Charlotte Palul captained the U12 Girls County team at Corby, where they had hard fought battles and lost to only one county so coming second overall. Well done, girls!
Team pictured left to right : Charlotte Palul (capt), Amelia Rajecki, Millie France, Moira Johnson and , Anna Buckley
See below the captain's report:-
Saturday morning 830am, the Notts girls U12s team met at Corby tennis centre ready for a weekend of battles and maximum effort! The team consisted of Moira Johnson, Anna Buckley and The Millies (Millie France and Amelia Rajecki)! After getting the girls past the giant friendly dog that greeted us at the door, the girls and I descended on an indoor court for a quick bit of team bonding and a basketball shoot out. After we jumped onto an outdoor court and got a warm up going! I drew some cones out my bag and we played 'hit the cone' the winner getting a dip into our now famous "prize bag". Anna nailed it on her 3rd shot taking the first dip into the bag! Other counties started to arrive and the girls checked out their opposition! They filled me in on previous matches and gossip from recent tournaments, much of it from the Millie's and I expect much was exaggerated!! ( I hope ).
After captain's meeting it was announced that we would face Lincs followed by Warks on Day one! Moira and Millie R stepped on court first and got us off to an incredible start to the loss of only 3 games! Anna then took to the court and again took the win 4-0 4-0! 3-0 up against Lincs, the Notts girls were on fire!
We knew the next round was going to be tough, with a lot of pre tournament history I received earlier concerning the Warks players! Anna and Millie R went on, with the aim being to fight for every ball! Millie R faced Madison Rumney, and went ball for ball with her, losing but the score line was far closer than it suggested!!! Our team and parents were so proud and impressed with Millie's fight! Anna’s match had a slightly different flow to it, her opponent clearly finding it hard to maintain her cool, and found her captain conceding the match with Notts leading by a set and a game. At 1-1 the match was going to be tight. Moira stepped on court to face their number 1! Although she fought hard, she couldn't get the W!
After grabbing food, it was time for the 2 doubles matches! The Millie's played Lincs and played a great match, however losing in a ten point tie break! Notts took the W against Lincs 3-1! Onto the dubs vs warks! I selected Millie R and Anna for this match, after losing the first set the girls snatched the second forcing a ten point tie break, both captains took to court to pump up their soldiers, unfortunately we couldn't force a shoot out but the fight from our girls was enough to make any supporter PROUD!!! Notts went down 3-1 to Warks! Player of the day and dip in the prize bag went to Millie R!
Day 2
We decided early on day 2 we were going to fight and scrap to put in our best possible chance for a top 2 finish! We knew it was going to be tough but with my 4 warriors I knew it was possible !! First up we played close neighbours Leics! Millie R playing at 3 took an incredible W. playing some unreal tennis! Anna had a long long match that went all the way against her aegon team tennis team mate, but dug in so deep to take the win 10-7 in the third set tie break!! INCREDIBLE stuff! Notts 2-0 up! Moira stepped on next with a big crowd and lots of support to face Anna Cheska! After losing the first set. Moira showed incredible grit as determination to fight of the talented leics number 1 and win again in another ten point tie break!!! AMAZING! 3-0 notts, we were flying!!
Our final opponents of the weekend were the home team Northants, we knew a win here would secure 2nd place! We were up for the challenge for sure!! Anna fought incredibly and after some real rough moments in the match got us the W! 1-0 for Notts - we were off! Millie R again following her incredible form all weekend took another W! What a fighter! Moira took to court, she served for the match but with the previous match being so long and tough Moira’s energy dipped and the Northants player capitalised and took the W in the third set tie break!! 2-1 Notts ! Needing the doubles to secure 2nd place! The dream team of Anna and Millie R took to the court, losing the first set, they looked flustered! I stepped on court with them, we had a chat, decided to be brave and be the best 2 fighters on court ! After an incredible turn around and massive fight we took the W again in a ten point tie break!!! 3-1 to Notts and second place confirmed! great stuff!! Our other doubles match saw the Millie's just lose out to Leics! We took the win against Leics 3-1 also! Moira took Player of the Day for her win against Leics number 1 and got the longed after dip in the prize bag!!
After a fantastic weekend of tennis, we took 2nd place! An incredible result after some epic battles and superb team support ! It was an honour to captain the team and every single player made me proud to be their captain!!
Charlotte Palul