Tennis women make beeline for top of table

The women's tennis is adapting nicely to life in the top flight, thank you very much.

After winning promotion to the Western Province premier league last year - the first UCT team of any sex to do so in years - you'd have thought that Kate McDade, Amy Reid and Siobhan Simpson would need time to find their feet. Apparently they're quick studies.

With player/coach Jackie Booth, who played at that level just last year, at the helm, UCT has yet to lose a match in the 2006 season. And that makes them very real title contenders.

"I am so proud of this team!" gushes Booth. "Having achieved our goal last year and promoted to first league, I would have been quite satisfied with a middle-of-the-pack finish, but all four players really stepped it up individually on the singles court and then together on the doubles court, making us a very tough team as a whole."

McDade, a first-year student and tennis scholarship recipient, has played a big role as number one player, says Booth. In turn, number three Reid has lifted her game a few notches, and captain Simpson is the team's anchor at number four.

There's still one stumbling block, though, and it comes with 'ssome history. UCT now has to get past pack-leaders Camps Bay. That's the selfsame Camps Bay that Booth, before throwing in her lot with UCT, helped to back-to-back championship titles in 2004 and 2005 as number one player.

The UCT/Camps Bay showdown is scheduled, tentatively, for April 8 at 13h00 at the UCT Tennis Club. The tennis club invites all Ikeys supporters and tennis fans to pop in for some great tennis action and make lots of noise for the home side.

For more information, contact Booth at 084 562 6335 or via e-mail at jbtennis@xsinet.co.za.

Jackie Booth and her assistant coaches also offer the community private and group instruction for juniors and adults at all levels. Programmes start with tiny tots and ball-handling skills, all the way to tournament training and tennis scholarship placement in the United States.