The early rounds of the Butterfly Schools Team Championship are soon upon us, and we are looking for more teams to enter the Under-19 Girls’ category.
Several years ago, to increase participation in this category, the number of players for a team was reduced from four to two.
Both players must attend the same school and at least one of them must be in Year 12 or above (that is, born after 31st August 2000 and before 1st September 2003) and the other can be in a lower school year.
If there are two girls at your school who could form a team, you could enter this year’s championship which takes place between November 2019 and March 2020.
The first stage is a county championship organised by the Schools’ County Secretary for your school’s county (this means the county in which your school is situated, not where your home address is). A schools’ county is not necessarily the same as a geographical county. It is possible that some county championships will have already taken place by the time you contact your Schools’ County Secretary but if there were no Girls’ Under 19 entrants you could still go forward to the next stage of the competition. If more than one team wants to enter from your county they would need to arrange a play-off between them.
Winning county teams then play in Zone Finals (January 18 or 19 for all of the country apart from some London counties which play on January 11) from which you could qualify for a Regional Final (February 8 or 9) and then on to the National Finals at Hinckley, Leicestershire on Saturday March 14.
Under-19 Girls’ matches consist of four singles matches (each of your players plays each of your opponents) and the players also combine for one doubles match against the opposition pair.
If you and a fellow school member wish to form a team to take part in this championship please contact me, Richard Hudson, on [email protected] if the above information is not clear (I realise it seems rather complicated) or to receive further details such as how to contact your Schools’ County Secretary.
There is an entry fee of £28 for a team to be the county’s representative in the Zone Finals (but there is nothing further to pay if you reach the later stages of the competition). Your school may be happy to pay this as you will be representing them in this national schools’ championship.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Richard Hudson (Team Championship Organiser)