South Africa

Had a good trip to South Africa with a group of British girls for some U/18 ITF tournaments. They were a great group of kids who worked hard, and were good fun to take away on tour. I flew from Edinburgh and met everyone else at Heathrow - got a buzz about travelling again when I transferred through to International Departures! We flew to Johannesburg, then on to East London, where we were picked up and taken to our hotel right – right on the beachfront :)

The first four days we spent getting used to the conditions – hot and extremely windy! – physical drills, hitting lots of balls, and establishing strict (but fair!) rules as far as nutrition, sleep, and general performance lifestyles. We began each day with a 15 minute jog or skipping session before breakfast, and maintained daily speed/agility and core/IP sessions throughout the trip. After 2½ weeks away with kids that age, you get a fairly sound idea of who has potential to cope with the demands of a professional athlete’s lifestyle, and who just likes the sound of it.

The first week ended with a singles semi-finalist and doubles finalists, and every player gaining valuable experience in tough conditions. We hired a van and drove to Port Elizabeth for the second tournament. Again our hotel was on the beachfront so Helen & I continued to enjoy our daily morning run in blue skies and sunshine - could definitely get used to that again! This time we ended up with another semi-finalist, and three quarter-finalists... the only disappointment was twice we had players from our group playing each other which is always a bit difficult.

Unfortunately (as so often happens with tennis) we didn't have time to see any of the country, and as it's a place I've always wanted to go, I'll just have to keep it on the list of 'must see' countries and plan to return another time! Wonder how long I can keep my tan for....