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Volume 1 (1999/2000)
Issue
1 (March 1999)
Issue
2 (Nov. 1999)
Issue 3 (Dec. 1999)
Issue 4 (Feb. 2000)
Issue 5 (March 2000)
Issue 6 (April 2000)
Issue
7 (May 2000)
Volume 2 (2000/2001)
Issue 1 (Sept. 2000)
Issue 2 (Oct. 2000)
Issue 3 (Jan. 2001)
Issue 4 (March 2001)
Issue 5 (April 2001)
Issue 6 (May 2001)
Volume 3 (2001)
Issue 1 (Sept. 2001)
Issue 2 (Nov. 2001)
Categories
Sport: 1
2 3
Lifestyles: 1 2
3
Commentary: 1 2
3
Review: 1 2
3
Writing: 1 2
3
Event: 1 2
3
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Vicki O'Brien
Scoil Mhuire, Cork
Vicki O'Brien (Scoil Mhuire, Cork) reports
on a tennis star
When she was thirteen years old Elsa O' Rian said to one of her
friends, "Do you want my autograph? I'm going to be famous when I'm
older". Now at seventeen if she keeps on going the way she is, she
will most definitely achieve that ideal.
To the uninformed eye Elsa is just a normal schoolgirl who prefers laughing
and joking to doing her schoolwork. Like all the other diligent students
in Scoil Mhuire she complains about her homework and those long hours
at school every day. As the final bell sounds at 3.55 p.m. every evening
she trudges home and most think her evenings are filled with catching
up on the latest soaps or tending to the more mundane task of completing
her homework. In fact the only real sign that Elsa's life is a little
different to that of her school mates is that she has somehow managed
to acquire a magnificent tan in the middle of winter! This was obtained
before Christmas when Elsa spent three weeks in Florida playing at the
World Junior Championships and subsequently went to train at the highly
acclaimed Boletaries Academy in Miami.
The truth of the matter is that while we are vegetating in front of the
television each evening one can be sure that Elsa is upstaging us by doing
copious amounts of exercise somewhere. It may be intensive tennis coaching
in Sundays Well Tennis Club or circuit training for an hour or two or,
if she's feeling lazy, just a long run around the track at the Mardyke!
The reason Elsa partakes in these activities is because she has the good
fortune of having an amazing talent at tennis. And along with all this
talent and an awful amount of hard work, Elsa is climbing her way to international
tennis stardom. As recently as January she arrived to a friends party
with a cheeky grin on her face. It took a while to get her to confess
that it was because of a marvelous success she had achieved earlier in
the day. She had just won both the Junior and Senior sections of the Women's
Irish Indoor Tennis Championships. Although these wins made her the top
ranked junior player in Ireland, Elsa's 'down to earth' personality did
not allow her to bask in the glory of her triumph for any more than a
few minutes. It was quickly back to the more important matter of how all
her friends spent the night of the millennium!
This unique seventeen year old has a very serious side to her, she is
totally dedicated to her chosen sport and is highly motivated to rise
to the top. In order to do so she is forced to spend a lot of time abroad,
most recently in Norway during the mid-term break. Last year she spent
the whole of the school year living in Germany playing tennis everyday.
This intensive training is needed to reach the level of professionalism
required in the tough world of the tennis circuit. Her achievements to
date have been outstanding. Along with her brilliant win in Dublin earlier
this year, she has also won the Women's Titles at the Moroccan and Tunisian
Junior Championships. To date she has played in the French, Italian, Croatian,
Canadian, American and German Junior Opens. Her latest success was receiving
an National Junior Sports Star Award in Dublin last week.
Despite her recent bouts of jetsetting and consorting with the likes
of Martina Hingis, Elsa has her feet firmly on the ground. She has decided
to stick with her studies in order to achieve her Leaving Certificate
the summer after next. However her ambition of tennis stardom will still
be realised as she intends to maintain her high level of training and
attend as many Junior opens as possible in the coming year, including
Junior Wimbledon next summer.
Determination is Elsa's middle name and if anyone deserves to make it
to the top she does. All her friends in Scoil Mhuire have faith in her
ability and look forward in the years to come to being able to say "We
knew her when we were young".
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