{"id":42688,"date":"2025-08-12T16:17:33","date_gmt":"2025-08-12T06:17:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/vic\/?p=42688"},"modified":"2025-08-13T19:13:59","modified_gmt":"2025-08-13T09:13:59","slug":"team-vic-at-the-nitc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/vic\/news\/2025\/08\/12\/team-vic-at-the-nitc","title":{"rendered":"Team Vic at the NITC"},"content":{"rendered":"

The 2025\u00a0National Indigenous Tennis Carnival<\/strong> in Darwin, on Larrakia Country, saw 11 young First Nations players from across our state take centre court in a week of culture, connection and competition.<\/p>\n

On court, Team Victoria delivered an outstanding performance, with two national titles<\/strong> and a strong third-place finish in the Ash Barty Cup (Qld 1st, NSW 2nd, Vic 3rd).<\/p>\n

In the Showdown events<\/strong>, six Victorians competed across the 18\/u and 14\/u age groups, producing exceptional results:<\/p>\n

Team Victoria had a very successful run overall with finals success in both the 18\/u girls and 14\/u boys categories. The 18\/u girls\u2019 championship final saw Lola Grigor (Vic) defeat\u00a0Laylah Shawcross (Qld) 6-1 6-1 in the girls\u2019 final. In the 14\/u boys\u2019 competition, Will Brooks-Gay\u00a0(Vic) overcame\u00a0Oakley Baylis\u00a0(NSW) 6-1 6-2.<\/p>\n

Victoria also showed our strength in doubles, with two more national champions crowned. In the 18\/u girls\u2019 doubles, Sophia Brooks-Gay (Vic) teamed up with Mahala Hitchings (NSW) to take the title, while in the 14\/u boys\u2019 doubles, Will Brooks-Gay (Vic) partnered with Zachery Tozer (NSW) to claim victory.<\/p>\n

Victoria\u2019s Future Stars<\/strong> team, Dakora Graham (Yorta Yorta, Dja Dja Wurrung, Wiradjuri), Brock Mitchell (Wurundjeri), Nate Moloney (Ngadjuri), Zander Smith (Kamilaroi) and Asher Stanford-Lehmann (Bundjalung), also showed great promise, with Brock Mitchell earning a Deadly Award<\/strong> for his leadership, sportsmanship and positive spirit.<\/p>\n

Off the court, the Carnival\u2019s cultural program was a highlight for many. Our players took part in daily \u201cGrounding Sessions\u201d with Ian Goolagong, spear throwing (men), weaving (women), learning Larrakia language, Traditional Indigenous Games, hip hop dancing with Indigenous Outreach Projects, string making, hand printing, and enjoying a special performance from Barkaa.<\/p>\n

Our very own Tahlia Wheately, Tennis Victoria Competitive Play Administrator,\u00a0<\/strong>hosted a Yarning Circle, sharing her journey from NITC player to Australian Open staff member and Tennis Victoria role model.<\/p>\n

Adam Watson, Tennis Victoria Inclusion Manager<\/strong> commented on the experience saying \u201cThe National Indigenous Tennis Carnival on Larrakia country is a powerful celebration of culture and First Nations pride. Watching our young players embrace their identity is truly inspiring. This event goes beyond tennis, it nurtures connection to culture, community, and country. Our Victorian mob have made us very proud.\u201d<\/p>\n

If you’d like to see a snippet of what else Team Victoria got up to throughout the week in Darwin click here.<\/a><\/p>\n

Team Victoria:<\/strong><\/h3>\n

VIC Showdown Team \u2013 U18 (and mob):<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \n
  • WINNER: Lola Grigor (Wonnarua)<\/li>\n
  • Sophia Brooks-Gay (Wathaurong)<\/li>\n
  • Lewis Murray (Wamba Wamba)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    VIC Showdown Team \u2013U14 (and mob):<\/strong><\/p>\n

      \n
    • WINNER: Will Brooks-Gay (Wathaurong)<\/li>\n
    • Nate Swale (Wiradjuri)<\/li>\n
    • Zane Ryan (Ngarrindjeri)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

      VIC Future Stars Team (and mob):<\/strong><\/p>\n

        \n
      • Dakora Graham (Yorta Yorta, Dja Dja Wurrung, Wiradjuri)<\/li>\n
      • Brock Mitchell(Wurundjeri)<\/li>\n
      • Nate Moloney (Ngadjuri)<\/li>\n
      • Zander Smith (Kamilaroi)<\/li>\n
      • Asher Stanford-Lehmann (Bundjalung)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

        Results:<\/strong><\/h3>\n

        18\/u Singles Championships:<\/strong><\/p>\n

        Girls: Lola Grigor (Vic) d Laylah Shawcross (Qld) 6-1 6-1<\/p>\n

        Boys: Quincy Khan (NSW) d Isaac Elson (NSW) 1-6 6-4 [10-4]<\/p>\n


        \n14\/u Singles Championships:<\/strong><\/p>\n

        Girls: Hazel Wright (NSW)\u00a0<\/strong>d Namallarri Mckenzie (SA) 6-2 6-0<\/p>\n

        Boys: Will Brooks-Gay (Vic) d Oakley Baylis (NSW) 6-1 6-2<\/p>\n

         <\/p>\n

        18\/u Doubles Champions:<\/strong><\/p>\n

        Girls: Sophia Brooks-Gay (Vic) & Mahala Hitchings (NSW)<\/p>\n

         <\/p>\n

        14\/u Doubles Champions:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

        Boys: Will Brooks-Gay (Vic) & Zachery Tozer (NSW)<\/p>\n

         <\/p>\n

        Deadly Award winner:<\/strong><\/p>\n

          \n
        • Brock Mitchell (Vic)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

          National Indigenous Tennis Carnival 2025 results. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6423,"featured_media":42702,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[98,57,1],"tags":[104],"class_list":["post-42688","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community","category-competitive-play","category-news","tag-inclusion-and-diversity"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/vic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42688","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/vic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/vic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/vic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6423"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/vic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42688"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/vic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42688\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/vic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/42702"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/vic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42688"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/vic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42688"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/vic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42688"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}