Following the presentation of trophies to our American Tournament winners, club president Bob Guthrie presented the Club Championship trophies to the winners of this year’s events. Steve also chose the recipient of his Player of the Year trophy, this year awarding it to Mark Eldridge in recognition of his improvement over the past year. Congratulations to Mark and all our winners this year!
American Tournament success for Julie and Dan!
The second American Tournament of 2022 was a great success, with 40 players competing over seven rounds and both competitors and spectators enjoying the warm sunshine even near the end of October! The eventual winners were Julie Rackham and Dan Sanderson who received the Deb Saund and Beresford Marshall Memorial Trophies. Well played everyone and many thanks to Steve for organising the afternoon’s tournament so efficiently.
Macmillan coffee morning raises £484!
A very successful coffee morning was held at the club raising the grand sum of £484 for Macmillan Cancer Support! Many thanks to Andrea and Sheila for organising the event and to all those club members who supported the event either through generous monetary donations, providing fabulous home-made cakes and raffle prizes. Thanks also to others who helped on the day both in the kitchen or selling raffle tickets.
Quiz Night
Five teams competed in Bez’s multimedia quiz, testing their knowledge over ten rounds of questions on various topics with every round finishing on a bonus question about the Queen with teams having to decide whether to take a gamble on doubling or halving their score for the round with a correct or wrong answer! The winning team was Wendy’s family and friends table who were helping Wendy celebrate her big birthday in style! Many thanks to quizmaster Bez for a great evening’s entertainment, to Carol for helping record the scores and to Andy for manning the bar once again.
WLTC Club Championships 2022
This year’s finals were played on a warm, sunny day with many spectators at the club enjoying the matches. Congratulations to Dan Sanderson for winning the Mens Singles title for the first time and to Lottie Mitchell for retaining the Ladies Singles title. Special mention for Cally Flinders who played in four finals, winning three of them! Well done to all this year’s winners and commiserations to the runners up. Photos of all the finalists can be seen on Facebook (no account required to view the album). Many thanks to Sarah O’Sullivan for her hard work ensuring refreshments were available throughout the day and to those who made cakes or helped in the kitchen. Thanks also to Andy Barker and John Elliott for manning the bar and of course to Steve for organising the tournaments and finals day so efficiently as usual. The trophies will be presented on Saturday 29th October late afternoon following the next American Tournament so please save the date!
Ashley’s “hog roast” goes down well!
Excellent afternoon/evening at the club with some social tennis played despite the heat, and then Ashley providing food for 40 people, his take on a hog roast. Delicious slow roasted pork two ways with potatoes and salad, plus desserts made by some of the ladies. Lovely to see everyone staying for drinks outside as the evening cooled off slightly. Many thanks to Ashley for the wonderful food, the ladies who made desserts, Andy behind the bar and everyone else who helped either in the kitchen, behind the bar and clearing up afterwards.
Anthony heads to college in Atlanta!
A news update on one of our younger club members, Anthony Weingarten. Anthony was selected for the Essex Mens County Cup Div 1 doubles team at Eastbourne this summer which was a great achievement as he was one of only a handful of schoolboys at the event. And now Anthony is off to Kennesaw State University which is a well ranked Div 1 college just north of Atlanta who compete in the very strong ASUN conference. As well as the tennis playing opportunity, Anthony will be studying a four year business degree. Everyone at Westcliff Lawn wishes Anthony all the best with this new and exciting adventure!
Ladies changing rooms have a facelift!
Good to see Essex Tennis using photos of our newly refurbished ladies changing rooms on their website to demonstrate how an Advantage Essex grant can be used by clubs. Many thanks to Linda, Mark and Bill for all their hard work and to other members who played a part in this project. And of course thanks to Essex Tennis for the grant. So many compliments by both members and visitors on how smart the changing rooms look! Similar refurbishment of the mens changing rooms is currently underway.
Westcliff Lawn Summer Open Tournament 2022
A successful Summer Open Tournament was held at the club with over a hundred entries across 15 events ranging from 8&U Singles to Mens and Womens Singles on the final day. Thanks to Graham for refereeing the tournament, and also to Mark Taylor for helping with tournament organisation, Sarah O’Sullivan for coordinating catering arrangements, and all other members who helped in the kitchen and around the club during the week. There was success for club members in some events including George Ward Boys 18&U Singles winner and Mens Singles runner up, Freddy and George Ward Boys 18&U Doubles winners, Freddy Ward and Julia Davey Mixed 18&U Doubles winners and Julia Davey Girls 16&U Singles runner up. Well done to all!
L&W Summer Leagues round up
The Leigh & Westcliff Summer Leagues are now completed with top spot going to our Ladies 2 and Mixed 2 teams both in Division 2 of their respective leagues. Congratulations! Several runner up places for other teams, including our Ladies 1 and Mixed 1 teams both in Division 1 of their leagues, also Ladies 3, and Mixed 3, 4 and 5. Well done to all our players and thanks to all captains for their hard work.