Boomerang Cup 2011 Gold Nuggets – by Wendy Whitehead

The “Gold Nuggets” team ventured to RMTC in January to play the RMTC based Boomerang Cup with a fierce determination to take out the cup, and if that wasn’t to eventuate, to be very competitive (on and off the court) and enjoy ourselves. The team consisted of Wendy Whitehead (captain), Phil Roberts, Jim Stephen, Stuart Strange and John McClure. We were fortunate in the lead-up to have some expert guidance/tuition from Ballarat’s Head Professional, Brett, who told us what to do, how to do it and when to do it (or else)! The first day we competed against one of the many RMTC teams, and, with Stuart playing the best tennis of his tennis career, we had a 4/0 win and were on the top of the ladder in our group. The second day we played against an overseas team. The game scores were much closer, but we managed another 4/0 win. This put the Gold Nuggets in a very strong position and outright leaders in our group. The next day of play we knew would not be an easy one. We had Seacourt as our opposition, and they were proving to be a very strong force. The nerves from our team became apparent and the opposition was playing solid tennis. We went in to the 4th rubber against Seacourt 2 sets to 1 down, so had to rely on the consistent pairing of Phil and John to win, and also get as many games as possible. Phil and John did win, but the day’s result ended in an absolute draw, with 2 sets each and equal number of games. This took our overall set tally to 10 which effectively set us up for a finals berth. We had one more day of competition within our group before the finals. We were matched against the RMTC Hazards – where we were owing a lot off handicap in each match, however, were able to score another 4/0 win. The semi-finals had us playing against a Hampton Court team where the handicap differences were minimal. Again, we went into the last match 2 sets to 1 down. Hampton Court proved too good, losing the last match but winning the day on a greater number of games won. The “Gold Nuggets” gelled as a solid team, we had an enormous amount of fun – playing great tennis in an extremely well run tournament. We look forward to competing again in 2years time and thank Brett for his coaching.