Personal Excellence
St Aloysius’ College tennis player, Aidan McHugh of S5, has been called up to represent Scotland after earning his fourth victory on the International Tennis Federation’s Junior Circuit at the Aphrodite Cup in Cyprus.
16 year old Aloysian, Aidan McHugh, earned his first three wins on the ITF's Junior Circuit with victories in Nottingham, Dubai and Liverpool during the 2015/ 2016 Academic Year.
He has now added to his trophy cabinet after claiming victory in the hard-court Aphrodite Cup in Cyprus where he faced his Scotland and Great Britain teammate, Ewan Lumsden, in the final.
Aidan and Ewan know each other’s games well from their time together in the colours of Great Britain and Scotland and their final proved a close match with Aidan edging it after three sets, winning both the first and third sets on a tie break, 7-6(2) 1-6 7-6(1).
Aidan’s victory will give him confidence going into this year’s home nations tournament in Cardiff where he will represent Scotland at 18-and-Under level against the best young tennis players from Ireland and Wales.
With this second successive call-up for the home nations competition and a fourth victory on the ITF’s Junior Circuit it’s clear that Aidan continues to strive for personal excellence on and off the tennis court, following the Jesuit ideal of ‘Magis’; to do more and be more with the talents you possess.
Aidan reflected on how the College has helped him follow his tennis dream whilst supporting his all-round education in his own “My Green Blazer” story for the St Aloysius’ College website, saying,
“I think because the school encourages you to make the most of your talents it’s easier for me to dedicate time to my tennis. But I understand the importance of doing well at school. The teachers realise what it means to me and they help me fit my school work in around my training rather than the other way around.”
“The dream is one day playing in – and hopefully winning – Wimbledon. Who knows if I’ll achieve that dream but I’m having a great time trying and I’ll always be grateful to have a school and family that supports me in that.”