We are ready to launch our main 2020 Club tournament, wholly compliant with Covid-19 precautions. This modified box league format will be familiar to some and new to many. We are thrilled that 58 Club members have entered the competition and that we now have 10 boxes. There are two boxes in each of the following categories:

Ladies Singles (5 x 2)
Mens Singles (7 x 2)
Ladies Doubles (5 x 2)
Mens Doubles (5 + 6)
Mixed Doubles (8 x 2).

You will find three documents on the website under Competitions: Fun Box League. These are the Rules, the Groupings, and the Score Sheet. The Rules deserve a careful read if you have not played box league before. You will quickly get the hang of it and there is a good chance you will be paired with someone used to the scoring system. The groupings tell you who you are paired with if playing doubles, and which other singles/pairings you will play against. Doubles pairs who entered as a pair will play together. The rest have been drawn from a hat randomly. Players have been allocated to the boxes on a random basis and not according to any ranking or seeding.

The Score Sheet is an innovation designed to avoid the need for anyone to write names and contact numbers on pieces of paper in the club house. We've gone digital to be compliant with Covid-19 restrictions. The Score Sheet is where you will find your name and phone number in your box. Please note that your entry into the competition means that your phone number and e-mail address is available to other players. The Score Sheet enables you to make direct contact with those with whom you will play matches. As soon as you have agreed a date for your match, find your name on the left side of the box and type the chosen date (not time) into the white space in the box adjacent to your name.

After you have initially accessed the Score Sheet through the website link you may find it easier to quickly locate the scoring sheet if you download the 'Google Sheets' App onto your mobile device (or through Windows on a desktop).

Once you have played your match, enter the score in games and the points gained will automatically be displayed where there were zeros before. You will find an example on the website version of this email.

If you have to change the date for your agreed match, update the Score Sheet. Do not change anyone else's scores or other details. If you do not enter the result of your match soon afterwards, you will be contacted to see if you need help to use the Score Sheet. You will also be contacted if you have not entered dates for matches as it is very important that the competition does not stall because one or two pairs have not got themselves organised. If you don't play your matches in good time, you will hold it up for your fellow competitors.

The other reason is that, while we appreciate there are a lot of matches to schedule, we are hoping that the winners and runners-up in the two boxes for each grouping will then have a play off so we can have some champions. If it goes to plan the tournament should finish in September but I would encourage you to get on and play your matches as soon as practicable just in case the weather or other life complications intervene!

Remember, we are here to help. Contact me in the first instance and one of the Committee will help resolve your issue.

Good luck everyone

Chris Aldous
stowtennissecretary@gmail.com
07973 725513