Bournemouth tennis player expresses importance of sport in mental wellbeing

A Bournemouth University student has spoken about how taking up tennis has helped her mental health.

Romina Railean has found the sport a great way to distract herself from any stress.

She was speaking to mark World Mental Health Day on Tuesday 10 October.

Romina said: “I find it as a stress relief, when I play tennis. I don’t think of anything else, just me and the racket and the ball.”

When it comes to sport it tends to have negative impacts on most people’s mental health but there is also positives, “I think all sports have a positive impact it’s just the case of finding that sport for you that you enjoy.”

In the UK 3o% of females play sport. In Bournemouth there are quite a few tennis clubs with opportunities for anyone, including West Hants, Bournemouth Gardens and Meyrick Park.

“I play in a club called Branksome I go to lessons; I hope to join competitions within the club,” Romina added.

Romina hopes to play competitively once she’s improved her skills which she finds important. “It’s too early to talk about matches but probably yes, when I improve all my skills, as I’m currently focusing on technique, it’s a good place to start instead of going straight into it.”

As she hopes to play some matches in the future, she has inspiration from Serena Williams and also her friends at the tennis club.

“They started less than a year ago and they’re very good, they play in the competitions, they motivate me to be better,” she said.