Oaks & District’s women’s tennis team won their first fixture in 13 years last week with a six matches to three victory over Market Bosworth in the Leicestershire League.
The club did not have enough female members to run a side for a decade and have spent three seasons searching for their first win since re-forming.
But for those three years the club have been working hard to produce a new wave of female players at their picturesque venue and last week they finally saw all that practising and commitment come to fruition.
First ranked couple, Kerry Harlow and Janet Sladen led the way, winning all three of their matches, with captain Helen Smallwood and youngster Charlotte Wilkinson pairing up to win two matches.
The evening was capped with a hard earned match victory achieved by Becca Riley and Hannah Summers, despite the latter suffering with a broken finger.
Coach, Caroline Wilkinson, has been working with the club for the last two and a half years and was understandably delighted with the win over Market Bosworth.
“The team cannot wait for their next match with confidence higher than it has ever been since I arrived,” she said. “Most of our players, including myself, hadn’t played tennis since we were in school and we’re mostly in our 40s now,” said Harlow. “We’ve trained for a few years to get this far. There was quite a bit of euphoria.
“The last time we played Market Bosworth they beat us nine matches to nil so it was a particularly sweet victory.
“We can’t wait for the next game but unfortunately we don’t have one for a fortnight.”
Oaks-in-Charnwood’s next match takes place against Rothley on Wednesday June 3.
(Courtesy of Loughborough Echo)