‘Mother Hen’ Leads North Carolina Seniors

OVERCOMING HEAT IS ONE OF HER GOALS

By Ron Cioffi

She calls herself the “mother duck” as she has gathered her “ducklings” for their first trip to the 2008 USTA League Tennis Southern Sectional Championships. Mary McQueen is using her organizational skills to ensure the team is prepared for the rigors of Sectionals.

“I’m motherly. That’s just me. That’s my personality. … Some people might call me a control freak,” McQueen said. “I like to call my teammates my ducklings. I act like a mother duck trying to keep track of all the baby ducks. They really are a great group of ladies and they don't need too much mothering actually.

“Maybe go beyond what my teams are accustomed to. Everybody is well informed” of the schedule and other important details to get the team to Mobile, she added.

McQueen’s Senior Women’s 3.5 team plays on the clay courts of the Charlotte, North Carolina. That’s great practice for the upcoming clay-court competition at Sectionals.

“I want to make sure we keep hydrated. We’ve been practicing in the late afternoons to get used to the heat,” she explained.

While she’s been the captain of this team for 10 years, this is their first trip to Sectionals. Their success hasn’t been without pitfalls as one player, Loie Forti, was overcome with dehyrdration at the State tournament in Asheville.

“You know you are a senior when you begin to have injuries that keep you sidelined longer than a few days. We have had a player tear her achilles tendon and require surgery before the local league season was finished. She will be unable to play tennis for at least six months. We also had a player who was diagnosed with severe tendonitis in her foot just a week before we headed for the state competition. She will be unable to play for about two months,” McQueen lamented.