CHARLESTON, S.C. — Two Entrepreneurs, an Attorney, a speechpathologist, a CPA, two RN’s, a Forester, a PTA, and a publicrelations person equals a team known as “The Desperate Housewives.”However, these are not the kind of Desperate Housewives one wouldfind on Wisteria Lane.  These ladies have a desperation of anotherkind….and it is for the game of tennis!

“We’re desperate to play tennis!” said one team member. “We putour kids to bed at 8:30 or 9:00 at night and go out and play.”

The Women’s 2.5 (B) team from Brookhaven, Mississippi, can bespotted wearing their signature tank tops adorned with a tenniscourt that has doubles lines and court positions labeled.

“The picture is in case we need a reminder,” comments onedesperate housewife.

In just under one year’s time the beginner ladies have gone fromtossing balls to one another to appearing in the World’s LargestTennis Tournament.  Last July the ladies individually joined abeginner class at their local tennis club, Brookhill on Natchez. David Misner, their current coach and inspiration, encouraged thewomen to form a 2.5 league team and continue their experience.

Their first venture into league play was this spring seasonwhere they had their first taste of match play. At the start of theseason Coach Misner encouraged the ladies not to get down if theydid not make the state playoffs during their inaugural season. Theyfinished 9-0 in the Southwest Mississippi league.

During the state tournament in Jackson, the team blew throughthe draw until their undefeated season was cut short by a 1-2 lossin the finals.

Two weeks ago the team got an unexpected surprise when stateleague coordinator Roddy Bates called team captain Lynn Bozeman tosay the team got a wild card into the sectional championships. Lynn frantically called her teammates and rounded up five playersto compete in the tournament.

Singles player Mary Helen Miller canceled her summer vacationplans that were set to take this week so she could be part of theexperience.

The ladies piled into an Excursion equipped with the latest copyof “Tennis for Dummies,” and set off for a 12 and a half hour driveto the Carolina coast.  Along the way they battled a car full ofants, a dead car battery and upon arrival spent an hour outsidetheir hotel at 1 a.m., due to a false fire alarm.  Despite all ofthe mishaps, the ladies rave about their first sectionalexperience.

“It is so much fun! We are having a blast!” said a couple ofteammates in unison. “The competition is friendly and we’veexperienced a different level of play here,” attributes anotherhousewife.

What does the future hold for the desperate housewives ofBrookhaven?

They plan to continue drilling once a week and have adopted anew motto of “Believe to Achieve.” As far as they are concerned, wewill see them here next year.

Bozeman, Miller, Angie Currie, Beth Evans, and Sally Dotyrepresented Brookhaven in the tournament.

“We had a lot of fun and we got a lot of attention,” saidDoty.