RECOGNISED: Whanganui's Leela Beattie buddies up with New Zealand great Belinda Cordwell after cleaning up at the Tennis Central Awards evening in Wellington at the weekend.PHOTO/SUPPLIED
RECOGNISED: Whanganui's Leela Beattie buddies up with New Zealand great Belinda Cordwell after cleaning up at the Tennis Central Awards evening in Wellington at the weekend.PHOTO/SUPPLIED
Whanganui Christie Cup tennis linchpin Leela Beattie is spreading her talents far and wide, gaining well-deserved recognition.
Ranked No4 female player in New Zealand, Beattie has cleaned up at the Tennis Central awards night in Wellington and has also been named as a travelling coach for a national junior squadto compete in a world ranking tournament in Noumea next month.
Playing out of the Paraparaumu Beach Tennis Club during the season, Beattie was rewarded for her talents to take out three major prizes.
Prizes Beattie won individually included Overall Premier Female Player of the Year, Tennis Central Female Player of the Year and Premier 1 Female Player of the Year, while her club team won Pre-Christmas Women's Premier 1, Post-Christmas Women's Premier 1 and Overall (grand final) Women's Premier 1 titles.
While Beattie hails from Christchurch, she now lives and works in Whanganui.
"I moved here with my partner two years ago in July and was offered the job as tennis coach for Wanganui Collegiate School, which I still do today," Beattie said yesterday.
"I have also played in the Wanganui Christie Cup team that has won the trophy the last two years running."
She will take a week off though in June when she accompanies her own Auckland-based coach Angela Swinkles to the Noumean tournament.
"I will be going as a travelling coach with a group of juniors from throughout New Zealand to Noumea. It's a week-long tournament and quite an important International Tennis Federation-sanctioned one where the players compete for world rankings," she said.
