At a time when volunteers are more and more difficult to find, the Suffolk tennis fraternity has been saddened by the loss of a remarkable lady who has made a vast and selfless contribution in recent years. Pam Rogers made her mark both as a player and enthusiastic administrator, and she passed away on Monday 4th February after a typically brave and determined battle with cancer, which saw her living life to the full right up to the end.
77 year-old Pam was always a thoughtful and athletic competitor, and she continued to give stalwart service to Suffolk Veterans’ tennis in recent years. She was very involved with all aspects of the Ipswich Sports Club, and could always be found Indoors on a Friday morning, where she orgainsed her “tennis girls” as she so fondly called them. I have fond memories of social tennis on her grasscourt at Dennington, when Pam always made everyone welcome and many fun evenings were enjoyed.
Pam achieved so much within the game that it is impossible to cover everything she was so busily involved with, though arguably her greatest achievement was the tireless work she put in for the Suffolk Schools’ Tennis Association over many, many years.With Sue Fulcher in particular, she developed the Association into one of the busiest and most respected in the country, not only providing endless opportunities for generations of schoolchildren, but helping teachers to gain coaching qualifications, and to improve delivery of the game in school.
Pam’s connections with Framlingham are legendary. She introduced Girls’ PE when the first group of girls were admitted to the College, and she was a true inspiration to the hundreds of pupils she taught and coached in her may years there. She was a dedicated member of the Framlingham Tournament Committee, turning her hand willingly to any number of tasks, but she will be particularly remembered for running the popular 10U events, surrounded by any number of young enthusiasts as they played their round-robin matches on the Astroturf courts ! She was known there as the “purple dragon”, emphasising her love of the colour purple. It was a case of “standing room only” when this remarkable woman was laid to rest at Rushmere St.Andrew church recently. Thank you Pam for the tremendous contribution you made. You will be missed by many.