Shepparton Lawn Tennis Club's Narelle Maxted joined illustrious company in the tournament's history books on Monday, one of seven new inductees into the now 18-strong contingent of Country Week Legends.
Maxted is currently attending her 27th edition of the tennis extravaganza in Albury-Wodonga after first joining the Country Week ranks as a sprightly 21-year-old in 1992.
Aside from the 1997 and 1999 tournaments — where she missed proceedings due to the respective births of her two daughters — Maxted has had the event circled in her calendar ever since.
“It's one of the weeks you just can't miss,” Maxted said.
“It's (brilliant) on and off the court, you make great friendships during the years and it's an amazing event.”
Maxted has played tennis at a number of clubs across the Goulburn Valley, but even though Country Week has always been a constant in terms of her tennis career she never thought she would be recognised as a legend of the competition.
“I knew I was nominated, but I didn't expect to be inducted,” she said.
“I've moved around with tennis more socially than anything. Once you get a bit older of course the social side is much more important than the competitive side.”
Maxted had her team to thank first and foremost after accepting the award.
“I'd like to thank my team, the Shepparton Sistas, and Heather Lees our tennis Godmother,” she said.
“They're great girls and we have so much fun, we leave our families at home and go away for the week and have a great time.”
Sandra Allen, Eric Salter, John Tadd, Joanne Dow, Kay Hanrahan and Neil Mitchell were announced as the newest legends alongside Maxted.
They join Brenda Bishop, Dawn Whykes, Norma Sim, Robyn Darby, Pat Flynn and Trevor Holt who were awarded legend status at Swan Hill in 2018, and Chris Rye, Jenny Reid, Graeme Barned, Greg Tarrant and Yvonne Child who were awarded legend status at Shepparton and Mooroopna last year.
“I would like to congratulate Sandra, Eric, John, Joanne, Kay, Narelle and Neil for everything they have done, not just for themselves and their teams, but for Country Week as a whole,” Tennis Victoria chief executive Ruth Holdaway, who presented the awards, said.
“It’s people like this that make this one of the best community sporting events in the world.
“I always look forward to Country Week and think it’s the perfect way to complement the summer of tennis.”
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