BTC are totally delighted to announce that one of club members has been awarded with The LTA Cumbria Presidents award for 2026. 

This award is to honour the heroism and determination of one woman, and the subsequent effect she has had on all of us who have the pleasure of playing her at tennis.

Denise has been one of the pillars of the Burneside Tennis Club, Cumbria, since she joined in 1995, 30 years ago. She has regularly played at every session, at least twice a week, taken part in coaching, played in the teams and club tournaments, acted as the club’s safeguarding officer for 12 years, club secretary for many years and consistently volunteered to take on a host of unglamorous jobs from ordering the balls, weekly cutting the grass to bits of routine maintenance.

Then, suddenly in 2023 she was told after an injury and subsequent surgery on her right arm that she should avoid all impact to it, and certainly stop playing tennis.

The club, aware that time and health have a habit of catching up with us older members and brooking no argument about it, made her an honorary member in recognition of her services to us over the years, hoping to thus get her to keep in touch with us all so we wouldn’t miss her cheerfulness. Someone even joked she should play with her left arm……… which is exactly what she started doing. Impressed by her resilience and ambition, and wanting to encourage her, we all tried using our ‘wrong’ arm when playing with or against her: it was hilarious. I’ve never laughed so much. It’s so difficult even to make contact and we must have looked ridiculous to anyone passing the courts! Although most of us simply confirmed to ourselves that it was way too late to try a change like that, Denise persisted, and after a very few weeks she became far too good for us. With some relief we had to give up and just play with our good hands as usual. A year later she is defeating the final taboo and serving overarm – something most of us cannot even imagine attempting with the wrong arm.

Denise has shown amazing courage and determination to overcome such adversity, and is a real inspiration to all the players of all ages in the club. She has, in a quiet way, always been such a positive person, and is now becoming, once more, a formidable player. It’s an honour to play tennis alongside her.