Well, it’s the last day of the Tennis Europe Event in Finland and I must say I feel like I have been on the film set of Narnia all week. I have never in my life experienced cold like this; it has been an experience and actually a real pleasure to see the sights of Oulu and watch the girls compete in the tournament this week. I sent a text to Mum complaining how cold I was and the response I got back was, ”be thankful you are not working in an office”, as ever Mums are always right so yes I do appreciate where my job takes me, even if I have a little moan sometimes.

It has been an eventful week with a trip to the hospital, walking on the frozen sea and a session in a wave machine. On court has been mixed results with Samm not able to compete in the singles, due to a virus, he made up for it and got to the final of the doubles, with his Belgium partner Michael Geerts. Bridge achieved her first win abroad, which was great to see as that first one can be a bit of a mile stone. She had chances in the second match but unfortunately went down to the number 2 seeded Russian. India played some good tennis particularly in the doubles, almost hospitalising her opponent with one of her massive forehands! I did have to hide my smile as the Swiss girl was less than happy.

The girls have found a new talent for blogging, even though I did have to do a bit of editing along the way, they really enjoyed doing it. The conversation at dinner the other night was, “imagine what life would be like without tennis?” They all came to the conclusion that they would be “sooo bored and would just sit watching endless rubbish on the TV whilst eating junk food!” It was great to hear that they all appreciate what they are doing gives them life experiences and keeps them healthy along the way.

The tournament was run really well and thankfully they did not skimp on the heating in the centre. It’s always so helpful when the hotel is in walking distance giving the players much more rest and keeping them fresh for when they play. Every morning we had the temperature check before we embarked on the walk to the club, anyone would think it was a hike, it took us all of 5 minutes but even in that time my eyelashes had ice on them, much to the amusement of the girls.  There is something entertaining when you sit and watch people come in from the cold, they all take a deep breath, shake themselves off and mumble something in whatever language they use. We came to the conclusion, again one of our dinner conversations, that generally the Finnish seem to all look the same! One thing I didn’t realise that Finland is home to the moomins! (showing my age)

We will be flying back later, thanks to Pete (Ingenious co-ordinater extraordinaire) who managed to adjust our flight due to the BA strike. So this marks the end of the indoor season, which feels like a lifetime with all the snow both in the UK and abroad. I have to say I am really looking forward to getting the players playing outside again. I believe that all the kids grow as players during this time; they really learn to use the court and learn to tough it out in all conditions. Being a bit old school and being brought up on outside courts (using dog balls to play with) I suppose I’m a bit biased but there really is no substitute for learning to compete in tougher conditions. The next stop for myself is the London TE U16 and then onward to Nottingham for the ITF and TE U14. This will be a busy time with most of our players competing at the same venue. This is great to see and be around, the player’s team spirit is second to none and they should be proud of themselves!

Onward to fresh air, sun, wind and hay fever!

TOURNAMENT RESULTS:

U14 GIRLS SINGLES - India Sanders lost F Brancato (ITA) 3-6,4-6

U16 GIRLS SINGLES - Brigit Folland  - bye 1^ST RD, 2^ND RD Beat M Tsykhonya (RUS) 6-0,6-2, 3 QUARTER FINALS Lost V Popko (RUS) 5-7 5-7

U16 Doubles I ndia and Brigit lost L Hodgson & S Koelliker (SWI) 6-7,2-6