The bare stats

This bit is easy as Division 1 shows that the first squad came third and the second squad came sixth. In Division 3 our third squad came fifth and in Division 5 our fourth squad came fourth. All divisions have eight teams.

The sickbed

You may remember at the beginning of the season we felt that with tremendous pre-season training sessions we would do okay as long as the women stayed fit since we could always find 2 or 3 men  for every one player needed. How foolish an assumption:  Generally speaking, the women all stayed fit- as required - but the men, especially in the first squad, conspired to injure themselves  with both male captains injuring themselves too. I can see the women reading this looking to the heavens and exclaiming “typical!” 

The good:

47 different people represented the Club including budding juniors.  Richard Shannon’s baking.

The bad:

Quichegate (see Jane’s report below). Other than that, you tell us what could we have done better. Not naked complaints but constructive suggestions with possible solutions would be most helpful. We always want to improve and make the Club Great Again (has that phrase been used elsewhere?).

Captain’s Log:

Squad 1  (me). Having won the whole caboodle last year we hoped to do it again. It didn’t happen. Gilly Smail who played every single match was deprived of her partner (in life and on the court), Jonathan, who has a long term shoulder injury, but to be honest could still beat most of us anyway. Jonathan Hargreaves, for so long hampered by injury himself,  was the absolute rock for the men, playing almost every match alongside Audrey Henderson. Ryan Lonsdale floated in, out and around the court and is one of those players who has it all including a winter break in the Philippines. Goddam it.   I did my calf to match Jonathan on the sidelines, an injury third squad captain, John Topping, copied exactly (I’m flattered).  Helen Cowlrick, Malcom Titchmarch and Richard Shannon deserve special mentions for their unfailing consistency and support. Ultimately, David Lloyd were better this year and attract gorgeous people and won it - whilst Boroughbridge pipped us for second. Altogether no complaints and well done.

Squad 2 (Fred – in her own words) “The 2nd team has had a good summer of tennis. We have worked well as a team and it's been great to see some new members join the team and help us out. The season was not without quite a few injuries especially in the first team, but it was good to see people willing to mix and match a bit between the teams to help each other out.It was a bit tight till the end but us staying up was never in doubt!! Ended up with 10 points and more than enough to keep us playing in the 1 st division next year. Hope to see you all again as keen next year, thanks to all.”

Squad 3 (John – in his own words) “What a great few months of tennis. The mixed thirds enjoyed a very inclusive season with everyone in the squad and supporting groups turning out for at least one match and others filling in when availability was short. In fact  we had players from each of the 4 mixed teams turning out for the thirds at some point (strictly legit of course). 

Results yo-yo'd over the season winning one match then losing another with the team in the top half of the table at the mid point, ending the season in 5th tbc by the time the final match was concluded. There was talk of possible promotion when we reached the dizzying heights of 2nd for a couple of weeks, however we had a couple of hard away matches yet to come. 

Difficult to single any players out when so many contributed to the team spirit however highest number of sets won goes to Sarah Jackson, partnered in the main by Rajiv and Graham and most matches played to Barbara Warren partnered in the main by Adrian. As was apparent from the start of the season there were far fewer ladies than men, however their availability was greater! Thanks to Lisa, Simon (Wilson) and Jacky who regularly shored up our points tally and well done to everyone who participated.  “

Squad 4 (Jane – in her own words) “ This year, I have been privileged to field out a great team – I would like to give a big thank you to all of my team players, they have all played some good tennis, been reliable and most importantly good fun to work with.  WELL DONE.  Also, I would like to acknowledge my thanks to those people behind the scenes, for example Jim Haddleton (Tennis Selection Committee Chair) and John Topping (3rd team captain) for supporting and helping me out when I have been short of players.

This summer, I have not had to rearrange any matches due to adverse weather conditions, however I was asked by my team if I could rearrange a match that was going to clash with the World Cup semi-final football match between England and Croatia.  Really, is football more important than tennis (ER, Yes – Jim) , I asked myself!!!  After much thought, I decided that I had better keep my team happy, so by mutual agreement of the two captains and the Management Committee, one of our away matches was rearranged.  This was greatly appreciated by my team.

Quichegate - Here is a funny story that you may find amusing – with our home matches, four of the team members provide savouries and the remaining two of us bring sweets.  Mid-season, I had a ‘new’ team member that joined us, and he asked me what savouries to bring.  Being fully aware, of what I thought the other team members would bring, amongst my list of suggestions was Quiche.  However, unknown to me, my other team members who were bringing savouries, decided to bring something different for this home match, can you guess what they brought?  Three of my team members brought Quiche – that evening we were all Quiched out!!!

Finally, I and my team have had a great tennis season - thank you to everyone who has been involved in any way.”

The captains and  players:

I would like to thank each and every one of the captains: Fred Brown (Squad 2), John Topping (Squad 3), Jane Walker (Squad 4) for their energy and composure in the line of fire. It’s not at all straight forward with people withdrawing and slotting in at the last minute. I must also express my personal thanks to Audrey Henderson, Gilly Smail,  Jon Hargreaves and Richard Shannon who helped me out with the first squad during my period of, ahem , injury.

A big thank you to all the players who all contributed to a fun summer of tennis, being:

Women: Gilly Smail, Audrey Henderson, Helen Cowlrick, Gaye Wright, Yvonne Richards, Kate Reader, Alison Gould, Lisa Anderson, Sarah Jackson, Fred Brown, Jane Walker, Barbara Warren, Becky Sadler, Jackie McBurney, Verity Fox, Liz Wild, Charlotte Wild, Ann Tunstall, Clare Beavan, Becky Barclay (20)

Men: Jonathan Smail, Jon Hargreaves, Ryan Lonsdale, Malcolm Titchmarsh, Richard Shannon, Adrian Walker, Bill Brown, Tom Cameron, Ed Marsden, Will Marshall, Mark Hamilton, Rajiv Johar, Jamie Pert, Simon Wilson, Graham Wild, James Wild, Paul Stephenson, Matt Richards, John Topping, Andy Chapman, Mike Brown, David Bird, Joe Wadsworth, Neil Bostock, Simon Berriman, James Adeley, James Haddleton (27)