Saturday 18th February was an exhausting but fun filled day at Exeter Tennis Centre when the eagerly anticipated pro-am doubles tournament took place. Organised by Gayle Hulland, the day ‘s aim was to raise money for the Bowel & Cancer Research charity.
The ‘amateurs’ were players aged 8 years and under and they were teamed with the ‘professionals’ ie students, scholars, tennis coaches and performance players. The event attracted 21 mini tennis red players and 14 ‘pros’.
Hot off her win at the over 35s World Team Championships in California, LucieAhl took her place as a pro alongside Oskar Wynne, Jack Findel-Hawkins, Sally Langford, Pete Underhill, Sunny Parker, Tia Sloman, Marc Sillifant, Georgie Treen, Antoni Gomez, Alex Parry, Rhianna Hemmings and George Cann. A few parents also dusted off their tennis shoes and took to the courts as their child’s pro – Jake Upsher also helped brother Finn to win his last couple of matches and win the 5th placed players draw.
The winner of the event, partnering his dad was Damien Cole who walked away with a £20 voucher which was kindly donated by Tony Pryce Sports.
Winner: Damien Cole
2nd placed qualifiers winner: Oliver Cockram
3rd placed qualifiers winner: William Blum
4th placed qualifiers winner: Ed Sowden
5th placed qualifiers winner: Finn Upsher
All the players had a great time and there were lots of smiles from everybody, start to finish. This event raised over £250 for Bowel & Cancer Research – a big thank you to everyone who participated and helped on the day.
After the children had finished their event, the adults took to the courts to play in their own tournament. There was a fantastic turn out with 23 players turning up on the night. Victoria Park Club was very well represented along with a strong coffee morning contingent too!
Gayle’s patented playing card system for choosing opponents, courts and partners was put into operation and after the first couple of rounds everything ran very smoothly. Players competed throughout the evening and when play finished at 9.20pm, scores were added up with the following players winning a prize... Max Goss – racket re-string donated by Jon Wills, Nick Garrett – bottle of wine donated by Gayle and Katherine Bell – an individual lesson with Gayle. The adult doubles event raised almost £400.
Gayle said, “The total raised from these two events was £643, pushing my fundraising total to £2,410. My original £2,000 target has now been achieved so I’ve now got my sights on raising £4,000! The indoor courts were donated for free for both of these events, so I would like to say a big thank you to Will McNally and the Senior Sports Park Management for this support.”
“On Saturday 25th February, I also organised a successful Charity Quiz night at my home town, South Molton in North Devon. Over 125 people entered the event which raised over £1,000 to add to the total, so I now have raised a total of £3,500… just £500 left to go but lots of running!”
“I have chosen to run for Bowel & Cancer Research after losing my dad to bowel cancer in 2010. The charity is obviously very close to my heart and I hope to raise as much as I possibly can for them. If you would like to sponsor me, please visit my fundraising site" www.justgiving.com/gaylehullandmarathon