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October 2010

Volume 9

University of Warwick Tennis

Centre Newsletter

Special Interest Articles:

• US Open Tournament

• Adult Teams

• Adult Singles Ladder

• Academy Success

• Schools Tennis

• Tennis Social Meal Out

Welcome to the Ninth

newsletter of the

University of Warwick

Tennis Centre. This

monthly newsletter

aims to inform you of

events and activities

at the centre,

providing stories of

interest, and letting

you know of

forthcoming events.

New Term off with a bang!!!

Recent US Open Tournament

The new term is well upon us and we would like to welcome all the

students back to the centre. Its great to see the place looking so busy again. Already 3 weeks into the new adult programme and 7 weeks into the junior programme the club is developing nicely and with new coaches, Kevin and Will, settling into the club, the atmosphere around the tennis centre is great. A big date for your diary this month is Friday 29th October. As the new term is well underway we are organizing a social get together for all our Adult Members and regular adults on the coaching programme. At the back of the newsletter is a full run down of the plan for the night, but it would be great to see as many of as possible on this night.

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As part of the yearly tournament schedule whenever there is a major tennis tournament on we host a similar event. In September we hosted the US Open American doubles tournament. For those that have never heard of an American tournament it is run in a way where you play with your partner and against your partner. At the start of the day you are drawn with a partner. Every match, you play the first 4 games with your partner and then 4 games against your partner. This is so you achieve an Individual score at the end of the match and day. It was great to see so many people take part in this event with many regulars playing and a few new players making their tournament and, in one case, their match debut. 7 pairs were drawn out of a hat and were placed into a round robin to compete against one another. Throughout the morning there were some fantastic matches, great tennis and a great atmosphere. In the end it finished very close with not much separating the top few players. Finishing a very close 3rd place was George Robinson finishing on 29 points just one point clear of 3 others on 28 points. 2nd place on 32 points was Daniel Connolly and our winner finishing on 34 points was Alice Gleadall. Alice played fantastically well throughout the day and was a deserved winner of the now famous Wilson Champions T-Shirt.

Action from the day

US Open Champion Alice

Gleadall

Tim and Suzy battle in opening match

University of Warwick US OPEN Tournament

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ADULT SINGLES LADDER

With the club always looking to improve and offer more to our members, we have decided to set-up an Adult Singles ladder. The aim of the ladder is to help everyone compete and play more matches. It’s also a great way to meet more people involved in the club. The opening series of group matches is now up and running with a huge first entry which has delighted us here at the centre. The groups and rules can be found in reception on the Adult Notice board. With 32 players taking part, 5 groups have been set up based on experience and standard of play.

It is the player’s responsibility to contact their opponents and arrange the matches. Once a match has been completed the scores must be entered on the notice board. The rules are also on the notice board and have been designed so that you can play a competitive match within an hour. All matches must be played by the closing date of December 19th. Once all matches have been played, results will be collated and new boxes will be drawn up for the next series of leagues.

If you wish to sign up for the next series of leagues starting in

January, please speak to John or look out for the new sign-up sheet on the notice board which will be put up shortly.

The cost of playing in the league is free for tennis centre

members and £5 for non-members. Remember it’s a great way to play and meet new people.

The University of

Warwick Tennis Centre

Westwood Campus Kirby Corner Road Coventry CV4 7AL

PHONE:

Bookings - 02476 150690 Enquiries – 02476 150687

E-MAIL:

Penny.garbutt@warwick.ac.uk

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Adult Club Teams

With the success of the University Tennis Club teams in the recent Rugby Summer League we have entered 2 teams into the Winter Mixed League. The opportunity to get 2 teams into this league means more chances for people to play competitive matches against other local clubs. After such a great summer, Saykin Su-Cowling has agreed to captain the Mixed 1st team and Daniel Connolly will run a 2nd team. Both sides will enter the league at the same point so it will be great to see the two sides compete against each other later in the year aswell as against other clubs such as Lutterworth and Kilsby. We are already a couple of matches into the new season and I am very pleased to report the 1st team won their opener against The Grange 6-2. Unfortunately the 2nd team lost their opener against Kilsby who were relegated from division 1 last year. If you are interested in playing for the mixed teams please contact John on 07515-458990 or email j.hales@warwick.ac.uk It would be great to get many people involved in the team matches as we would like to build up a strong pool of players for more teams to enter the local Coventry league come the summer. If you would also like to come show your support and watch some of the matches the fixtures list can be found on the club notice board. 1st team Captain 2nd Team Captain Saykin Su-Cowling Daniel Connolly

