Last weekend Albany LTC were honoured to have the President of the Lawn Tennis Association, Mrs Cathie Sabin OBE, spend 4 days looking at various aspects of the club and attending the Celebration Dinner at The Empress Hotel as our special guest. Mrs Sabin, accompanied by her husband John, is the first ever female President of the LTA, will retire from her role in December and she will be a hard act to follow. We were delighted she accepted our invitation as she is a very busy lady.

From Rio to China, ITF meetings in various parts of the world, Davis Cup, Wimbledon, The French Open, Australian Open, US Open etc etc - her role takes her everywhere. So coming to Douglas was slightly different but she enjoyed it so much that they might come back for a holiday. Arriving on Thursday she and John visited the club and were very impressed with the facilities. They had dinner with the committee and talked, talked, talked!

The next day they visited the Friday Morning Ladies group, then Ballacottier school for a look at the children's sports activities. Cathie is a retired PE teacher. Friday evening she and John joined 90 members and guests at The Empress Hotel for a dinner to celebrate the 50years of development at the Ballaughton Meadows site - from an acre of farmland for ?485 to the current facilities ie 3 outdoor floodlit courts, one indoor court and 2 storey modern clubhouse. Guests included some of those who worked on the original site - putting up fences, laying hardcore by hand as well as fundraising. This included David Kennaugh, Louis Callow, Dave Wilkinson, Ron Ronan, Elaine Ronan (nee Cannell) and Margaret Brown (nee Rawlinson). Charlotte Clarke presented a gift on behalf of the club, whilst Sam Skelcher-Maxwell and Jack Christian also assisted during the evening. It was nice to see juniors at such an important event and it is a club policy to involve juniors in all aspects of the club. They will be the future of the Albany.

During the evening Clare Skelcher introduced a video of the 50yrs photos and press reports. This had been prepared by Kirsten Hall, who unfortunately was off island. Thanks must be given to them, plus Jan Gaskill, who organised the dinner and her helpers Barbara & Fran. The club had been running a fund raising Tombola which had 20 very good prizes. Mrs Sabin drew the tickets assisted by Sean Drewry and Jay Skelcher-Maxwell. Club Chairman Stuart Colligon was MC for the evening . Mrs Sabin made a very amusing speech praising those who had worked or are still working on the club's facilities. She gave us an insight into the male dominated LTA and the fact that not only was she female, a teacher (not a banker or solicitor) but taught at a state school not a private one..

On the Saturday they enjoyed a guided tour of the NSC which they marvelled at. Cathie said to have such excellent facilities for such a small population was excellent.

Then it was back to Albany to watch the club's Mini Tennis programme, organised by Club Coach, Ian Watson who was assisted by Sarah Breed, Garreth Roome and Callum Watson. She watched the whole 1 hour session , talked to parents and coaches and then outside for a photo with the children, followed by a Manx Radio interview, then a quick lunch, a visit to Laxey Wheel and a lap of the TT course. They both gasped at the drop down from Kate's Cottage to Creg-ny-Baa. They were so impressed with everything they saw so they make a return trip.

Thank you to everyone who helped to make the weekend a great success.

Dates for your diary:
Annual General Meeting - Tuesday 22 November 6.30pm in the club lounge
A Night at the Races - Friday 25 November 7pm in Club Lounge
Sponsors Lunch - Wednesday 18 January 2017

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