Christmas Party

Over 50 people will be celebrating at the club Christmas party this Saturday. All adult members are invited and it’s not too late to join – please contact Janet Hall janet30hall@gmail.com 07968421872 or Chris Hawkins cdh.crew@ntlworld.com 07801312389 for tickets. There will be food, festive fun and dancing. Tickets are £15 and the party starts at 19:30.

Coaching Team

We have a new coach, Jack Morrow joining the coaching team from Monday 6th January, Jack previously coached at the Leicestershire tennis club. He will be joining us full time and is looking forward to getting started. If you would like to arrange a lesson with Jack, please contact him directly on 07495 439146. If you have any questions about anything coaching related, please contact Alex on 07931412238.

Mini Tennis Open Day – Hood Park

The coaches will be running an open session on Sunday 12th January 11.30am-2pm at Hood Park Leisure Centre in Ashby. This is aimed at children aged 10 & Under who are new to tennis. So please spread the word amongst friends and family for anyone who may want to give tennis a go for the first time! Players can turn up on the day or contact Alex if there are any questions in advance 07931412238.

Annual Quiz Night

Advanced notice that next year’s quiz will take place on Saturday 14th March at Packington Village Hall. More details to follow – but you can start getting a team of 4 together!

Box League Update

Round 3 is all but complete, with one Division (the Monday Big Match) due to be played  as we go to press and one abandoned because of a football injury sustained by the organiser.

Congratulations to our second time Champion Clive Slater (who draws level with Tristan Gretton in the panoply of all-time title winners in this event), Ian Randon who made his debut appearance in the top Division and to Gareth Williams, Alan Brown, Rob Slack (in absentia!), Ian Robertson, Richard Sparrow, Katherine Pilbro and Catherine Gough, all of whom were promoted.

Highlights include:

• “Maximum” game scores by Clive, Alan (19), Ian Robertson (18, but lost one set!), Katherine and finally Catherine and Greta Davies who each scored 19 in Division 10!
• Chris Hawkins gallant fight to avoid, by a single game, relegation for the third successive time
• a close finish in Divisions 5, 8 and 10 in which only two games separated 1st from 3rd
•  the scores of 19 each by Catherine and Greta in the same division, resulting in promotion for Catherine by the toss of a coin.

Thanks, as always, to all the division organisers for their skill in “getting it done”, to coin a phrase.

STOP PRESS Anyone who has held back from entering so far and has now decided “Oh, go on then, it is Christmas” may be able to join in by calling or texting Gray on 07952328387 immediately on reading this bulletin.

Dads - v - Lads and Ladies - v - Lassies Matches on 8th December

Blessed with gale conditions and only intermittent rain, the long-awaited Seniors - v - Junior Showdown took place on Sunday. Treated by the Juniors as a chance to shine and by the Seniors as an opportunity to learn some technique, the event was both interesting and highly enjoyable. The match was played in the Leicestershire League format.

Leading for the Boys’ team, Harry and Dylan quickly demolished first Colin and Patrick and then Gareth and Andy without dropping a game. Gareth and Andy fared little better against Big and Little Joe in the second round, salvaging only 4 games. Dylan and Sam, meanwhile, secured a clean sweep for their team in the first round by recovering from 3-6 down in their set against Dave and Gray to win 8-6.

The match was effectively won and lost with the 8-0 set win by Harry and Dylan over Gareth and Andy, but Dave and Gray salvaged a little pride by clinching their second set 8-4. At this point, Alex came on as substitute for Dave and thus became the first Club Coach to have the distinction of both replacing the Club Chairman and partnering the President in the same match. Their final set against Harry and Dylan saw some initial resistance, but defeat by 8-4 seemed inevitable long before the end.

The Joe pairing took the Boys’ score to 7-1 by replicating their team mates’ score against Colin and Patrick, but in their third set could not quite overcome Gareth and Andy who doubled their team’s score.

The Ladies’ six proved just too durable for their younger opponents, but no fewer than four of the nine sets were won by only 1 or 2 games. Sophia and Bethan were unlucky to drop sets on tiebreak, first against Gill and Sue and later against Muriel and Sarah. Against Fiona and Sheila the margin of defeat was a close run 6-8.

Emily and Tilly drew plaudits for their free-spirited play and their scores improved as the afternoon wore on. Sophie and Jess found the going tough, but played well against their older opponents.

Final Scores: 7-2 to the Lads and 9-0 to the Ladies.