Westford Resident Involved in N.H. Tennis Controversy

Fans often create a hostile environment in sports, but that's not usually the case during tennis matches. According to a report though, that's exactly what happened to a Westford resident during her New Hampshire state title match.

Briana Leonard is a senior at Bishop Guertin High School in Nashua, N.H., and she recently played her way to the final of the individual tennis tournament. But Leonard's match with Bow's Sunday Swett wasn't decided on the court.

According to a report in the Nashua Telegraph (N.H), Leonard walked away from the court after the first set in the best-of-three match because she and her parents said the environment around the Manchester courts was "hostile."

The family was upset for several reasons, beginning when Briana was docked a point for arriving to the match one minute late. Then later in the match, fans reportedly cheered when Briana fell and hurt her knees. 

The senior's parents believe, according to The Telegraph, that the heckling was due to the fact that their daughter lives in Massachusetts while playing for a New Hampshire high school.

“This has been going on for the last two years,” said Kristen Leonard, Briana's mother, according to the newspaper. “This is an 18-year-old girl who fell and got hurt and people are cheering. They were bullying her. This has been going on for two years. They’ve wanted her out for two years because she’s not a New Hampshire girl. Because we live in Massachusetts.”

The director of the New Hampshire Athletic Association was on scene during the match. He called it an "unfortunate experience" and said he had never seen anything like it, The Telegraph reported.

“This is a hostile environment,” Brian's father, Tim Leonard said. “They are cheering for people to lose rather than win. I don’t want to take anything away from Sunday. She deserves it. She’s an amazing tennis player. This is nothing against her. It’s about the environment created here and hopefully they learn from it."

Click here to read the full report from the Nashua Telegraph.