I took over officially as captain in October 2023 and was tasked with preparing for Winter County Cup in November.
Following the first ladies county training session for a number of years, I selected a young team to represent Essex in Division 2B at Bromley Tennis Centre.
Going up against teams with current and former WTA ranked players, top college players and women with much more experience competing at county cups was always going to be a challenge but our team, made up almost exclusively of teenagers (predominantly fourteen and fifteen-year-olds) put in some outstanding performances.
The team secured their place in Division 2 for 2024 with a 6-1 win over Nottinghamshire despite tough but competitive losses to Hertfordshire (2-7) and Kent (2-7).
Well done to Edie Griffiths, Shamiso Ndoro, Natalie Crawford, Alice Sharp, SumSum Fung, Anvi Karode, Ellison Fisk, Abby Fung and Lucy Dawson.
Our goal for Summer County Cup in 2024 is promotion from Division 5. With the likelihood that our team will also be quite young for this event, the aim is to put together more ladies county training sessions over the coming months with the intention to work on doubles and be clear on pairings leading into the event to give ourselves the best possible chance.
I would like to thank Essex LTA for entrusting me with this role in addition to my job as captain and lead coach for the 10U, 11U, 12U and 14U girls sides. I hope to be able to deliver progress & results as well as the opportunity for more of our girls and women to get involved within county tennis.
Helen Parrish, Ladies Captain