TENNIS dorset - NEWS WELCOME to Tennis Dorset Late Summer 2016 News! We hope everyone has had a good summer with lots of opportunities to get on court. Seems a long time ago now but hopefully everyone enjoyed Wimbledon fortnight and watching Andy win in Rio. The Davis Cup team will be back in Glasgow for the semi-finals v Argentina at The Emirates Stadium, 16 th to 18 th September follow @DavisCup. The Davis Cup Trophy was in Bournemouth Square for the day on Thursday, 1 st September. A great day with a large amount of interest in the Trophy and lots of people having a go on a mini tennis court. More on this later. Enjoy September, fingers crossed for an Indian Summer! Dorset LTA We are very pleased to announce that Dorset Tea are now a sponsor of Dorset LTA and will be sponsoring the Summer and Winter Doubles League, providing prizes for the winners of every division. Dorset Tea promote the great outdoors and is a great fit for our sport. LAUNCH OF NEW TENNIS DORSET WEBSITE We have been working on a new website for tennis in Dorset which will be very county orientated and will provide lots of useful information for tennis people and those looking to take up the sport or who maybe just want to have a hit and are looking for a court. News of what s happening in the county will be very important. To help with this, we d like to ask clubs, parks, teams, individuals etc to let us know of any good news stories - please send with photo(s) if possible to info@dorsetlta.co.uk. www.tennisdorset.org.uk
The Davis Cup Trophy, the biggest sports trophy in the world, was in Bournemouth Square for the day on Thursday, 1 st September as part of a national Trophy Tour of Great Britain launched by the Lawn Tennis Association in April this year following Great Britain s historic win against Belgium in the 2015 Davis Cup Final. A great day was had by all with lots of interest in the incredible Trophy. A mini tennis court was set up and coaches from West Hants, Victoria Avenue and Southbourne tennis clubs bought some of their young players along and gave demonstrations inviting the general public to have a go. Will Bound also held a Touch Tennis session with the public invited to beat the coach. Bournemouth Gardens held sessions in the afternoon with good numbers attending. The Mayor and Mayoress of Bournemouth, Eddie and Janet Coope and Bournemouth MP Conor Burns visited the event and hit a few balls with players from AFC Bournemouth making an appearance in the afternoon. Dorset County Championships winners also came down and had photos taken with the Trophy. Thank you to all the volunteers who made the day run so smoothly. Below are a few piccies.
AEGON TEAM TENNIS DORSET 2016 Aegon Team Tennis in Dorset this year saw 87 teams enter. Thank you to all the clubs and teams who entered and congratulations to the winners and runners-up. Entry to Aegon Team Tennis 2017 opens early December 2016. Results 8U Mixed Winner : Wimborne Tennis Club 1 Runner-Up : Christchurch Tennis Club 1 9U Mixed Winner : West Hants 2 Runner-Up : West Hants 1 10U Mixed Division 1 Winner : Wimborne Tennis Club 1 Runner-Up : West Hants 10U Mixed Division 2 12U Boys Division 1 12U Boys Division 2 14U Boys Division 1 14U Boys Division 2 14U Girls Division 2 16U Boys Division 1 18U Boys Division 1 18U Girls Division 2 Winner : St Leonards & St Ives Tennis Club Runner-Up : Virgin Active Sports & Winner : West Hants Runner-Up : Virgin Active Winner : St Leonards Runner-Up : Ferndown Tennis Club Winner : Virgin Active Runner-Up : Southbourne Tennis Club Winner : Victoria Avenue Tennis Club Runner-Up : Weymouth Tennis Club 2 Winner : West Hants Runner-Up : Weymouth Tennis Club Winner : West Hants Runner-Up : Dorchester Tennis Club Winner : St Leonards & St Ives Tennis Club Runner-Up : Victoria Avenue Tennis Club Winner : Victoria Avenue Tennis Club Runner-Up : Weymouth Tennis Club Open Men s Division 1 Winner : Southbourne Tennis Club 1 Runner-Up : Bournemouth Gardens Tennis Club 1
AEGON TEAM TENNIS PREMIER 12U TO 18U CONGRATULATIONS to The West Hants Club who won four national titles at the Aegon Team Tennis Premier 12U 18U Finals, 19 th & 20 th July. The teams. 12U Boys who having only dropped one rubber in the semi-finals on their way to the title, beat Bolton Arena in the final. The Team : Owen Blakeley, Louis Davey, Tim Jarvis, George Russell, James Sclater. 14U Boys who after being 3-1 down after the singles rubbers stormed back to take both doubles rubbers and with momentum on their side, claimed the shootout and therefore the match and the title. The Team : Rayhan Bari, Alex Knox-Jones, Harrison Macdonald-Taylor, Toby Samuel, Adam Walker. 12U Girls didn t drop a single rubber all weekend having beaten Bolton Arena in the semifinals and Gosling Tennis Centre in the final. The Team : Romana Bari, Milly Davis, Kristina Paskauskas. Hannah Smith, Leah Gonzalez-Edwards. 18U Girls who beat Bolton Arena after being 3-1 down after the singles rubbers. Like the 14U boys, they went on to claim both doubles rubbers, the shootout and the title. The Team : Esther Adeshina, Evie Ashton, Lauryn John-Baptiste, Sophia Haine, Erin Richardson.
