A NIGHT AT THE NATIONAL TENNIS CENTRE
We kicked the year off in style by taking a group of players to a charity 24-hour tennis marathon run by the organisation Bright Ideas for Tennis .
On a bus ride energised with music and laughter , we made our way through the night to the National Tennis Centre in Roehampton . As we arrived , we were all starting to feel the nocturnal effect , and seeing ourselves in this massive centre felt like we had all ended up in the same dream . The lights were glowing over the courts and there were posters of tennis legends on every single wall . We got changed , made our way to the courts and started warming up .
Each school was allocated a four-hour playing slot and ours was between midnight and 4am ! After the first two hours of feeling the excitement and jumping around the centre , a feeling of heaviness started affecting us . The professional players offering to play points were very kind , but they had no mercy on the courts . By 2am , Ilse Russell-Jones was already half asleep on the floor , while Calla and Estelle Constantine were busy eating food to regain energy . The teachers were exhausted too : Mrs Smith had brought her three-litre coffee mug and Mrs Trigger had disappeared to nap in the van !
When not playing with the professionals , we hit some balls with the other schools that were participating at the same time as us . It was a fantastic experience – although physically intense , it was 100 per cent worth it . Our team raised over £ 6000 for charity with donations from friends , family and school staff .
Well done to Maddie Brown , Calla Constantine , Estelle Constantine , Peter Iakovlev , Sonya Iakovleva , Myles Jacobs , Lowri Morgan , Joseph Oldfield , Ilse Russell- Jones , Simran Sahota and Max Yakubovskiy .
Ayamé Belkin , Year 11
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