Melissa has played sport her whole life. Tennis from the age of six, hockey through her 20s, 30s and 40s, squash, golf, real tennis, even ladies' cricket. Then a shoulder injury took it all away for six months, and as she puts it, it narrowed her whole life down: the sport, the people, the confidence, all of it.

In this episode Melissa talks about the knock that time out had on her mental health, what it took to get going again (a lecture from her children and a notice in a window), why six months off made her feel like a slug when she wasn't nearly as unfit as she thought, and how building her strength back rebuilt her confidence with it. These days she plays pickleball and bowls, and she's part of the volunteer team taking Stonehouse to the national In Bloom finals on 20 October.

There's a Jim's Gym quick-fire round, a hot air balloon pilot, the first Porsche ever imported into Britain, and some very good advice involving a tin of beans.

Chapters
00:00:00 Welcome and who Melissa is
00:02:06 Surrey to Gloucestershire: a fresh start
00:05:11 A lifetime of sport, from tennis at six
00:07:48 Born competitive (and the first Porsche in Britain)
00:12:12 Why a new game in later life is worth it
00:14:44 Making friends in a new area
00:15:51 The shoulder injury and six months out
00:18:04 "It narrows your life down"
00:19:55 Getting strong again, working around pain
00:21:09 Why pickleball replaced tennis
00:22:39 Stonehouse in Bloom and the national finals
00:27:55 The Jim's Gym quick-fire round
00:31:28 Melissa's advice: just start
00:33:13 Outro

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