TEAM TENNIS SCHOOLS 39 teams entered Team Tennis Schools this year. New for 2016, Division 2 Finals which will give successful teams from Division 2 leagues the opportunity to enjoy a one day regional event in the autumn term. Results Division 1 Winners Year 8 Boys : Bournemouth Collegiate School Year 8 Girls : Talbot Heath School A Year 10 Boys : St Peter s School Year 10 Girls : Talbot Heath School Division 2 Winners Year 8 Boys : Wey Valley Boys Year 8 Girls : Bournemouth School for Girls A Year 10 Boys : Thomas Hardye School Year 10 Girls : Final to be played - Bournemouth School for Girls A v St Mary s School COUNTY CUP 18U County Cup took place at the end of February with Dorset boys in Wirral and girls in Ilford. Congratulations to the boys and girls teams who both came second in their group. The Teams : Boys Piers Farhang, Harry Butler, Ben Battey, Millen Hurrion. Girls Elle Baker, Natalie Carter, Annabelle Lammas, Erin Richardson. 14U County Cup qualifying rounds took place 30 th April to 2 nd May. The boys team travelled to Sutton and the girls to Burnham-on-Sea in Somerset. The boys came second in their group having wins against Staffordshire and Nottinghamshire. The girls came third in their group. The Teams : Boys Rayhan Bari, Tim Jarvis, Alex Knox-Jones, Harrison McDonald Taylor, Alexis Paris. Girls Evie Ashton, Romana Bari, Mollie Edge, Sophia Hurrion, Aysha Roocroft, Abigail Tyler. 10U County Cup, Saturday, 28 th and Sunday, 29 th May. The boys were in Chichester and the girls travelled to Hove. The boys after battling hard came bottom in their group, the girls came 4 th. The Teams : Boys Ambrose Evamy, Jake Fascione, Oscar Hextall. Girls Ashleigh Browne, Emelia Butler, Arohi Singh. 12U County Cup qualifiers, 25 th and 26 th June. The boys went to Woking and came 4 th in their group, the girls went to Hassocks and came 3 rd in their group. The Teams : Boys - Owen Blakeley, Tim Jarvis, Pascal MacLean Wood, James Sclater. Girls Romana Bari, Milly Davis, Mollie Edge, Kristina Paskauskas. CONGRATULATIONS to the 9U County Cup team for winning 9U County Cup in Taunton on Saturday, 13 th August. Some excellent tennis and great team spirit won the day. The Team : Sofia Aquilina, Shakira Bettencourt, Freya Blundell, Shayan Bidad, Findlay MacLean Wood, Rafe Samuel. Captain : Scott Holland.
