Tennis Victoria

Bruce Cup

Tennis Victoria supports the School Sport Victoria (SSV) in their delivery of the SSV State Championships and the national primary school teams’ event – the Bruce Cup. The events provide all Victorian primary school children with an opportunity to participate in this national event starting with local district trials all the way through to representing Victoria at the national primary school teams’ event, the Bruce Cup.

The Bruce Cup is a prestigious national schools tennis championships open to girls and boys aged 12/u. In Victoria, this means students may be in year seven, grade six or grade five. The Bruce Cup is conducted by School Sport Australia (SSA) in partnership with Tennis Australia. The national event attracts Australian ranking points.

SSV selects a state representative team of seven boys and seven girls to compete in this annual national team competition through a series of local school events, starting with district trials, then regional championships culminating in the SSV State Championships. Victoria has finished runner-up to QLD for the last three years. To be considered for the Bruce Cup, players must participate in the SSV district, region or state championships.

Approximately 1500 primary school students compete annually in the SSV Tennis Championships and/or region and district championships.

The Bruce Cup has been played since 1938 and was first presented by the Hon HA Bruce, MLA, a former Minister of Education in Queensland. Many players who won Wimbledon and become the finest players in the world played their first representative matches for their state in the Bruce Cup.

Rod Laver, arguably one of the greatest tennis players ever, represented Queensland in the Bruce Cup. Lew Hoad, Jan Lehane, Fred Stolle, John Alexander and Wally Masur all represented their state in the Bruce Cup. More recently, past Bruce Cup participants Jason Stoltenberg, Pat Rafter, Todd Woodbridge, Mark Philippoussis, Rachel McQuillan and Evie Dominokovic have all performed with distinction on the international scene.

2012 Trials

Trials for the 2012 Bruce Cup will be held soon and a maximum of seven boys and seven girls will be selected. 

Age eligibility:  12 years and under born  2000, 2001, 2002, as 31 December 2012.
Trial levy: nil – if invited to trial, the cost will be $15
To nominate:nominations will open in February 2012
Nominations close:  22 May, 2012
National championship venue and dates:  Perth, Western Australia, 13 – 20 October, 2012
Trial dates: Tuesday 5 June 2012 9:30 am - 3 pm OR Wednesday 6 June 2012 9:30 am - 3 pm
Venue: Pakenham Regional Tennis Centre, 11 Webster Way, Pakenham (Melways 317 – f11), a full canteen will be open on the trial days
Trial/process:

1. Players will nominate online and meet the Australian ranking criteria before they will be invited to attend the state selection (team Vic) trials
2. 24 boys and 24 girls will then be invited to attend the state selection trials
3. Invited players will be notified if they are required to attend one or both the trial days

2011 Bruce Cup

The 2011 Bruce Cup was held in Canberra from 15 – 22 October, 2011. Victoria finished second behind Queensland.

Congratulations to the players who represented Victoria for their efforts:

• Jackson Ross
• Todd Millington
• Connor Di Marco
• Christopher Cox
• Jeremy Taylor
• Cody Gunn
• Cooper Wyett
• Bethany Toner
• Stephanie Serafidis
• Kate Vaughan
• Gabriela Ruffels
• Gabrielle Sprague
• Cindy Tamber
• Teodora Vuruna

For further information regarding this event, and how to get involved, please contact School Sport Victoria on (03) 9488 9466 or visit their website.