Parker Returns from Injury

BATTLING teenager Jordan Parker has fought his way back from injury to inspire a tennis success for Northamptonshire... and it is all thanks to the help of Dalepak.

The 14 year-old from Barton Seagrave in Northants receives regular ‘backing from packing’ with Dalepak.

• Jordan was one of a four strong county team who competed in age group nationals at Solihull over the recent May Bank Holiday weekend when they clinched wins over counties on all three days.
• Kicking off with a 6-0 win over Devon, they continued on the Sunday with an identical whitewash of Hereford & Worcestershire before a 4-2 win over the Isle of Man in the title decider on the Monday.

Yet Jordan’s preparation had been far from ideal as he returned to the fray after a chronic two months plagued by Osgood Schlatters Disease, which causes knee pain in developing boys, a damaged ankle which spent several weeks in plaster as well as a spate of coughs and colds.After a terrific performance in a Tennis Europe event in Norway in November, it had briefly halted his progress after he reached the top 10 in the county for his age group.Northants 14 & under boys coach Steve Biss said:  “Jordan had only been hitting balls for a few days before the weekend. Luckily his matches got harder as the tournament went on, and he just about had enough to last out a fairly tight match on the final day when he was still not fully 100 per cent fit.”

• Parker’s mum Abbie added: “Jordan has had enough ailments recently to last him a lifetime. It was tough for him going in to the 14s event without any real training but it was something he really wanted to do.“Jordan’s coach Martin Weston at Loughborough told him not to train on the Monday after the nationals as he had played six matches over the three days and he needs to work his way up again gently.“However, he was back at Loughborough again for the next three days after that and although he still gets a little bit of pain in the knee it has not been too bad.”
• Jordan’s team mates in the Northants side were Shakeel Manji, Jack Haworth, Lloyd Read and Arthur Eyles.