The 2021 tennis season has been a success for HBHS with a large number of students being involved in the tennis code at HBHS. With numbers growing substantially over the last few years, this year has proved no different, which makes a great statement that tennis at HBHS is continuing to rise and will continue to grow over the years to come.

The HBHS Tennis Championships were held early in Term 1. In the Junior 1 division we had Ben Stephens defeating Flynn McGregor in the final in a good battle. In the Senior 1 division we had Max Stephens defeating Jack McGregor in an entertaining match. In the Special Plate section, Jeremy Coombe won the juniors, and Ben Parker won the seniors.

This year we were lucky enough to have another good turnout for the 2021 interschool season with 7 teams being entered in the Waikato Competition. HBHS 1 and HBHS 2 came respectively 2nd and 3rd in Pool 1. In Pool 2, HBHS 5 finished 1st and HBHS 6 finished 2nd . A special thanks to Ms Young for organising this and to the teachers who helped manage a team. Social tennis was once again very popular with 30 players participating on a Thursday afternoon. Thank you to Ms Morrow for organising this.

In the Waikato Secondary Schools Tennis Championships, we had a fantastic effort in this event with 8 finalists and 3 winners of their divisions. We had Ben Stephens winning the Junior Boys event defeating Flynn McGregor. Jack McGregor defeated Oliver Taylor in the Intermediate Boys, and in the Senior Boys final Max Stephens was runner up. In the Junior Boys doubles, Andy Nguyen and Thomas Hancock were runners up. Robin Kos and Jacob Kilgour took out the Intermediate Boys doubles, while Kitt Douglas and Travis Palmer placed second in the Senior Boys doubles.

In Super 8 the team of Max Stephens, Jack McGregor, Ben Stephens, Flynn McGregor and Hamish Kerr travelled to Tauranga to defend their title. As a result of a very strong pool of teams, the title defence proved difficult, but the team managed to place a competitive third. The results were:

v Palmerston North Boys' School:  won 5 - 1

v Napier Boys High' School:  won 6 - 0

v Tauranga Boys' College:  lost 4 - 2

v New Plymouth Boys' High School:  lost 6 - 0

One of the highlights of each season has been playing in the National Secondary School Championships. This year, HBHS played in the Cup Division with a team of three players, consisting of Max Stephens, Jack McGregor, and Ben Stephens. After a week of quality tennis, the team ended up placing an outstanding second, with results as follows:

v Auckland Grammar 2:  won 2 - 1

v Shirley Boys' High School:  lost 2 - 1

v King's College:  won 3 - 0

v Auckland Grammar 1:  won 2 - 1

Unfortunately, the annual Senior Quad could not go ahead this year due to COVID-19 restrictions.

A big thank you to all those who helped us on and off the court, without your constant support we would not be able to travel and perform the way we have this season. Particularly, huge thanks to teacher in charge of tennis Mr Erceg for his commitment to the code, and his consistent support for the boys at training and during the exchanges . Also, thank you to Pete Hoyland for providing coaching to a large number of players at HBHS. This allows us to dominate the Waikato region and compete with the big schools in New Zealand.