Welcome to the Autumn newsletter where we look at the latest news and events. Following the successful club championships in the Summer, the Men’s, Mixed and Ladies’ leagues are back in full flow, as are the two club ladder leagues. There is much more to update you on both on and off court. Please read on!
Junior Social Tennis – The sessions resumed in September after the Summer holidays and are now in full swing. They are open to members and non-members - all are welcome! Please share and encourage your children and their friends to take advantage of this wonderful opportunity. It is really important that we focus on this element of the club, growth in junior membership will help secure the club for the future!
Social Tennis – The weekly Saturday mixed doubles sessions will continue as usual (2–4pm) with further opportunities to play with other club members each Friday (1-3pm or 6-8pm). Reminders to join in are populated on the main WhatsApp group each week. Feel free to come along, all standards of play are welcome and accepted. These sessions are good fun and give the opportunity to meet more members of our club.
Christmas Party – The poster says it all really – it should be a cracking night at the Bowls Club! There will be prizes for the funniest, quirkiest, most original photos of both your singles' & doubles'/mixed matches, for what will be the entries into our prized Christmas Photo Competition. Pictures from any tennis session will be accepted. We need lots of pictures to choose from so please post them to the ladder groups as normal, or message Loic your singles ladder photos privately. Also, on the night, we will summarize the ladders’ progress and reward the standout players or teams with small prizes.
Pavilion and groundwork – Many thanks to our members that have further improved and maintained our wonderful pavilion and grounds since it was upgraded earlier this year. It has been great to see the efforts by everyone to keep the grounds and pavilion in a clean and presentable standard. Simply leaving the area tidy as you leave makes a huge difference and makes the next visit more pleasant for other members.
Maintenance parties will continue throughout the seasons and Nic will be in touch seeking volunteers willing and able to help out. Please respond to the advertised requests if you can. Thank you all in advance!
Contact Nic Farmer for more info. 07810 796689.
Membership Payment Facilities - As you all know we are aligning with most other clubs in Wales and switching our membership renewal to a system where all fees are renewed on 1st April each year. Visit the website for the how and the why:
https://clubspark.lta.org.uk/LlantwitMajorTennisClub/News/a378b09e-43eb-4628-bd2f-10ec68f7dd13
Vicki – 07990 897471
Mixed Doubles and Singles Ladders Updates
Mixed Doubles ladder – Alan
The mixed ladder has been running for three months and it has proven very popular. Players are asked to play normally just one match per month with a different partner each time and against different opponents. Here are some key statistics as at late October:
- 25 matches have been played since August involving 36 different people
- 9 of these matches have gone to a third set tie break along with many other close games
- 23 players have played 3 matches or more - 👍 to each of them
- and a sprinkling of youngsters and newbies to the club have now played semi- competitive tennis for the first time and I think they have enjoyed the experience. They have also met and interacted with other club members that they likely wouldn’t have otherwise. Perhaps some will feel comfortable to go on and represent the club at league level at some point.
If anyone wishes to join the mixed ladder you can dip in at any point – just let Alan know.
Another feature of the mixed ladder is the post-match photo. It has now become a tradition and for the first time the most funny photo will be chosen and receive a prize at this years Xmas party. Hope to see you there on 7 December.
If you any questions please contact Alan 07871064839
Singles Ladder Update – Louise
Welcome to the newest members of the Singles Ladder who have joined since the last issue:
Joe, Regan, Sarah C, Sarah T, Elise, Richard, Harry, Greg and Brynach!
Thank you to all those who have been actively taking part in the Singles Ladder as we approach the colder months. I’d encourage you all to please take a look at the current rankings and challenge those players around you. Matches are arranged in your own time to fit your schedule, so please look at them as something fun to arrange rather than as an obligation!
We currently have Luke Buckworth in the top ranking, but it’s all to play for in the ATP Race to Turin Llantwit…!
Please drop me a message if you wish to join the ladder. The ‘shake up’ to the ladder is now in full swing, so please do join if you are looking for a new challenge or new opponents to play! It is a fun and informal way to play some competitive tennis in a good-spirited atmosphere. Similarly, if you wish to be removed from the ladder due to temporary injury or other reasons, please let me know as the ladder can be updated at any time. And we’ll look forward to welcoming you back soon!
Good luck and happy playing.
Louise: 07385454732
Doubles Leagues
Men’s Doubles Winter League – Richard & Luke
It's been a pretty balanced start to our winter campaign and having played only 2 matches we are currently W1-L1. Our first match was on Saturday 28th September away to Swansea and we were on the wrong side of victory against an experienced team of doubles players who “played smart and won”. Our team of Jake, Luke, Jack and Charlie narrowly lost 3-1 in some very close matches and the final score didn't reflect the overall picture as we only lost 38-36 in games. Tennis can be a funny old game and this prompted the following quote from a relatively unknown Frenchman (aka Loic), “Swansea are known for being good. Let's roast them on home turf!”
