On Saturday June the 6th a bold tennis experiment was put into action by captain of the Portsmouth and Isle of Wight team, Cathy Robinson.

Pairing young students with 'slightly older' players, an attempt to bridge the generation gap was made when Steep played away at Porchester. Cathy played with her son Alex, Judy Ross with Henry F and Maria Nash with Alfie Jameson. In their first senior match, under extremely blustery conditions on courts which appeared to run down hill, the young gentlemen behaved impeccably (the older ladies even managed to behave themselves too). It was a very long and testing afternoon which Cathy described afterwards as 'a baptism of fire' but each pair came away with a rubber of which they should be very proud. Although Steep lost overall it was a very successful exercise in progression and self-control.