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Tennis Teams Qualify
Popular tennis coach John Williams celebrated four decades in charge of Merchant Taylors' Boys' School tennis teams by watching his under-13 and under-15 squads qualify for the regional finals.
John, who retires this year as a French teacher and Careers Master, will be back to the Crosby school next term to mastermind the teams' assault on the North-West titles. He said: "We last won the North-West title six years ago and we have as good a chance now as then. We have strength in depth and no weak links."
Both Merchants' teams were undefeated in the Sefton Championships beating teams from Maricourt, Formby High, Christ the King and Deyes High.
He added: "Success is about forging strong partnerships between parents, the school and the area's clubs. Locally we have some very good clubs with excellent facilities and positive attitudes towards their juniors." However, on why so few players go on to achieve national glory, John said: "I have had five or six national players at Merchants', but to succeed at the highest level you need to focus on tennis to the exclusion of almost everything else virtually from the age of 12 and that's just not how we do things in this country."
Pictured from the front are Tom O'Malley, Edward Stoker, Michael Roberts, Alex March, Rhys Ward, George Johnson, Peter Roberts, Matthew Tolman and Ben Scott