March 27 found me in Pelham, Alabama, playing the National Women’s Singles and Doubles Championships. It was not the choice I wanted, but due to a health issue, I was unable to compete in singles. So it was full steam ahead in doubles. My doubles partner, Liane Bryson (from San Diego) and I are currently…
Category: Competing
Beat the Heat! Hard Court Nationals 2024
A month ago I learned what it was like to play tennis on a hard court in 98 degree heat. With no shade. No breeze. Over 80 players, aged 35 to 85, competed at the USTA Hard Court Nationals in Rancho Mirage, California. The Mission Hills Country Club hosted the week-long event in a spectacular…
Women’s 70 Team Wins Gold in Mallorca
Yes, indeed! The team of Wendy McColskey, Tina Karwasky, Jan Kirkland-Cochran and me…. This year the World Team Championships were held in beautiful Mallorca, Spain, October 8-13. Over 650 players, men and women 65, 70, 75, 80 and 85(!) age groups participated in the six day event. The sun shone every day with temperatures hovering…
Despite physical challenges, I aim for Spain
As many of you know, I have struggled in the past with some unusual health issues (chiari I, a brain malformation, for one). Maybe partly related to some underlying conditions and perhaps also indicative of getting older, I am riddled with physical challenges these days, all of which make competing a challenge. A torn labrum,…
The opportunity of pressure: U.S. World Championships
A recent USTA New England News story includes this quote from me: “We were over the moon we won and a bit surprised we played so well. We had a rag-tag team. I was battling a chronic Illness, Brenda tore her ACL last year, and Liane played in a tournament a couple weeks prior and…
2018 National Championships: Opponent, teammate, friend
I recently returned from the 2018 National Women’s Intersectional Team Championships in Phoenix, Arizona. I played #1 singles and #1 doubles on Team New England’s 65 and over team. There were 15 teams from different USTA sections in our division and 6 different divisions: 35 and over, 45, 55, 65, 75, and even an 80-and-over…
Facing health challenges, racket in hand
Last week I met a woman at indoor tennis courts who told me that she recognized me at a Whole Foods and wanted to say “hi,” but thought that was too pushy. She had seen an article in the Springfield Republican about the success I had had in UMag, Croatia, winning the gold medal at…
ITF World Team Champions
I arrived in UMag, Croatia not knowing what to expect except that for the first time in my life I was no longer playing for myself, my university, or my Intersectional Team. Now I was playing for my country and we were clothed accordingly in Adidas red, white and blue. UMag is a coastal resort…
Team USA vs. Australia in ITF Finals in Croatia
Tina Karwasky played 1S, Wendy McColskey played 2S, and my partner Vicky McEvoy and I played doubles yesterday for the USA team against the British team at the ITF World Championships in the Kitty Godfree division. We won all positions in two well-fought sets, which sends us to the finals against Australia on Friday. Today,…
World Championships in Umag, Croatia
My Women’s 65 Division team (myself, Vicky McEvoy, Tina Karwasky, and Wendy McColskey) beat Canada 3-0 on our first day of the Super-Senior World Championships in Croatia. On Tuesday, we play Sweden (click here to open a new window to see match result stats on the ITF website). I embarked on this competition journey over a…
Judy Dixon 