Hill & Valley Lawn Tennis Club
Chedworth

CLUB TEAM & TOURNAMENTS REVIEW 2011

LEAGUE TENNIS - TEAM REPORTS

Mixed Doubles
The mixed doubles matches in the 20011/12 Winter Floodlit  League continued for a third season.  Of the seven divisions in the league, Hill & Valley finished a respectable fourth out of seven teams in Division 5.   The doubles league is a great way for everyone to maintain match practice throughout the winter season and this year was relatively unhindered by poor weather. 

Ladies’ Teams
It was another enjoyable season for both ladies teams in the 2011 Wilson Gloucestershire LTA Summer Tennis League.

The A team’s ambition was to stay up in the Premiership, but they had their work cut out against some excellent players including several of county standard.  Sadly, Cam &Dursley finished the season two points ahead of Hill & Valley, meaning relegation for us to Division One for 2012.  The A team’s objective will be to stay in the top half of Division One by the end of the season.

The B team had an excellent season winning Division 4B.   There were many close games, particularly after the half way mark, but the opposition was consistently strong with results never being less than a draw.  As much as the B team would like to set their sights high and win their new league next season, experience prevails and the objective will be to consolidate their position in Division 3. 

If you are interested in playing for the club in the Gloucestershire Summer or Winter leagues or in other competitive matches, please contact Allison (01451 860903) or Claire (720519).

Men’s Team
The Men’s team won Division 4b this year and will also be promoted.  The last time this happened was back in 2004 – seven years ago! It has been the challenge of the previous Captain (Neil Irving) and Graham to achieve this, and when Graham took on the Captaincy from Neil he was beginning to wonder how it could be done. However, the addition of a new member, John Boughey, brought a dynamic change in the team! Graham is now playing as 1st reserve and would like to thank everyone who played for Hill & Valley throughout the Summer season.  Contact him on 01451 860903 if you would like to play this year.

Junior Teams
Last Winter, our indoor Orange team (8&9 year olds) won their division again! However, there was no play off like previous years to see who was best in the County. In 2010 we came third in the County but last Winter Graham believes we would have come second. So, well done to our junior players of James Sykes, Harry Baker, Jessica Baker and Baden Richmond. This Winter’s team is Harry Baker, Baden Richmond, Jessica Baker and Joe Kenning who all played extremely well in their first indoor Mini Orange match when they beat Redmarley 8-2.  We are all very proud of our juniors and they are worth looking out for in the very near future.

We did not enter an U14 boys’ team in the 2011 AEGON National Club Junior League. Graham could not guarantee a full team of four for each match due to commitments to other sports and education. The club must put out a full team with no cancellations otherwise a penalty is placed on the team. There are strict rules for matches and every player now has to be a member of the club and a member of British Tennis.

TOURNAMENTS AND COMPETITIONS

Coln Valley Tournament – Saturday 11th June
The 2011 Coln Valley Mixed Doubles Tournament was a great day for Chedworth as, for the first time in many years, club members reached the finals for both prestigious trophies. Ninety-six players (including a major contingent from the David Lloyd Centre in Swindon) played on picturesque courts in Coln St Dennis, Coln Rogers, Fossebridge, Shawswell, Withington, Calmsden, Aycote, Shipton Oliffe, Rendcomb and Bibury.

The morning rounds were played in glorious sunshine and, after an excellent buffet lunch in the Village Hall and an afternoon of very competitive tennis, a large group of spectators braved the chilly evening for the finals at the club courts.

The final for the Speke Challenge Cup was heroic, with past member Sandra Chambers and Hill & Valley’s Matthew Irving defeating Charlie Foster and Aaron Kelly from Swindon 7-5. Chris Wright, who has played in the tournament since its inception, presented them with the trophy and spoke of his affection for the event and its place in the local sporting calendar. Hill & Valley members last won the trophy in 2006.

The Scott-Smith Salver was won by Chrissie Kenning and Daniel Heaps who beat fellow member Jean Clarke and Charlie Jefferies (of Cirencester LTC) 6-3.

Edith Speke, the tournament’s founder, would have been particularly thrilled and proud to have seen Matthew win the Speke Cup as she knew him when he was a young boy. The tournament was sponsored for the sixth year running by Far Frontiers Travel and Arcturus, the tailor-made travel specialist based in Devon. Tennis balls were sponsored by local heating and plumbing engineers C P Jefferies, and D & J Sports donated a tennis bag and tennis accessories for the raffle. The event is the major annual fundraiser for the club which shares the proceeds with the churches of Chedworth, Coln St Dennis and Coln Rogers, and this year was able to present them with a cheque for £500. 

The committee would like to thank everyone who loaned their court for the day, those who made puddings and cakes to fuel the competitors and all those who helped to make the event such a success. Contact Allison on 01451 860903 if you are interested in entering or helping with this year’s tournament.

Road to Wimbledon
Last Spring we ran the 1st stage of the Road to Wimbledon, at our courts, with 11 boys from Hill & Valley and Northleach competing in two round robins to see who would go forward to the County knock-out stage. With some excellent tennis being played by all, it was Jacob Pudifoot who championed his way through to become our representative. He went to the County knockout and although he did not get through his ability was recognised. His serve was one of the best there but the other players had superb forehand top spins.

As a Referee, Graham organised club match play tournaments for the juniors throughout the summer, beginning with Mini Orange and then Mini Green this past Autumn. In 2012 Graham hopes to introduce Mini Red. This has enabled the juniors to play more competition matches and see their ratings improve without having to travel to Cheltenham or Gloucester on a regular basis. The bonus is that in the Gloucestershire league table of clubs Hill & Valley finished in 8th place overall and the 2nd best two court club in the County, only to be beaten by Redmarley, who received a cash prize of £150.

COACHING
The number of juniors attending lessons during the summer term was about the same as last year but in the Autumn we saw an expected fall due to the economic downturn. Congratulations must be given to Joe Kenning who this year gained the rating of RED 1 which is attained by only a few juniors. A lot of hard work and constant ferrying by Chrissie Kenning had much do with it.Thanks to all the coaches who have worked so hard this past year to keep everyone playing at their best, whether for personal or competitive goals.