Summer County Cup the men travelled to Norfolk and the ladies were in Oxford. Men s Summer County Cup report by Rich Irwin (Captain) Monday - Lost to Oxford 5-4 The first day saw the first killer blow dealt to Dorset. Irwin and Glynn continued their 100% form from last year winning 3/3 on the day while Harry Butler saw in his debut at County week with James Whike with a fantastic 7-6 in the 3rd set win in their first match having saved match points and been down a break. However, in the final round of matches, tied at 4-4, it was Butler and Whike who fell just short of the Oxfordshire number 1 pair losing the deciding set and in turn the deciding match, in a 3rd set tie break. Ben Pritchard also made his debut for Dorset after his long awaited switch from Essex and partnered up with Matthew Coombes. Tuesday - Lost to East of Scotland 8-1 Having been dealt the tough blow on Monday, Tuesday we faced the favourites for the week in East of Scotland who had travelled down with one of their strongest teams in years captained by Alan McDonald who's better known for being Jamie Murray's coach and also a key member of the GB Over 35 team. Irwin and Glynn got the win for Dorset but fell short of going for 15 as they came unstuck in blistering heat of 33 degrees + with Irwin dealing with heat stroke. Piers Farhang and Dave Hill came in for the rested Coombes/Pritchard, while Piers Herfert- Jones came in to partner James Whike but to no avail as the deserved champions pulled through convincingly and continued their surge for the title. Wednesday - Beat North Wales 5-4 With potential relegation on the cards back to Divison 5, it was time for Dorset to pull it out the bag and the fight back started on Wednesday. Irwin and Glynn were back on track with 3 wins while the new pairings of Whike/Farhang and Butler/Hill seemed to do the trick as they each took a scalp to seal the day for Dorset and put them back in the hunt. Thursday - Beat Leicestershire 6-3 Wednesday night was met with some sad news for the strong bonded Dorset team as Matt's Mum had sadly passed away which was met with sadness but determination to go out on the next day and do him proud. An ever present member of the team and only as Matt would do, he refused to go home and wanted to stay and support the team and do his bit. As it was, relegation still loomed as the team faced Leicestershire who were also only on one win so a must win match was met with an unchanged team for the Dogs. An unbelievable first round of matches which saw Whike/Farhang take out the Leicester number 1 pair meaning Dorset led 2-1 at the change. In the second round, Butler/Hill came forward and took a 3 set win which left Dorset 4-2 up with 1 round to go. Irwin/Glynn sealed their 3 out of 3 for the day and with it, another victory for Dorset which was made even sweeter by Butler/Hill also coming through against the Leicestershire number 1 pair and doing their first 2 wins in a day whilst doing Matt proud and sticking together like we always do. Friday - Beat Warwickshire 6-3 It was all poised for an exciting day on the Friday. Dorset needed 3 rubbers to achieve safety however, an emphatic win with results going their way, could have resulted in promotion against a Warwickshire team who had been promoted with Dorset last year and were facing relegation back to Division 5 with anything but a win. Irwin/Glynn did their job as they completed 3/3 and a strong 13/15 for the week while Whike/Farhang did their first 2/3 wins pushing Dorset closer to a potential upset. Hill/Butler unfortunately couldn't pull through either of their first 2 matches and it was the oldest member of the team who was subbed in to partner our new youngest with Coombes/Butler pairing up and dominating the final match of the week to seal a 6-3 win. Unfortunately, this was to no avail as results didn't go our way and Dorset came a strong 3rd which given the start of the week was a fantastic effort. A sad week for obvious reasons but nothing better than having a team with such a strong bond and creating a great environment to be around.
