invitational exhibition event, 2017 will be the year of the inaugural Ladies Potter Cup Format – 5 singles and 2 doubles for over 45s CQS Nations Cup 14th-18th June Prague, Czech Republic Format – men’s doubles, ladies doubles and mixed doubles Robert Abdesselam Trophy 23rd-25th June Madrid, Spain Format – 1 men’s doubles, 1 ladies doubles and 2 mixed doubles. Teams include 1 lady over 50, 1 man and lady over 55 and 1 man over 65 Compass European Junior Challenge 3rd-8th July Brussels, Belgium Format – adult captain, 2 junior boys and 2 junior girls The winners of the 2017 European Regional event will go through to compete in the 2018 Compass IC Junior Challenge Finals IC Council AGM 9th July National Tennis Centre, Roehampton, GB Annual IC Council AGM is once again hosted at the GB National Tennis Centre on the middle Sunday of The Wimbledon Championships V Tennis Golf Challenge Date TBC Mallorca, Spain Format – combination of tennis and golf fixtures Compass African Junior Challenge Date TBC South Africa Format – adult captain, 2 junior boys and 2 junior girls The winners of the 2017 African Regional event will go through to compete in the 2018 Compass IC Junior Challenge Finals Compass North American Junior Challenge Date TBC Mexico Format – adult captain, 2 junior boys and 2 junior girls The winners of the 2017 North American Regional event will go through to compete in the 2018 Compass IC Junior Challenge Finals Compass South American Junior Challenge Date TBC Nation TBC Format – adult captain, 2 junior boys and 2 junior girls The winners of the 2017 South American Regional event will go through to compete in the 2018 Compass IC Junior Challenge Finals Juego de Pelota 2nd-6th August Brussels, Belgium IC of Belgium’s 70th anniversary celebratory events Format –2 men over 70 and 2 men over 75, competing in 2 singles and 1 doubles in each age category IC Week - Windmill Trophy and Mercelis Trophy 16th-20th August Berlin, Germany IC of Germany’s 50th anniversary celebratory events Windmill Trophy – 2 men under 45, 2 men over 45 and one playing or non-playing captain, competing in 2 singles and 1 doubles in each age category Mercelis Trophy – 1 lady under 40, 1 lady over 40 and one playing or non-playing captain, competing in 2 singles and 1 doubles in each age category La Carreta 20-24th September Sofia, Bulgaria IC of Bulgaria’s 10th anniversary celebratory events Format – Ladies singles and doubles comprising of 1 lady over 50, 1 lady over 60 and 1 playing or non-playing captain Compass Asia/ Oceania Junior Challenge 7th-9th October Pune, India Format – adult captain, 2 junior boys and 2 junior girls The winners of the 2017 Asia/ Oceania Regional event will go through to compete in the 2018 Compass IC Junior Challenge Finals Previous Article Paul Hutchins is awarded an MBE Next Article La Carreta entries now open