With Heather Watson’s incredible win over the weekend it was perfect inspiration for the start of the 2012 / 2013 girls league!
13 teams across the region are competing in their respective 14& U and 18&U leagues, with the prize being the opportunity to go watch Heather Watson compete at the world’s most famous tennis tournament, Wimbledon in 2013!
The league is in its 3rd year and has been a popular addition to girls tennis across the North East and 'in association with the Wimbledon Junior Tennis Initiative', who are supporting the annual event. The popularity of the league has been down to the team ethos, a shorter playing format and giving girls the opportunity to compete against players of similar standard!
What has been great is the good spirit the matches have been played in with close encounters in majority of the matches. A perfect example of this was a match played over the first weekend. Jo Cunliffe, who is the Tennis Development Manager and Captain of David Lloyd Teesside Girls Team,
“The match today was really good to watch. It could not have been any closer with Virgin Active Wearside winning 4-2. However in one of the doubles matches the match went down to 3 points and if David Lloyd would have won that it would have gone to a tiebreak shootout so proving how close the match was! What was really memorable was the spirit that the girls highlighted….determination, good sportsmanship and enjoyment. I along with the parents felt proud watching the fantastic rallies, which at times could have come from the TV!”
So the next 6 months will see the girls teams travelling to meet their next opponents and the winners seeking a trip down to SW19 and we are sure they will be keen to get to watch Watson along with other world class players next Summer at the Wimbledon Championships!
For results please visit,
http://lta.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/tournament.aspx?id=9C9C54C7-42C6-4C2C-950E-4479DD07CC09
Pictured are some of the players shaking hands following their match. Left to right. Jessica Tweedy (Virgin Active Wearside), Niamh Packer (Virgin Active Wearside), JoJo Booth and Victoria Cornelius (both from David Lloyd Teesside).