For Powers, Age is Just a Number

Even in her 50s, the competitive edge for White Plains tennis player Carol Powers hasn't come close to slowing down.

Competing in the women’s 50-and-over doubles event with Anne-Marie Pensanti of Rye in the USTA Women’s National Grass Court Championship in Forest Hills—the duo were all over the net hitting winning volleys Monday afternoon.

They easily won their first round match over Susan Curtis and Robin Noble of NYC with a 6-1, 6-1 scoreline, before losing a 6-0, 6-7, 6-3 contest against No. 4 seeds Diane Kakareka of Overland Park, Kansas, and Kim Lackey of Clayton, California.

“This is way more relaxed than junior tournaments,” said Powers—who has two grown children and lives with her husband in the Gedney Farms neighborhood.

“We all get to know each other at these tournaments and invite one another out to dinner, and a lot of the out of town players will even share a hotel room for the week.”

Tennis has been a way of life for Powers from an early age. She grew up competing in top level national events and went to Villanova University on a tennis scholarship. However, when her college career ended, Powers said she put the rackets down.

“I was totally burned out at that point and got married right after college, so I didn’t play for quite some time,” said Powers.

However, once she gave birth to her two daughters, Powers began to play again recreationally and the fire quickly returned. She even went on to introduce them to the sport, and both of them played club tennis in college.

“I enjoyed the sport way more after having my daughters,” said Powers. “I wasn’t playing for a team and it was my form of relief and fun.”

These days, Powers practices several days a week at Westchester Country Club in Rye and competes on numerous USTA leagues. In addition, she travels around the country a handful of times per year to compete in other national tennis tournaments.

The practice Powers puts in on the court has been paying dividends. She and Pensanti were ranked No. 5 in the country as a team for the 40-and-over division, and they even reached the finals of this same tournament last year in the 40-and-over division.

“That competitive drive never really goes away,” said Powers. “We’re all here playing because we love the sport, but we still have goals and want to go out and win.”

Once the warmer months end, Powers switches over from a tennis court to a platform tennis court. She has also achieved a national ranking in this sport and travels around the country for tournaments.

“It hasn’t ruined my strokes at all for tennis and it’s actually been pretty beneficial for my net game,” said Powers.

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