League Player Marsha Marsh Has a Blast Playing at Nationals

Marsh began to feel the excitement and expectation build when her workplace gave her the green light to take time off for the trip to Tucson. She quickly booked her flight to Arizona and was on the same plane as a few of her teammates. Pell secured an Airbnb, which seven team members including Marsh stayed at.

And while the team didn’t end up winning any of its four matches in Tucson, Marsh used such adjectives as “amazing,” “great” and “wonderful” to describe her first-ever Nationals experience.

“I wouldn’t trade it for what happened,” Marsh said. “I took a lot of pictures of us together with my phone. I’ve printed a few of them off, and I’ve got a couple of them on the wall. I made a couple little small albums. I still get them out to this day and look at it. It just brings everything back and makes me happy. You just have to learn to enjoy when something good comes along.”

Marsh admitted to being tough on herself on the tennis court. She sometimes reminds herself she is fortunate to be able to compete at all. Marsh had a neck surgery to fuse part of her spine together. And then about six and a half years ago, Marsh had a nasty wreck on a motorcycle. Four months after the accident, Marsh was back on the tennis court hitting the ball with her sister, Cheryl Ballou.

“I’m lucky I can even function anymore and that I can play,” Marsh said. “I could have very well lost my left arm from the elbow down. My right arm has metal framework on it on both the bones. So, I try to remember that when I get aggravated — ‘you’re lucky to even be out here anymore.’”

Ballou is who helped Marsh get back into tennis after she took an extended break from the sport. Marsh played high school tennis at Mount Vernon — where she lives today, about 35 miles west of Springfield and Cooper Tennis Complex. A decade or so ago, Ballou asked Marsh if she’d like to pick up the sport again. Outside of the two time periods off due to injury, Marsh has been playing ever since.

“I’m of the age that in high school we had wooden racquets. That’s all they had,” Marsh said. “Learning to play with the newer graphite racquets took some time. I’m happy she got me back into playing. It’s a good social thing for me to be around people and spend time with them.”

In addition to Pell’s 40 & Over 3.5 women’s team, Marsh competes on a mixed doubles squad, an 18 & Over 3.5 women’s team and a 55 & Over 7.0 women’s team in Springfield. She also participates on a 4.0 women’s team based in Little Rock, Arkansas alongside her sister. That team schedules three weekends during the season for Marsh to make the four-hour drive south, get a hotel and play matches on back-to-back days.

Marsh credited Pell for leading the crew to Nationals and making some difficult decisions along the way. That included asking Marsh — who typically plays doubles — to compete in singles twice at the Section Championships.

“Which I willingly did,” Marsh said. “That was so we could have our better doubles teams playing and not have to forfeit one court. That’s what you do to help your team.”

Marsh called it a “huge opportunity” and a “blast” to represent USTA Missouri Valley at Nationals as one of 17 teams competing in Arizona. While she never really made it a goal to be on a Nationals-qualifying team, Marsh noticed she is enjoying her time on the court now more than ever since the Tucson trip.

“I played recently, and it was probably the most I have laughed and had fun on the tennis court in a long time,” Marsh said. “Playing at Nationals you maybe miss a shot, look up and all those mountains are there. It sinks into your head — ‘just look where you’re at and what you’re doing.’

“When I’m out there playing, I’m not putting so much pressure on myself anymore. ‘OK, Marsha, you’ve done what most everybody strives to get to do. So, just have fun now.’”

To read a USTA Missouri article on Marsha Marsh’s team qualifying for Nationals, click here. To view USTA League National Championship results, click here.