CASS assistance could help Rook fly

TEENAGE tennis player Olivia Rook is hoping to reach the top of the sport with help from CASS & Friends, an organisation to help aspiring athletes and their families.

CASS & Friends was set up in early 2015 to offer financial support to young and aspiring athletes in the Cotswolds.

Training, attending events, buying equipment and obtaining specialist advice can be very expensive, and there is little support available to help with the costs, so CASS & Friends was set up to offer this support.

Funded from public donations, CASS seeks to provide assistance to ease the financial burden on families with gifted youngsters.

The organisation achieved charity status in September 2017 and more than 95% of all funds raised goes directly to the children we support.

Rook, 15, who plays at East Glos tennis club and is based in Cheltenham, started playing tennis with her dad when she was four years old.

She has also competed at cross country at both regional and national level, winning the South West championships aged 12 and competed in the national junior championships.

But she has concentrated on tennis and by the age of 12 I had won a national singles title and achieved a GB national ranking of three.

She has eached a national singles final in the 14U age group and national doubles final in the 16U age group, won two national doubles titles in the 18U age group and consistently been ranked in the top 10 in singles in GB in my age group.

Rook has also been selected for and attended LTA residential national training camps in London and is competing regularly in women’s British Tour events, having reached the quarter final of a grade 2 event.

She has also competed in several ITF junior events around Europe, reaching a semi-final in doubles in Belgium earlier this year.