Last year we started an annual fixture against Culford School and this year it was our turn to host. Both schools are two of the top mixed tennis schools in the UK so this was promising to be a great fixture and good experience for both teams. Our team consisted of Nick Brookes (boys capt), Pierce Widdecombe, Mathew Carroll, Alex Hyman, Tim Kiehl, Isaac Sturgess and Aeron Evans. On the girls front we had Odette Beagrie, Emily Thomas, Poppy King, Mima Parkinson, Jasmine Olds and Annabelle Davis. The matches started 11 on Saturday with everyone raring to go and full of enthusiasm. The boys played first and gave our team an encouraging start by winning the number 1 doubles, while the others just fell shorts of some tight matches. The girls were up next with some tough competition winning another doubles but losing some intense matches. By the end of the first day Culford were winning 11-4 but that did not dampen the Millfield tennis enthusiasm. We finished the long day hosting dinner and a quiz presented by Seb Harris in the Wilson cricket pavilion. The teams were a mixture of Culford and Millfield players, which was a good idea so we could leave the rivalry to one side and socialise as a group.

Both teams were back at it again with a 9.00 start with the boys kicking off but this time winning all three matches and also giving us the upper hand on atmosphere. The girls came out ready to compete and battle through the matches ahead, even though we could not win the girls round matches that did not ruin our team spirit. It came to the end of the day, with a couple injuries and both teams feeling tired. Our boys managed a 9-6 win however, this was not enough with Culford winning overall 17-13 but this result did not affect us as we all felt we had a great weekend full of good experiences. As the millfield tennis team we tried to recreate the atmosphere and intensity as when we were at national schools when we last played Culford. From this event we have learnt about the kind of standard we need bring to this year’s independent and national schools this Summer.

By Jemima Parkinson