T&RA Newsletter 2011 C

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T&RA Newsletter – Christmas 2011

M

essage from the CEO

I am now in my second season and writing from a frosty morning at The Queen‟s Club in what may be the first of many cold periods this winter. The season is in full swing and we have already seen many events, starting with the increasingly popular season opener, the British Junior Open, in August with a record 62 participants. The country-wide category tournaments encouraged players from across the handicap range to take part. Team Tennis has also proved to be popular with the early rounds of the Brodie Cup completed as well as the first rounds of the Pol Roger and Field Trophies. The highlight of the season so far has been the British Open and although the history books will show Rob Fahey winning yet another title, he was pushed very hard in a five-set final by local Queen‟s professional Bryn Sayers. The Rackets season always looked like a challenge with the Championship Court gallery rebuild deflecting many tournaments out of W14, although the finals have been played in some cases on the Bridgeman. The Noel Bruce and the Invitation Singles have still been played at Queen‟s and note should be made of the spectacular arrival of Will Hopton at Manchester, and a highly successful Gold Racquet and Amateur Singles. The highlight to date, was unquestionably the Invitation Singles, which attracted all the top players and resulted in World Champion Jamie Stout defeating his closest rival Alex TB in an entertaining final. The Club Professional Development programme has produced its first Tennis graduate in John Lumley, working under the close guidance of Chris Ronaldson at Radley. All four of the level one modules were completed last season, with formal assessment days completed in September. Not wishing to rest on their laurels, Nick Wood and Graham Tomkinson have now largely developed the next phase of the programme and delivered the first two modules, which saw many more senior professionals return to the classroom for a day‟s management and marking training. Although still under development, Graham has been working closely with Peter Brake and is intent on transferring some of this training to the Rackets professionals this season, which will give them something back from the game. Many congratulations to Matty Ronaldson, the new Head Professional at Middlesex University RTC. Meanwhile Ryan Tulley has returned from across the Atlantic to take up the post at Wellington, with Will Hopton now operating at Manchester. At the other end of the scale, David Johnson retired and Howard Angus went into partial retirement, both after long and distinguished careers. The priority for the T&RA is to give the membership value for money. Each Tennis playing member has their handicap maintained on Real Tennis Online (RTO); the global database which allows for play against opponents anywhere in the Tennis playing world. The Rackets Ranking System brings a more accuracy to tournaments seeding – and has been expanded so all matches can be recorded.

Increasing participation requires new courts, improving professional training, and encouraging the juniors – all three items are very much on the T&RA priority list. The current Tennis court projects include Guildford, Harrogate, Sutton and Wellington. The second Tonbridge Rackets court will open early in March 2012, and the Association is hoping to support the courts at Dartmouth and Rossall School. The junior programme continues to move forward thanks to the efforts of Paul Weaver, Mick Dean, Christopher Griffith-Jones and many unsung others at the clubs around the country. There are also students being supported at Exeter University, Manchester and Newcastle/Durham. One farewell of significance to the Tennis Community is the retirement of Sir Andrew Hamilton as Chairman of the Tennis Committee. After six years, and redesigning the TC into its present form, Andrew hands over the baton to Roger Pilgrim. Last but not least, the T&RA said farewell to Aggie Hudson-Evans who most of you will have probably spoken to when calling the office. Rosie Brown has already taken over this important role as Office Assistant and I‟m sure you‟ll find her just as approachable.

J

unior Open

The British Junior Real Tennis Championships were held at Queens Club over the weekend of th st 19 -21 August. 62 young players from many different clubs plus two from France competed against each other for the coveted titles. The results were as follows:U/14 Girls Plate Georgie Willis (Seacourt) bt Felicity Sargent (Moreton) 8-0 U/18 Girls Plate Tara Lumley (Holyport) bt Jess Garside (Seacourt) 8-3 U/12 British Championship Nicholas Milton (Hyde) bt Tatham Harper (Cambridge) 8-2 U/14 British Championship Charlie Thompson (Seacourt) bt Murray Lane (Prested) 6-2 6-1 U/16 British Championship Giles Gunning (Seacourt) bt Charlie Braham (Petworth) 6-2 6-5 U/18 British Championship Lewis Williams (Prested) bt Ben Wall (Seacourt) 3-6 6-5 6-2 The other prestigious award was the Nat Duncan Trophy, and once again James and Laura Duncan (formerly of the Harbour Club) visited from New York to present the racquet in memory of their son, Nat. This year, Lewis Williams, produced the stand out performance both in terms of his Tennis skills but also his general attitude to the game. Lewis is now working with Ricardo Smith at Prested with the aspiration of becoming a professional The photos below in order of appearance: 1. U16 Charlie Braham and Giles Gunning 2. U18 Girls Plate Jess Garside and Tara Lumley 3. U12 Tatham Harper and Nicholas Milton 4. U14 Murray Lane and Charlie Thompson 5. Lewis Williams, James and Laura Duncan


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