Team Tennis AEGON Kent Girls U14 Division 2: West Heath v Otford - Team Captains Blog
Team Tennis this summer has involved a lot of staring in horror at Met. Office warnings so it was a great relief to have sun for Saturday afternoon despite the 55 mph wind predicted for the exact time of the match.
Otford Tennis Club has a lovely situation, surrounded by allotments and the village cricket ground. From the spectator benches we could watch tennis, a cricket match and admire flying kites and prize vegetables. This possibly explains why I might have missed some of the finer details of the matches.
Team West Heath (in the blue T-shirts) consisted of Robyn Enslin (centre) and Amelia Allen. Robyn started tennis 2 years ago and Amelia recently returned from 7 years in Barbados so Team Tennis has given them both some extra opportunities to play matches and to represent their club.
Team Otford consisted of Emily Spry (holding mascot, Daisy) and Jessica Reeves.
Singles were played first and it quickly became obvious that understanding the wind was crucial. High balls could end up pretty much anywhere in the court so footwork and keeping a firm eye on the ball definitely paid off.
Robyn won her match against Jessica 6-1, 6-2, dropping 3 service games with the wind behind her. I shall have to look out for a wind tunnel combined with tennis court for her to practice her serving in.
Amelia won her match against Emily 6-0, 6-3. Both girls battled the wind to have some long and exciting rallies and received some deserved applause from the spectators.
Otford Team Captain, Jo Spry, commented how important playing in difficult conditions was for improving her own tennis. She played at school and then came back to tennis after several years. She has now has been playing adult Team Tennis for 15 years, recommending it as great socially and for keeping fit.
After singles we had a chocolate biscuit break while Daisy guarded the balls. We held a quick quiz covering everything from favourite colour to dream job. Results showed Team Tennis players to be a very varied lot. However, horses came out very popular. Maybe Team Horse Tennis is the sport of the future!
While the doubles got underway, I went off to retrieve a ball from the allotments. Luckily it had avoided landing on a glass cloche or disappearing amongst the potato plants.
Robyn and Amelia won the doubles, for West Heath, 6-0, 6-1. The most memorable point for the spectators was Robyn deciding she was 8 foot tall and lunging, and missing, 4 sky-high volleys during one rally. Amelia did some deft retrieval until all 4 girls succumbed to hysteria.
Everyone came off the courts with big smiles and extremely wind-swept hair. We finished with a big thank you to Otford for hosting us and to the clouds for holding back the rain until the last few points.
Katya Enslin. West Heath Team Captain.