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Margaret Wilks.<\/p>\nAfter more than 50 years shaping the Valentine and Eleebana tennis communities, Margaret Wilks has quietly stepped back from the courts, leaving behind a legacy that spans generations.<\/p>\n
Her journey began as a child hitting a brick wall at Newcastle Boys High School.<\/p>\n
Back then, coaching wasn\u2019t something most families could afford, so she learned to play\u2026 and fell in love with the sport.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIn those days, no one had coaches unless their parents played,\u201d Wilks recalled.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would hit against a brick wall at the school as a kid with an old racquet.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI just loved it\u2026 and I\u2019ve loved it ever since.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cMy friends and I got into some competitions when we got a bit older and kept going with it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Margaret Wilks.<\/p>\n
By her late 20s, she had reached A grade in Newcastle competitions.<\/p>\n
And, soon after, friends and locals started asking her to train their children.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s where her coaching journey truly began.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIn my 30s, people began approaching me to show their kids how to play,\u201d the 83-year-old said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe [Margaret and her husband] lived in Valentine near the tennis courts and that\u2019s where it all started.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI still love it\u2026 and that\u2019s why I kept going.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve watched young kids I used to teach grow up and, now, they\u2019re bringing their own children or even grandchildren to see me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s been the most beautiful part of it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Alongside her late husband, Wilks took over Valentine Junior Tennis, growing a program that started with just 47 kids into a thriving hub.<\/p>\n
More recently, she spent more than a decade at the Cagney Tennis Academy in Eleebana, passing on her love for the sport to players of all ages.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI wasn\u2019t there to just instruct them and send them off,\u201d she told the Newcastle Weekly.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was present and personal. I\u2019d ask them about school, their day, their lives.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m a little bit different to the usual coach I think, as I am interested in what the kids do even outside of tennis.<\/p>\n
\u201cSometimes they\u2019d tell me more than they\u2019d tell their parents.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been absolutely fabulous, that\u2019s all I can say.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI get emotional when I think back on it all.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wilks\u2019 approach combined expertise, humour and an unwavering commitment to making tennis fun.<\/p>\n
Her influence went beyond coaching as she became a friend, a mentor and fixture in the local community.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll go into the shops in town and have people come up and say hello,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd, I\u2019ll have to ask them to remind me who they are, because there\u2019s been hundreds of people I\u2019ve taught over the years.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s the beauty of it.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou leave a mark worth remembering.\u201d<\/p>\n
Although injuries have forced her to slow down, she still keeps in touch with the tennis world and remains a beloved presence.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThese days I plan to keep busy with gardening and hanging out by my pool,\u201d Wilks explained.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cBut, tennis people\u2026 you can\u2019t get rid of them.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd, it\u2019ll be hard to get rid of me.\u201d<\/p>\n