On a cold Wednesday night the Mt Carmel C Grade 1 Mixed Tennis team that I play for won our North Suburban Night Tennis Association (NSTNA) Grand Final.

This team is very much a family affair, captained by my brother Reagan, with my sister Kara and her daughter (my niece) Erin all team members.

This was an unexpected win for a team that usually doesn’t make Finals. Going into the last round we were 6th (of 8 teams) on the ladder. By beating the 5th team (Taylors Lake) in the last round we jumped to 4th and into the finals. The next week we beat the top team (Keilor) to make the Grand Final.

Unfortunately Kara came down with the flu and had to miss the Grand Final against Merlynston. We won the match by 4 games and I had a luck to play in the critical and night defining set with my niece with us winning 6-2 and putting us over the top.

With COVID-19 there has barely been any completed tennis seasons since 2020. Just playing a full season was an achievement but getting to play and winning with family members, in particular my niece’s first senior premiership, was a very memorable moment.

At some point in the future we will not be ply together, Erin will likely keep getting better and the rest of us are getting slower as we age. Getting to celebrate on court with Erin was a moment to cherish as she begins transitioning to adulthood 🙂