MOUNT Isa born Tom Braithwaite has won a spot in the state team in his division following his success at the recent Queensland School Sport Secondary School State Tennis Championships.
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His team of eight boys complete against other states in Shepparton, Victoria, for the Pizzey Cup and Australia Cup National from late April.
The Year 12 student is the only player from the North Region selected in the boys team and could well be the only player in North West Queensland ever selected to represent the state. Pat Rafter was not selected until he lived in the Sunshine Coast, said a Queensland School Sports organiser.
Braithwaite’s mother Theresa said her son has studied at a Townsville boarding school since last year. “Living in Mount Isa has had its restrictions for him but he has persevered and has continued to take on the challenge to achieve,” she said.
“He has come up against the knockers – kids saying ‘what would he know and he is from Mount Isa, the bush, he would have no hope’. But he continued to prove them all wrong.”