Bright Ideas for Tennis: 24 Hours of Tennis
It was a rather late night on Saturday for three keen RGS Tennis players, as they started their journey at midnight, travelling from Worcester to The National Tennis Centre in Roehampton, to play a 4.00 – 8.00am slot in the Bright Ideas for Tennis, 24-hour Tennis Marathon.
Over the last few weeks, RGS pupils Theo Houston, Jonathan Abbotts, Daisy Williams and Maddi Hewitt have been busy fundraising for the Tennis marathon which aims to raise money to support the expansion of the Bright Ideas for Tennis, GB Tennis disability programme. Maddi was unable to attend the Tennis marathon on the night due to a commitment playing in a Tennis tournament.
After a short hot chocolate break on the motorway, we arrived at the centre and were thrilled to be welcomed by former professional Tennis player, Danny Sapsford.
We settled ourselves in and eagerly awaited our turn on court. Danny and former British professional Tennis player, Marcus Willis were to be our opponents, although both were looking rather weary as they had been at the 24-Hour tennis marathon from the start! After a short physio session for Marcus, it was our turn and we took to the court to play these top-class players.
First up were RGS players Theo and Jonathan, who took on Danny and Mark in a competitive doubles set. Daisy and I played the next set and we continued in this rotation for the first two hours. Danny swapped out with former English Tennis player, Melanie South and we spent the last part of the session competing for the fastest serve.
Meeting and playing alongside these Federation Cup and Davis Cup Tennis players was an amazing experience for us all, especially at the home of British Tennis. We emerged at 8.15am into a beautiful sunny Sunday morning and headed back to Worcester for a well-deserved sleep – although Daisy headed straight back out again to play a league match!
A huge thank you to Audrey Williams and Dale Abbots for travelling with us to Roehampton, to Bright Ideas for Tennis for arranging such a fantastic event, and to everyone who has supported the fundraising. The funds raised will be used to give opportunities to those from a wide range of disability groups within our catchment area, enabling our local community to directly benefit from our fundraising.
The JustGiving page will remain open for a few more weeks, so if you can, please do support this initiative, please click here to find out more and donate.
Mrs Jilly Witcomb
Director of Drama & Teacher in charge of Tennis
