Welcome to the first edition of Tennis News. We will send these out on an occasional basis to keep members informed of plans for new activities happening for both Club Events (competitions we run at the Club for members) and external leagues and friendlies.

Please do get in touch with our Club Captain, Ali Lyons for any general tennis related matters. Ali looks after External Competitions, Club Competitions and Social Tennis. 

Ali’s email is clubcaptain@bftc.club

New Competitions Starting on 16th January:

Singles Ladder and Doubles Box Leagues

These new competitions are open to all members at all ability levels from yellow ball and above. If you aren’t sure, please don’t rule yourself out! You can get in touch with Ali who will be happy to advise. They provide an opportunity for competitive but fun play. For newer members, this is a great way to meet other players at the club.

For members new to tennis ladders, they work by ranking players in a table. You can challenge a player above you to a match. If you win, you will take your opponent’s place and your opponent will drop down one position. If you lose, you both remain where you are. Players should naturally reach a level in the ladder where they can play against opponents of a similar ability. The ladder rewards both winning and regular play. Players are free to choose how often they want to play.

Box leagues are also a relaxed casual tennis league where players are be grouped into small groups with other people of a similar level, and play the others in their box, flexibly, at a time which suits all participants.

The Singles Ladder

This will be mixed. The format of matches should be agreed in advance by each pair of individuals competing but the Club suggests the best of 3 sets (i.e., if one player wins the first 2 there’s no need for a third) with sudden death deuce to speed up the games – as long as all participants are happy with the format then it’s up to the players. The organisers only need to be informed if there is an issue that cannot be resolved. Results of each match should be emailed to the organisers

The Doubles Box league

The intention is to have a one mixed doubles box and two single gender boxes.

The format will be the same in previous years. The boxes will be published and each pair in the box will play each other pair. They will play the best of 3 sets with sudden death deuce. Results of each match should be emailed to the organisers.

How to Enter

We have developed a tab on the website for the ladder competition which holds information, links to entry forms and regular updates of results. There is an existing tab for the Box Leagues which also has more information links to entry forms and regular updates of results. You will find both these tabs on the Play page of the website. You will also find more information about each of these competitions.

Date for Entry

Please enter the double box leagues by 5pm on FRIDAY 13th January. We can’t take late entry for the box leagues;

Please aim to enter the singles ladder by 5pm on FRIDAY 13th January we can take later entry for the singles ladder but late entrants will need to start at the bottom of the ladder.

The box league will finish on March 31st. The singles ladder will run on longer depending on the availability of participants / courts in the run up to club Champs

Tennis Calendar

Please see below our current calendar planned for 2023, we will update this regularly

January 7th             Start of Junior Coaching Block (contact Phil for information)

January 13th           Entry deadline for box league and singles ladder

January 16th           Ladder and Box Leagues go live

February 20th       Floodlit Tournament

March 20th           Floodlit Tournament         

March 31st            Box Leagues finish

April 10th              Easter Bank Holiday American Tournament

May 29th               May Bank Holiday American Tournament

June 4th                 Dot Burgin Cup 11 -2 plus BBQ

September 16th     Club Champs Finals Day            

Report on Christmas American

Tuesday 27th December saw the annual Club American Festive Tournament, an opportunity to work off Christmas indulgence and remember what exercise is before returning to New Year’s Eve socialising. There was a great turnout with 4 courts occupied for the competition. Play was suitably festive with (more!) mince pies and mulled wine available for competitors. Many thanks to Martin for volunteering to look after the heating up and serving of the mulled wine. The rain held off for once and all matches were completed. The winners were Karen Ferguson and Matt Rolfe – well done to both. Many thanks to Karen also for volunteering to coordinate and run this event for the Club. How you find the time to do this so smoothly in the middle of Christmas is amazing!!