Play Tennis

The club provides a variety of social and competitive play, from turn-up-and-play where anyone is welcome to join in, through booked courts for individually arranged play, to regular and one-off organised events.

Social Tennis

Organised Social Tennis

Organised turn-up-and-play sessions are held on Wednesday evenings from about 18:00 onwards and Sunday afternoons from 15:00. These sessions are open to any adult member; no booking is necessary. Drinks and snacks are available for a small charge at the Sunday session. These are the best sessions to attend if you are thinking of joining the club and would like to meet some members and play a few games. Some special club events will also be organised on these days, but nearly every week you can just turn up on Wednesday evening or Sunday afternoon and join in the play.

Saturday Morning Social Tennis

Since 1960 there has been a weekly organised arranged-play event, known as the Saturday Morning Group or SMG, for play on Saturday mornings between 9:00 and 11:00. Unlike other social tennis at the club, play at this event must be pre-booked and is arranged so that there is an even number of players with no-one waiting to play. The Saturday Morning Group has its own rules to help it to run smoothly. If you would like to join the SMG, please contact John Plumb. There are generally players who like to continue playing after 11 o'clock and non-booked members are welcome to turn up from 10.30 onwards to mix-in.

Informal Social Tennis

Informal social tennis can be played at any time when the courts are not booked for matches, tournaments, team practices, coaching or organised social play. A court booking system allows a group of members to book a court for their use for up to an hour at peak times and two hours during off-peak periods. The number of courts available for booking is limited to ensure that there are always courts available for members who want to turn up and play without prior booking. In turn-up-and-play games, players should play a single set (first to 6 games), then offer the court to any waiting players.

Competitive Tennis

City & Suburban Tennis League

In the spring and summer, Basford enters several teams into the City & Suburban Tennis League. In 2008, Basford entered three men's teams, a ladies' team and the mixed doubles, winning both the ladies and the mixed doubles. In 2007, Basford entered two men's teams, a ladies' team and a mixed doubles team. Both the men's teams and the ladies' team won their respective divisions. Basford ladies' team won the league every year between 2003 and 2009, but lost out in 2010 to Abbey View on number of matches won (both teams got the same number of points). The men's A team completed the double in 2007 by also winning the City and Suburban Dale Cup tournament. Details of their success were reported in the Sentinel.

Staffordshire Inter Club Tennis League

Basford enters a ladies' team into the Staffordshire Inter Club Tennis League, which is also played through the spring and summer. In 2007, the ladies were runners up in the Premier 1 division.

National Vets GB Inter Club Tennis Competition

The club enters both over 40s and over 50s ladies' teams into this national competetion.

Winter Ladder

During the autumn and winter months the club runs an adult Winter Ladder on Wednesday evenings. The ladder is mixed sex and consists of divisions of 4 players playing three one-set doubles matches, partnering each of the other three players in turn. The player winning the most games is promoted and the player winning the least games is demoted.

Club Championship

A Club Championship is held most years in the late summer. You can view the results since 2000.

Basford Mixed Open

The Basford Mixed Open is a mixed doubles tournament that attracts members from all over the city and has been very successful in the past. It is normally held in July but it was cancelled in 2008 due to a lack of entries. Hopefully there will be more interest in the future and the competition can return to its former glory.

Basford Open

The Basford Open is a grade 4 competition open to juniors. You can find full details of the 2006 results and 2007 results on the LTA web site. The competition was moved to Draycott in 2008, but there is a possibility of the competition being played here in the future.

Other Tournaments

In 2008, Basford hosted three Shropshire and Staffordshire LTA Super Grand Prix Mini Tennis competitions, which were well attended. Members of the club also enter a variety of other tournaments. You can find other tournaments to enter and check your rating and ranking at the LTA web site.

Care Of Courts

The club has a few simple court commandments that members and guests must follow when using the courts.