Eddie Martin wants to one day land a tennis scholarship in the US, while his cousin Anja Martin dreams of playing at Wimbledon.
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Eddie and Anja were speaking at Tamworth Public School, where they are in year 5 and year 6 respectively, and where they are now heroes.
For the first time in the school's history, it has been crowned PSSA tennis state champions - after outlasting more than 100 schools to claim the venerable VJ Kelly Trophy.
![Anja Martin, left, Eddie Martin, top, Zoe Savovski and Zac Parkinson - the dream team. Picture by Mark Bode Anja Martin, left, Eddie Martin, top, Zoe Savovski and Zac Parkinson - the dream team. Picture by Mark Bode](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/KUhQizDbwW8WqAyPP4x5yp/fcb74738-bfb7-4e7e-8b8c-4e109874313c.jpg/r0_0_4032_3024_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Eddie and Anja's teammates, Zoe Savovski and Zac Parkinson, are also newly minted heroes.
It was Zoe and Zac - both 10 years old and in year 5 - who bested their nerves to win the decisive tiebreaker in the last match of the final against Deniliquin North Public School at Sydney Olympic Park. It was 7-5 in the tiebreaker.
"So it was very close - good nerves of steel," said Tamworth Public coach Nick Martin, who is Anja's father and Eddie's uncle.
"A lot of walking along the sideline from me, just trying to keep calm," he added.
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Nick described winning the knockout competition as a "huge achievement" and "really quite a big deal". He could not be "prouder" of his charges.
The awesome foursome were "great", he continued, adding: "They stuck together and worked hard. They worked as a team. They built good connections together.
"And it takes a team to win a competition like this, as it's a long journey." The team included the players' parents, he added.
Zac said he was "really nervous" in the tiebreaker, while Zoe said she "just felt pressure".
![Eddie, Anja, Zac and Zoe are a winning combination. Picture by Mark Bode Eddie, Anja, Zac and Zoe are a winning combination. Picture by Mark Bode](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/KUhQizDbwW8WqAyPP4x5yp/d351cf6a-786c-4bad-b08e-2a1c896da1be.jpg/r0_0_3935_2720_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
"Very happy," Zac said of the win. "And it's a great experience."
"I'm very proud," Zoe said.
Eddie, meanwhile, was feeling grateful for having scaled the mountain.
"And I'm very thankful for my coaches, and my parents for taking me down there," he said.
Anja, 11, concurred: "I'm thankful for everyone who helped us with our great journey and led us to our victory."
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