Christmas at Beechwood

We will be holding our traditional Christmas celebrations on Sunday 19th December. We will start with a social doubles tournament organised by John (10am-12am) followed by the awards of the club trophies and then a Christmas carol sing-song led by the famous Beechwood choir with mince pies, mulled wine and festive cheer throughout. The bar will be open, the club room and hall will be fully ventilated (so wrap up warm) with tables laid out for social distancing. Please join us on the day – more details to follow.

The club will be closed this year on 25th and 26th December.

Coventry League Awards 2021  

We are proud to announce the two of our members have been recognised at the recent Coventry League AGM – Chris Scott and Alex Partridge. This is great news both for the individuals and the reputation of our club.  I attach Chris’s and Alex’s nominations below:  

Chris Scott – 2021 Ladies Player of the Year: Chris started playing tennis in the Coventry and District league in 1971, playing her first match on the grass courts at Courtaulds with Val Webb, a long time Beechwood stalwart who sadly passed away this year in her 80s but remained a keen supporter of the ladies teams. She progressed to Beechwood first team in 1975 playing alongside Margaret Keough, Betty Galsworthy and Anne McCutchion, formidable players some of you will remember. She continued to play in the premier division until the last 10 years when she made way for the next generation of young players at Beechwood. Whilst working in a busy career she would always make herself available for matches often rushing onto the courts, eating a cereal bar at 6.29 having come straight from work. Her trophy cabinet contain a number of winners medals of the premier division, success in matches usually being as a result of her ability to finish the point quickly at the net before the opposition realised she had made her move. A quick look at the “my division” stats will show that she has still made frequent appearances in the premier division until the present day and often with winning results. The results tell you one dimension of the contribution Chris has made to her club and to the Coventry and District League. She has often played with juniors teaching them not just how to win matches but also how to behave on a tennis court and how to enjoy what for many of us is a lifetime hobby. It is always an enjoyable experience partnering her on court. She has had many administrative roles, selecting teams, captaining teams (club and county) and now has a role on our league committee, sometimes having to make decisions which are not easy but that she will make based on fairness and adherence to the rules of the game. Not many of us will be able to look back and say that we have turned out for our club for 50+ years at a high level and for this reason in addition to the administrative part that Chris has played in Coventry tennis, she would be a deserving winner of the 2021 player of the year.

Alex Partridge – 2021 Men’s Player of the Year: Alex captained the Beechwood 6th team this year in division 8 representing the team on 9 occasions with a win record of 67%. The team narrowly finished 3rd just missing out on promotion. But that’s not the full story for Alex. As captain Alex made sure that the team would be a stepping stone for the Beechwood juniors to integrate into adult team tennis, something he did fantastically well. Each week the team always comprised of at least 2 juniors players and pairing up with 2 more experienced adults (including himself). This meant the club and league could strengthen long term with more juniors experiencing the doubles league. In total Alex managed to integrate 8 of the Beechwood boys into the men’s teams highlighting what a great role model and job he did this year.

Our Men’s 3rd team was also awarded the Men’s Division 2 trophy at the same event – held by Sandra on our winners photograph above. Congratulations to all those involved.