The women’s 55+ tennis team finishes third in the national tournament

Author: Lauren Burke Meyer

For Joy Epstein and Jennifer McGowan – the captains of their United States Tennis Association (USTA) Mid-Atlantic Women’s 55 + 6.0 team – age is just a number. Their team finished third in the 2021 USTA League National Championship Series, beating the USTA Southwest Central Arizona 6.0 women’s team.

“All the players on our team are at least 55,” McGowan said. “The average age was at least 60, and that’s just what I’m telling you.”

Epstein and McGowan started playing tennis at the age of 40, and they have both been playing tennis for about 15 years.

“Annapolis has a diverse set of players, and we were only lucky when we got it all together,” McGowan said.

Their journey to citizens began with winning locally in Anne Arundel County last summer. In September, the Midwest Women’s 55 plus 6.0 team went to the Newport News section tournament, where she competed against teams from Virginia and Maryland before qualifying for the USTA National Championship.

“A total of 15 block teams competed for the honor of being ranked in the top four from across the country,” Epstein said. “Mid-Atlantic is the department that our team represented, including Maryland, the District of Columbia and Virginia.”

Because they finished fourth overall at the end of Day 2, they had the honor of competing in the semi-finals and finals, and finished third after the final match. The national tournament took place on 29-31. October in Orlando, Florida.

McGowan once said in national matches, “The competition was fierce when it was played against the top teams in all the USTA divisions.”

When asked about their strategy, McGowan responded with three words: “Practice, Practice, Practice.” He added that it is important to be “flexible and focused on the team’s goals”.

Epstein and McGowan’s team practiced at several tennis courts in Anne Arundel County and look forward to practicing at Millersville’s new tennis center when it’s ready.

“Our team asked for help from Cathy Officer, who is the university’s boys and girls coach at Severn School,” Epstein said. “Cathy helped us practice practice together as a team and helped us prepare for the two tournaments we competed in.”

Congratulations to Epstein and McGowan and their colleagues on the USTA Mid-Atlantic team: Martha Van Cleve, Elizabeth Jacobson, Lynne Powell, Virginia Umberger, Perri O’Keefe, Kaye Witting, Rebecca Pugh, Cyndi Hargrove, Loren Barnett, Jade Moore and Roberta Wat .

“Several members of our team also had the privilege of competing nationally in 2019. We hope to be able to be national again next year,” McGowan said.

The USTA is a national nonprofit organization committed to promoting tennis and its physical, social, and emotional health benefits. For more information, visit www.usta.com.