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Winning with friends: An unbeatable combination
When a person takes up a competitive sport as an adult, with career and family established, it's often to meet comrades, develop friendships and enjoy camaraderie. And if that group of friends happens to win a lot, that's an added plus.
Such is the case for two women's tennis teams based at the Ashburn Village Sports Pavilion. Each won Mid-Atlantic sectional titles in Newport News in July, giving each the opportunity to play for national championships in October.
The 10-member 2.5-level (beginner) squad, captained by Rhonda McCummings and Kerry Smith, won all of its matches in the first-year Loudoun Tennis League, a circuit sanctioned by the United States Tennis Association. They proceeded to sweep through the district and sectional tournaments, earning a berth in the USTA Adult National Tournament in Las Vegas.
The 18-player 3.5-level (intermediate) team -- dubbed the Slice Girls -- captained by Marla Jackson-Carreras and Jackie Tompkins, earned a spot in its division's USTA national tournament in Tucson, Ariz. The team went undefeated in league play and swept through the district and sectional tournaments.
Traditionally powerful squads from Texas and California are expected to provide tough competition.
"We have our work cut out for us," Jackson-Carreras admits before adding with firm conviction: "Bring it on."
As a warm-up for the USTA national tourney, this month the Slice Girls will participate in the championship tournament of the Northern Virginia Tennis League, in which they have not lost in 11 league matches this year.
All of the women on these teams live in Ashburn, most within the same neighborhood. They range in age from late 30s to early 50s. None has played competitive tennis for more than 10 years -- a few first put sneaker to court only a couple of summers ago.
"We truly are middle-aged women who just love the sport," says Jackson-Carreras, a competitive player for eight years.
Nearly all of them are mothers. Some are homemakers, though there are business owners, computer programmers and teachers. And, Jackson-Carreras says, these women feel a genuine need to be on the tennis court four to five nights per week -- to practice, to learn, to improve, to compete.
"We're tennis junkies, tennis addicts," Jackson-Carreras says. "We constantly want to improve. We absolutely love the game, the sisterhood, the challenge."
That sisterhood is a large part of the attraction for these women to make swinging a racket more than just a hobby.
"We play to win, but we all have a great time," says McCummings, who often gets together with her teammates off the court. They particularly enjoy watching the pros on TV, learning from how Serena and Venus Williams handle playing doubles.
Jackson-Carreras echos the sentiment of finding friendship through tennis.
"I met my three best friends through tennis," she says. "Every person joined for the opportunity to meet other women."
The joy of friendship along with the drive to compete will keep these women returning to the court night after night, year after year.
"I'm going to play as long as I can," says McCummings, a "home executive" and a three-year player.
Jackson-Carreras, an interior designer by day, speaks for herself and Tompkins when she says, "We're going to play until we can't walk anymore."
Perhaps she hasn't yet heard about the USTA's wheelchair division.
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