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Junior Academy Success

The Junior Tour has two seasons. Summer and Winter, and September starts the winter season. The academy players here at Warwick have flown out of the blocks. Most notably young Finlay Smith who won his first grade 3 event at the Warwickshire Health and Racquets club. This was Finlay’s first ever grade 3 tournament win, continuing his great success at Billesley ITC where he won a grade 4 event. I am sure everyone will share our congratulations to Finlay. More strong performances at grade 3 and 4 levels came from Peter Colbourne, Ben Moore, Elizabeth Massie, Max Guo and Mhari Tyler who all won through to the later stages of their events. Fantastic gang, it’s great to see you all competing and doing well. There has been more success for the centre in the Mini-Tennis league’s where our Orange Girls won all their matches in a competition at Victoria park. The team of Maisie Hucker and Lauren Gurr played fantastically well all day to remain unbeaten against other local teams. Away from competition the Warwickshire LTA held their Talent I.D. day. This is an opportunity for all tennis clubs to send their performance players to take part in a session to assess their level of play. Inspire2coach sent over Charlie Watson, Harry Lazell, Finlay Smith, Will Smith and Tommy Craig from their various coaching venues, and all put in excellent performances on the day impressing both the county and us here at the University. Well done boys keep up the hard work.

Finlay Smith receiving his winner’s trophy from head coach Matt Thomas

Lauren and Maisie after winning there Mini Orange at Victoria Park

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Schools Tennis Programme

The inspire2coach coaching team work at various venues across the City of Coventry – Beechwood Tennis Club and Memorial Park, as well as the University of Warwick Indoor Tennis Centre. They also work very closely with the Coventry School Sports Partnerships to promote the game of tennis and provide tennis coaching at schools in the City. The work that is done at schools can be any of the following:

Out of hours school tennis clubs

Curriculum coaching

Taster Days

Festival Days

Teacher Training Days

Tennis Leadership Training

Out of Hours School Tennis Clubs These Clubs are run by the coaches to provide fun tennis coaching for children who pay for the out of hours school activity. The number of children taking part in these activities ranges from 8 – 20 per coach. They take place either in the school hall or out on the playground. Curriculum coaching The coaches will be invited to the school to do a term of lessons with a particular Year Group during their PE time. Taster Days These are promotional days where the coaches will do a taster session with each class in the school. These usually take about 3 hours and each class will be given a 30 minute session which will include a warm up, some racket skills and some quick games. Festival Days These are usually held at the end of a block of coaching in the schools and are hosted at one of the inspire2coach venues in the City. The children who have taken part in the term-time tennis activities are invited to one of the venues for a fun tournament so that they can practice their skills with children from other participating schools. Teacher Training Days Teachers from both primary and secondary schools are invited by the Schools Sports Partnership to attend a Teacher Training Day. The last one was hosted by Beechwood Tennis Club and the course was run by Penny Garbutt – a trained LTA tutor. Each Primary school that sends a teacher to the courses receives a bag of tennis equipment for their school. Each Secondary school receives a comprehensive set of resources to assist the teachers to deliver tennis in their school. Tennis Leadership Training This is a Leadership course for young people between 13 and 16 years of age. Schools where inspire2coach coaches regularly work are: Cannon Park Primary, St. Thomas More Primary, Finham Park Primary, All Souls Primary, Hearsall Primary and Coundon Court. During the Summer term, with the help of funding from Coventry City Council, many other schools in the City participate in the scheme. If you would like a school with which you are connected to know more about tennis in schools, please contact Penny Garbutt on Penny.Garbutt@warwick.ac.uk

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Adult Tennis Social

With the new term now well underway, we thought it time we ran another social get together. After chatting to several regular members we thought it a great idea to have a meal after one of the club nights one Friday. So on Friday October 29th we are moving club night forward to 5:30 – 7.30pm. Following club night we will be going for a meal at Le Bistro Pierre in Leamington with the table booked for 8 o’clock. Those then that can last the whole night are welcome to come for drinks in the local bars and even top nightspot Evolve Nightclub. It would be great to see lots of people attend as it’s a really good way to meet more players involved in the centre and create a real club atmosphere. John is working very hard to get The University of Warwick Tennis Centre feeling more like a club then just a venue of 4 courts where people come to play.

Itinerary For The Night:

Friday 29th October

5:30 to 7:30: Social Club Night 8:00 to 11: Meal at Le Bistro Pierre Leamington Spa 11 til Late: Bars and Night Club You can join us at anytime throughout the night, and don’t feel pressured to come to all of it. But if you can make any part of the night please come along.

To confirm attendance please speak to John on 07515-458990 or email to j.hales@warwick.ac.uk . Due to limited places and the need to advance book and order food we do need to confirm your place as soon as possible. We hope to see you Friday as it promises to be another great night.