Ladies County Cup report by Karen Adams (Captain) Dorset Ladies competed in Group 5 of the Ladies Summer County Cup in Oxford 18th-22nd July. This year the team was very young with the exception of two stalwarts and consisted of Anna White (stalwart), Jane Bingham (stalwart), Lauren Hill, Marsha Hobbs, Erin Richardson, Danielle Sebata, Millie Smythe, Natalie Carter and Elle Baker. Dorset got off to a good start winning 5-4 on the first day against North of Scotland. Tuesday was 32 degrees and really tough playing conditions. We didn't finish playing until 7 pm following some very long tough matches and unfortunately the score didn't reflect the game and we lost 8-1 to Somerset. West of Scotland were our opponents on Wednesday and we battled well but lost two close matches and went down 6-3. We played Devon on Thursday and needed to win to stay up. The team performed well and we were really unlucky to lose 2 very close matches, losing 6-3. On Friday we played unbeaten Derbyshire who we needed to beat 6-3 to stay up. The team fought hard and ended up losing 6-3 and were relegated. The team were disappointed to be relegated but the team spirit was high and our young team gained some really valuable experience playing doubles at a high standard. This will hold Dorset in good stead for next year where I am confident they will be promoted back to division 5. 35 s Inter County Championships CONGRATULATIONS to the ladies 35 s County Team for winning their group in the 35s Inter County Championships at Devonshire Park, 5 th to 7 th August, having beaten all the teams in their division, Yorkshire, Sussex and Hereford and Worcester. They will be promoted to Division 1. The Team : Jane Bingham, Anna White, Wendy Hewitt and Arabella Carbutt supported by Karen Adams. CONGRATULATIONS also to the men s team who played 26 th to 28 th August and will stay in Division 1. They came second having wins v Surrey and Middlesex with a narrow loss v North of Scotland. The Team : Matt Coombes, Andy Phillips, David Sanger and Jonathan Austin. HSBC ROAD TO WIMBLEDON HSBC Road to Wimbledon is the biggest junior tournament in British Tennis and gives all 14U players the opportunity to progress through to compete on the world famous grass courts at Wimbledon. Finals took place 9 th /10 th July at Bournemouth Gardens. Congratulations to the winners, James Johnson and Emily Pardy who were invited to play at Wimbledon from 8 th to 13 th August in the National Finals.
MINI TENNIS CHANGES Changes are being made to Mini Tennis following a significant research project into Mini Tennis and junior competition which involved listening to feedback from players, parents, officials and coaches. The research concluded a need to focus on more local, team based and fun competition opportunities as well as making changes to reduce some of the unnecessary pressure experienced in Mini Tennis competition. THE CHANGES Removal of Mini Tennis Red Ratings All Mini Tennis Red players will have their Red rating removed and Mini Tennis Red ratings will no longer be issued to new players. This is to ensure the focus at this age is on fun and learning to play without the pressure of moving through a ratings system. New one match tie break scoring format and more court helpers for Orange Ball Tournaments a) Mini Tennis Orange Grade 5 & 6 events will be played using the one match tiebreak scoring format with flexibility to organisers at Grade 4. Grade 1 4 competitions will still be able to use the existing scoring formats of the best of 3 tie-breaks to 7 or one short set. b) Orange ball tournaments will be encouraged to use court helpers on all courts wherever possible to help young children score and take pressure off scoring and calling their own lines. Green Ball after the age of 10 Venues will be able to use the Green ball for 12U to 18U junior competition (Grade 6 & 7 only), such as matchplays, which are appropriate for inexperienced players leading to a better experience. Grade 6 & 7 events that wish to use the Green ball will need to promote that Green balls will be used on Competition Search. Removal of competition leaderboards and the 9&U National Tour a) Both the Regional and County Tour leaderboards for 9 & Under and 10 & Under age groups will be removed to help simplify competition measures and reduce pressure at such a young age. b) In addition, the 9 & Under National Tour will be replaced with friendly regional team matches. Launch of new team competition A new team competition will be launched in September 2016 which will be locally delivered and focused on players having fun in a team environment. More information can be found on the website :- http://www3.lta.org.uk/newwebsite/lta/documents/players%20and%20parents/mini%20tennis/doc uments/mini%20tennis%20changes%20webpage%20final.pdf
NEW TWITTER & FACEBOOK Dorset LTA now has it s own Twitter and Facebook Follow us on Twitter : @Dorsetlta Like us on Facebook : DorsetLTA News stories always welcome please send to info@dorsetlta.co.uk SOME USEFUL DATES :- 12 th September Fixtures Meeting, The West Hants Club, 6.30 pm 1 st October LTA Registration goes live on website 29 th November Annual General Meeting, The West Hants Club, 7 pm Did you know Tennis lowers body fat, reduces stress and increases reaction times? USEFUL CONTACT INFORMATION Dorset County Office : 01202 519694 E info@dorsetlta.co.uk South West Regional Offices Southampton 02380 738550. Bristol 0117 9626723 E southwest@lta.org.uk British Tennis Services 0208 487 7000 E info@lta.org.uk