Grass Roots -Missing in Action

Sorry for the lack of updates but I've been visiting family in Australia.My tennis started here in my home town Mendooran 6hrs drive inland west of Sydney.Ive take a collage of pictures 1.The Main Street 2.Welcome to Mendooran ( a population of around 300) 3.Is a mural on the side of the tennis club with the players being myself and my sister Lisa (Grady)who was ranked 4 in Australia in the 16s and winning many state titles in NSW.When we were both juniors there were no tennis coaches in the country and our parents every school holidays took us to Sydney for Pro Coaching.4.Is a view of the courts that now have become Hardcourt's, in our juniors days they were typical "ant bed" surface similar to clay ,they had to be prepared before play with water and bagging and rolling with a heavy roller, then marked with a Lime Marker.Every Sunday we had matches against local towns sadly these have became a thing of the past and only a night competition is played nowadays.My father took lisa and myself every Saturday to Dubbo for competition in a club team giving us vital match play, and sometimes even Sunday's to representative fixtures, Dubbo being about an 1hrs drive.5.Depicts a signpost with typical "Aussie Names" 6.Is one of the buildings around the town that features Murals which make the town stand out.From a little country town in Australia the game of tennis has taken me around the world and its with great memories that one returns to the grass roots at some stage.Whether you win Wimbledon or the Mendooran Open tennis opens the doors to life and by playing and striving to achieve can create many "paths". The path I have taken and still on started here and juniors and players world wide are indebted for picking up that first racket no matter where they were.