The Tasmanian tennis community mourned the loss of a long-time contributor last week, with Launceston's Joan Carswell passing away at the age of 97.
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Getting involved with tennis through son David, Joan began by helping out in the canteen, where she was described by local icon Ian Macpherson as making "the greatest salad roll".
From there, she became secretary of the City-Suburban Tennis Association but also served unofficially as an organiser, groundsperson, statistician and publicity officer during her time.
"In all the years Mum was involved, she was never confronted with a complaint concerning any decisions she made in tennis with the teams - not many people can say that," David said.
"She was always full of energy, people would always comment 'goodness me, does Joan ever know when to stop', she was always on the go.
"She really loved life, what it had to offer and made the most of everything."
ELSEWHERE IN SPORT
Recognised by City-Suburban, Tennis North and Hart Street (now Newstead Tennis and Squash Centre) with life memberships, Joan's work was always appreciated - also receiving an Australian citizenship award for volunteering in sport in 2000.
"In her prime for the City-Suburban Association, she was organising 1100 players each week," David said.
"There were 137 teams and 800 players playing in the mid-week pennant for clubs ranging from Launceston as far as George Town and Deloraine and there were at least 40 teams and 300 players in a mixed weekend pennant."
She took up playing tennis during the 1970s in her early 40s with a self-described "unorthodox style", but it seemed effective, winning several A-grade mid-week pennants alongside her team members.
While Joan was remembered officially with a fitting service on Thursday, family members were flooded with phone calls and messages from all around the world.
"Mum received a lot of tributes from the actual clubs themselves, sending flowers in and that sort of thing - it was a strong [tennis] presence," David said.
"It was a lovely day, everyone came up to us afterwards and said what a lovely service it was.
"Lots of times you can have an event and you're not too sure [how it went] but we knew it went well, it was really good and very fitting for Mum, all the work she put in and all the friends she made in tennis.
"You never know what's out there until something like this happens and how people react and what they want to do.
"We certainly do appreciate everything that came here for Mum."
While loving husband Andrew, who supported her through her tennis endeavours, has also passed away, Joan's legacy lives on through children David, Brian and Andrea, her six grandchildren - Paul, Adam, Mathew, Hayley, Andrew (dec.) and Ty and five great-grandchildren - Alayna, Phoebe, Oliver, William and Axel.