Our next match on Sunday 13th October was at home and saw Matt, Andrew, Charlie and Loic team up to take on Rhondda in what turned out to be a very easy 4-0 win. Post match one of our team was quoted as saying “We nearly died of boredom – it certainly won't be like that all the time though!” but this takes nothing away from the overall team performance and shows what a great depth of talent and strength we can draw on.
Our third fixture on Saturday 26th October was postponed and has been rescheduled.
Our next match before the end of the year is Saturday 23rd November: 10am start – AWAY vs Penarth
Huge thanks to all the men who have put themselves forward to play in the league and please continue to support our team through the long, cold, dark, winter months!
I would also like to add I'm really grateful to my son Luke as we took on captaining the men's team in September without a clue what it entailed and he's helped me immensely! I love that juniors like him can feel an integral part of the club, growing and learning about responsibility as well as the pure joy of playing tennis and hitting winners (NB: Luke – no more drop shots to your Dad please!). Between us we choose the players for the teams, organise the matches and liaise with opposition captains as well as making decisions behind the scenes which frankly I had never thought about.
It's an honour (and steep learning curve I should add!!!) to captain the team and I'm extremely grateful to everyone who has shared their knowledge and experience. As part of that process we are following the example set by the ladies team and employed Rob Cunningham to coach us in 'how to play doubles 'properly'! This is also due in part to a doubles match I was involved in which Rob Blackiston was watching. He commented mid-match “It's great watching four singles players try and play doubles 🤣!!!”
Hopefully the coaching will lead the mens (and women's) teams onto greater success and I hope everyone playing or supporting our tennis continues to enjoy it. Look forward to seeing you on the courts soon. Any questions regarding the men's doubles then feel free to direct them to either Luke or myself - and we'll do our best to answer them!
Richard & Luke – 07977522668
Ladies’ Doubles league:
With the number of female adult members of LMTC increasing over the past year, for the first time we now have a Ladies 1st team and a Ladies 2nd team competing in the South Wales Winter Women’s Doubles League. Ladies 1 faced Cowbridge 2 in their first fixture of the winter season and came away with a losing draw despite injury halting one of the pairs’ matches early. A great effort all round! The next match was a 1-3 home loss against a strong David Lloyd Cardiff 2 team, with the 3 lost matches all being decided by championship tiebreak. An extremely hard-fought and close fixture which could have gone either way. Ladies 1’s next match is on 9 November away against Llantrisant 1.Ladies 2 faced Lisvane 2 away on clay, in wet and windy conditions, in their first match of the season, with Llantwit losing 1-3 despite close matches throughout. The next fixture was a home match against Swansea 3, where Ladies 2 won 3-1. Despite a number of injuries affecting the squad from the beginning of the season, both teams are looking forward to battling hard in the next matches and coming away with the best results we can!
Annabel – 07545146896
Mixed Doubles League
You may be aware the Club has entered a mixed team in the winter league. We have a good number of people interested in playing in the matches. Most matches are played on Sundays. If you missed the original message but would still like to play in the mixed team then please let me know so I can add you to that group.
This year’s winter season is a busy one for matches with the Club entering four teams in the winter leagues. Match dates are displayed outside the Pavilion.
Paul Flanders – 07748983119
All LMTC league teams are so grateful for the support of our fellow members at our home matches
Ball Machine
As you know we have a brand spanking new ball machine. Since the initial training sessions, we have now rolled this out as a membership add on at end of the month.
Everyone who wants to use it is required to do the training for insurance reasons. We have run in-person training workshops but also have an online training option. Please contact James for more information.
The ball machine has proven to be an excellent new asset to the club and can now be booked as part of the ‘court booking’ process on line.
James Young – 0778099507
Seniors Section
We have a great seniors section in the club, we play every Wednesday 11am till 1pm as well as most open club social sessions. The Seniors group invites the over 55’s to come along and try tennis in a relaxed and fun environment. It is all very relaxed and we enjoy a cuppa with biscuits after playing tennis for a couple of hours.
For the complete beginner, this is the right place to come along and see if Tennis is for you. No matter what your standard is, you will get the support and guidance to improve your level of play. More on this on the club website: https://clubspark.lta.org.uk/LlantwitMajorTennisClub/News
Chris Green – 07759440905
Cowbridge Mini Tournament
Cowbridge Tennis Club have hosted a few mini tournaments this year which enables ‘non-league playing’ club members to play competitive tennis to help develop their skills.
Llantwit Major fielded teams on each occasion playing doubles against teams from across the Vale and beyond. It is a great little tournament played mostly on clay courts. There has been some great tennis played and our hosts treat us all to some great home baking to round off a perfect day out. We anticipate more tournaments such as this will follow in due course and I will keep you all posted
James Young – 0778099507
Twinning with Le Pouliguen
Le Pouliguen is the official twin town of LM. There's an opportunity for us to connect to their tennis club with a view to visiting at some point. More of this to follow in the months ahead.
Vicki – 07990 897471