Senior Tennis North Islands: Weathering the Storm

On Monday, April 28 and Tuesday, April 29, the Senior Tennis Team took on Brooks School, Gulf Island Secondary School (GISS), Queen Margaret's School (QMS), and Shawnigan Lake School (SLS) in what was a battle for the North #1 seed going into the Island Championship. 

It was a cool overcast day as the team took to the courts, hoping the projected rain would hold out until matches were over. The girls' and boys' teams had a strong start against QMS, winning ten out of ten matches. Tennis Captain Ruby S, Hope ‘25, stated: “Though we had a slow start, I was proud of them for kicking it into high gear and convincingly winning all of our matches in this round”. 

Though we had been lucky to get the first round of the day in, the weather turned on us, and we were forced to delay our games until Plan B was confirmed: moving to the Arbutus Bubble!

Thanks to Brooks School’s hospitality and sportsmanship, we were able to catch a ride with them on their bus to Arbutus Ridge Golf Course, our home courts in the winter. We moved to a wet-weather format (matches are played until one team wins three out of five matches) to ensure that we were efficient with our limited time and space. Brooks, located in Powell River, and GISS of Saltspring had long travel days ahead of them. SLS graciously agreed to push their round against Brentwood to the next day so Brooks and GISS could compete and then travel home rather than staying the night. 

The next day, Brentwood and Shawnigan arrived at the courts ready to compete, unintimidated by the looming clouds above them. They competed hard and our Brentwood Girls won their round 5-0, while the boys got it done 3-2. 

I am so proud of our team for getting the job done and walking away with the win, solidifying our North Island dominance with our fourth North Island Championship title in a row. 

However, the main takeaway from this tournament was the athletic community around Vancouver Island. Head of Tennis, Coach Hobbs stated: “All teams were gracious, resilient and flexible when we were faced with this obstacle”. I want to thank all the players on Brooks, SLS, GISS, and QMS for their patience and adaptability, as well as the coaching staff from each team for their willingness to work around this speed bump. It truly speaks to the character of all schools here on the Island. On behalf of the Brentwood community, we look forward to hosting most of these teams back on our home courts for the Island Championships.

Ella W, Mack ‘25