friday's girls. set. match. tournament pushed on despite the rain: how girls still came to play

It's 4:00 P.M. and all four Hillcrest courts are shiny because of the storm that happened minutes ago. Leaf blowers are used to dry out puddles. Rags and tennis court squeegees try their very best to dry out the surface. 

Parents with their children start putting down their things under the roof and just when the courts look dry enough, it rains again, and hard. 

But no one gives up. The rain is seen as only a minor setback, so the tournament is pushed to 5:00 P.M. instead. 

Although the rain continued throughout the rest of the evening, it got light enough for the team to start drying the courts again and for some matches to be played. 

Despite the rain coming down in waves, parents with their kids still made sure to make their way to the courts, with smiles on their faces. While the courts were being dried, girls in categories ranging from U12 to U18 got a hold of gift bags, a starter kit for making new friends. 

Some came all the way from Montreal with hopes of participating in the OTA tournament, while some, if not most, were A Love of Tennis' very own program participants. Even with the variety of ages and differing background, the girls still mingled under the dry roof. 

In the gift bag, among other items like t-shirts, markers and stickers, was a little information booklet with many useful pages inside. On most of the pages were questions with dedicated writing space. Questions like 'if you were to change one rule in tennis, what would it be?' or 'what other sports do you play? Rate them out of five stars.'

But what really got the girls moving from one picnic table to another, was the booklet's bingo page. Featured on the bingo page was a plethora of qualities and traits girls must find in other players to check off on their bingo squares. Traits like 'someone with long hair' or 'someone who isn't afraid of spiders,' as examples. 

Although the booklet was a fun socializing exercise, the tournament still had to go on and even with the constant drizzle, the players were determined to win. 

All four courts were used and to make it so that all girls could participate, the original match schedules were abandoned and score objectives shortened, with it being best to 10 points for younger players and best to four tennis games total for older or more advanced girls. 

For safety reasons, girls were allowed to let the ball bounce twice (or more for younger girls) before hitting. In addition, pylons were placed carefully around deep puddles to ensure no one was stepping in them. 

The energy was competitive, to say the least. Girls of all ages happily announced their scores after winning a match and many screamed in happiness or disbelief upon winning or losing pivotal points. 

Even though wet balls had to be replaced often with dry ones, and the court, being increasingly slippery, got some close calls, not one girl wanted to call it a day, speaking to their will to win matches. 

Eventually, the tournament had to be called in early because the rain's intensity started up again. So, instead of ending at 8:30 as planned, it ended at 7:00 P.M., with a few younger players finishing up their jungle tennis-style matches past that time. 

And the young players really enjoyed it, just like the rest that day.

Sprinting towards the baseline, a player's eyes were focused intensely on the falling ball, their teammate cheering them on, calling out their name with conviction. On another court, racquets clashed together as girls yelled at each other, saying "got it" or "you got this!" They didn't notice that the balls got muddier or that the court got more slick. 

Whatever the score, the age or the skill level, what all the girls had in common was their striving for success and the enjoyment they had for playing the sport. That was why they came out on Friday, even with the rain pouring. 

Fortunately, A Love of Tennis didn't end up cancelling or postponing the tournament, like what most places would have done. Instead, Danielle, Ashley and the team thought, they must give these girls a chance to play, even if the chance only lasts a short while. After all, there is always time for tennis. 

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A group photo with all the participants of the Girls. Set. Match. tournament. At the end of the day, all the girls came together under the light drizzle to capture the moment.

Participants from the tournament, A Love of Tennis' very own, gather under the roof to play some bingo. In the meantime, the team tries to dry the courts a second time in preparation for match play.

Participants of the U12 category play a jungle tennis-style match just before the tournament gets called off.

Danielle (left) and Ashley (right) determine which team will play against whom.

Girls in the U16 category play a match on court 4 during a period when the rain ceased momentarily.

Danielle gives an introductory speech to the girls right before the tournament starts.

Participants from the U16 category shake racquets after an intense match.

U12 teammates congratulate each other by touching racquets after a hard fought point.

Danielle awards a participant with a medal after two hours of non-stop competition.

A competitor of the U18 category serves in during a period of heavy rainfall.