Last Saturday the club was “inundated” with prospective Mini Tennis players.

In total 17 came for their first “Taster” sessions at 12am, 1pm and 2pm. 

Club coach, Ian Watson did a great job keeping all the little ones involved, so much so that at least half wanted to join there and then! We do however give three free taster sessions to make sure that the children are happy and want to carry on. Application forms with the special offer fees for membership from now until 31 March 2015 will be available this weekend. Ian says he was delighted with the numbers and the children’s enthusiasm. He will be revising the groups with some of the regular attendees being moved to a later group. They will be advised if their times have changed. If in doubt ring Ian 496293. More of the popular Auxesia Ltd sponsored shirt are on order as we have run out of shirts for 5 & 6yr olds.
 
More news on travelling Albany juniors. This time the Skelcher-Maxwell boys, Jay (13)  and Sam (10) played in Colchester, Essex. Sam (10.2) won the Green Ball under 10 Grade 5 event at Spring Lane Tennis Club. The entry was made up of mainly juniors from Essex and Kent and Sam won all his round robin matches - 4/0 v Ben Loftus, 4/1 v Owen Campion and 4/2 v Clay Watson. In the semi-final he beat Reace Figaji 5/4 and then won the final v Aston Deva-Nix 4/2. He also played in the 12 match play event beating Thomas Buckley 4/2 4/1,Frederick Barnett 3/0 (ret.) and Isobel Bettley 4/1 4/1. Meanwhile Jay was playing in the U14 event but unfortunately broke his strings in his first match. We all know how that can put you of your game and he lost to Alastair Davis 4/1 4/1 and also lost to Matthew Cook in a very close match /3/5 5/3 6/10. They also played a fun event at Thorpeness Country Club, Suffolk where they won the doubles and came 1st and 2nd in the 11-13 age group. Interestingly they played on the same surface as the new Albany courts and despite rain, play was able to continue shortly afterwards. Back home Jay (8.2) is pleased with his impressive win over Annis Williams (7.2) in the Mooragh Open in Ramsey. The experience of playing away and on different surfaces is invaluable. Any more juniors playing in the UK or beyond please let me know.
 
Dates for your diary:  10 October – IOMLTA League Presentations – if you want tickets contact me before 30 September. 11 – 18 October – Club Championships; Annual General Meeting – 21st October – very important you attend and have a say in the running of your club; A Night at the Races 7 November; Reminders for these events will be sent to all members by e-mail, the club website and facebook.