Bandon Final

Today is the final of the last real "Summer" tournament in Cork.  I miss not playing in it, but our club have a good couple playing today.  I recall meeting some really tough, great players from Bandon in the women's doubles.  Solid hitting and tidy play at the net.  Yes, thank you for using me as target practice!!!  I can only hope that has improved my game.

I truly don't know how I became so hooked on tennis in the last two years...

It all started in a small Santa Barbara suburb with a fantastic teacher named Gail.  So,  going to my local neighborhood courts, I learned the grips, the basic service motion that I still have today, and got free extra lessons for helping with the younger kids' classes.  Following that introduction, I was fortunate enough to make my high school tennis team (starting first year at the bottom!!!) and slowly working my way up the ladder.  California is a great place for learning tennis because the competition is stiff.  There are excellent players receiving hours and hours of coaching and participating in some of the top clubs in the state.

Tennis team was the best extra-curricular school activity by far.  Road trips all around Southern California, matches in the 35 degree Calabasas heat, being plied with sweets before a match on the grounds of Beverly Hills high school (now that's a fantastic strategy from the Beverly Hills girls), and most of all benefiting from the endless patience and knowledge of our coach.

So, that brings me back to Ireland.  It's a far cry from the warm sunny days, where the only thing we worried about in training was having our thermoses full of ice water and being able to finish the drills our coach gave us before the other teams.  Or even beating Santa Barbara High School, the old enemy.  Here, you have to constantly battle with the wind and rain. We even had to get an ordinary broom to try and sweep the ice away from the baseline.

Having said that, it is the people who play who have proven to be fantastic sportspeople, great fun, and enjoyable new friends.  I salute you! And here's to more tennis this winter. Let's hope it doesn't snow!!!