Melton Mowbray Tennis Club fundraisers take on GB stars in 24-hour challenge

A six-strong group of Melton Mowbray Tennis Club members took part in a 24-hour Tennis Marathon in an effort to raise funds towards resurfacing the courts at Melton Council’s Sports Village.
By The Newsroom
Published 6th Mar 2019, 10:21 BST
Melton's Beth Lowe with Marcus Willis EMN-190503-181812002Melton's Beth Lowe with Marcus Willis EMN-190503-181812002
Melton's Beth Lowe with Marcus Willis EMN-190503-181812002

Beth Lowe, Jason Wheatley, Justin Horobin, Jake Beagle, along with club coaches Ryan Parmar and Brent Horobin joined 11 other clubs at the National Tennis Centre at Roehampton who were all on court for a four-hour non-stop spell.

A big bonus for the players was to go up against British player Marcus Willis, who enjoyed a memorable run at Wimbledon in 2016, former under 18s world number one Martin Lee, British Federation Cup player Lucie Ahl, and event organiser, the former British Davis Cup player Danny Sapsford.

Ryan Parmar and Jake Beagle enjoyed every minute of their doubles match against Willis and Surrey county player Stuart Rhodes, who also sponsors the Bright Ideas for Tennis Charity.

The Melton Mowbray Club team at the 24-hour tennis marathon EMN-190503-181822002The Melton Mowbray Club team at the 24-hour tennis marathon EMN-190503-181822002
The Melton Mowbray Club team at the 24-hour tennis marathon EMN-190503-181822002
Most Popular

Willis and Rhodes took the set after a tight tie-break, and everyone got to play with Willis and Rhodes at different times.

Like the other clubs, Melton’s six players have been involved in fundraising over the past three months with a series of sweepstakes, tournaments, quiz night and social evening to kickstart the resurfacing fund.

And 25 per cent from many donations have also gone to the tennis disability charity headed by Sapsford.

Coach Brent Horobin is delighted with the response, giving the club a few thousand pounds to set the ball rolling.

“We have been overwhelmed with the support received from our members, but also a wide range of sponsors outside of the club,” he said.

“Some are from far afield who were in the past involved in Melton sport.”

He added: “Our numbers are increasing monthly. We have a huge number of youngsters attending weekly sessions at the club from Mondays to Saturdays, we have many young adults and more mature players attending regularly, and we have a superb link up with Birch Wood School.

“Our club teams have astonished everyone within the county with the successes they have had on court.

“We just need the council to acknowledge our efforts, give us their support and we could have something really worthwhile for the town and Sports Village.”