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Georgia tennis attracts teams even from across the border! The
4.0 women from Aiken, South Carolina have come a long way over the past
twenty years, when the team was first originated by Jenny Teague in 1988.
Unfortunately, Jenny passed at age 78 in January of this year, but she
played all the way up until that month. The team stated as a whole that it
would mean everything to win this tournament for her. If it weren’t for
Jenny, they would not be competing here today.
2008 has not been the
only successful year for the Aiken team. The women have been to the State
Championships six times, with this being their fourth consecutive year
without any coaching. The women proudly said “we are special!” Most would
agree this team is in fact one of a kind, especially when seeing their court
attire.
Visors are very
commonly used among most tennis players in the hot and sunny weather. The
Aiken women decided to kick it up a notch by bringing their own homemade
matching visors. The base color is neon green with hot pink letters spelling
out “AIKEN.” There are also flowers surrounding the letters to make the
visors even more attractive! Too bad not everyone has team member Pat
Bibel’s daughter and grandson, as they were the creators of the visors!
If you can’t already
tell, this team LOVES fashion. Have you ever met a team who likes rain at a
tournament? The Aiken women have no problem with rain because it is an
excuse to make a day trip to the mall! Don’t get them wrong, though. They
are very competitive when it comes to tennis. The women played at 2:00
in the afternoon every Sunday to prepare themselves for the heat. Some rode
bikes and others lifted weights in addition to practice. They were expecting
the temperature to be 100 degrees as it has been for the past few weeks, but
have no complaints that it has stayed in the 80s so far.
Needless to say, this
team has it all. They have fun, fashion, talent, and most of all they have
huge hearts. Not a day goes by where this team does not think about all of
the memories shared with Jenny Teague and how they would give anything to
win the State Championship title for her.
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