Player lack ends 40-year run

A shortage of players able to turn out on a regular basis has led to the withdrawal of Carterton from the 2010 Wairarapa regional one tennis competition, which gets under way on Saturday.
It will be the first time for something like 40 years that Carterton has not contested the premier grade, with spokesman Matt Spooner saying it was simply a sign of the times.
"We struggled last year to find enough players who could play regularly and the situation is even worse now," Spooner said. "Obviously it's not a decision we took lightly, but there was no other way to go." Spooner believed Carterton's plight highlighted the fact there were not enough regional one players in Wairarapa to sustain a six-team competition.
"Players do move around from club to club, but in reality we are basically dealing with the same pool of players season after season," he said. "When a few decide, like this year, that they can't commit themselves to regular play, then something has to give, and unfortunately for Carterton it's us who have been left on the outer."
The loss of Carterton means the regional one series will consist of five teams this season - defending champions Masterton along with Gladstone, Pirinoa, Martinborough and Opaki.
The chances of Masterton successfully defending their crown, however, have lessened with news that a number of last year's squad will not be playing for them in 2010, including Jono and Steve Hurley and Sade Atkinson.
It is also understood that Wairarapa will be looking for a new selector for their senior representative side this season, with Steve Hurley also standing down from that position.