In an attempt to reduce the amount of motor traffic to and from the club, four cycle racks have been installed on the side wall of the men's changing room, enabling bikes to be safely secured. Try cycling to the club; you might find it less stressful than fighting your way through the traffic jams. It's ideal for those who live just too far away to conveniently walk.
Twelve members turned out for the Members' Day Frolic on Sunday 26th September 2009. Unfortunately, the British Summer's rain won the day and after about an hour the players adjourned to the clubhouse for a banquet accompanied by live music. A good time was had by all despite the inclement weather. The event has been rearranged for Sunday 4th October with registration at 12.30 for 1.00pm start. It is hoped that improved communication and advance warning will increase the numbers attending the re-run.
Basford's men's A Team has won promotion back into Division 1 of the City & Suburban Tennis League after a 4-0 win over Stone B.
An article about the club appeared in the Sentinel on Tuesday, 21st April. You can find a copy on the Press Reports page.
A Special General Meeting on Monday, 20th April 2009 agreed to adopt the proposed new rules. The rules were last reviewed over 25 years ago, and needed to be updated to enable the club to obtain funding from the LTA and other bodies, and also to reflect the way the club now operates. Accompanying the rules are new byelaws that were agreed at the last Managament Committee meeting. The Special General Meeting also agreed to continue to trial the court booking planner until the next AGM. If you have not yet read the rules and byelaws, please take a few minutes to do so.
Basford Ladies 50's team of Sue Winters, Mary Hobson, June Fisher and Pam Smith had an excellent result, beating Stourbridge 4-0, in the first round of the National Inter Club Ladies 50's. They now play either High Ercall or Streetly in the next round.
Basford Ladies 40's team played Egbaston Priory from Birmingham in the first round of the National Inter Club 40's competition last Saturday and secured a 3- 1 victory. The team was Sue Winters, Mary Hobson, Judy Tierney and June Fisher. They now play either Evesham or Kenilworth in the next round.
With a respite from the snowy, cold or wet weather we have been having, Sweepfast has been able to finish the sand filling of the new carpets on courts 3 and 4, and these are now a pleasure to play on. Although we have had a couple of months with courts 3 and 4 virtually unplayable, hopefully members will agree that the new surface has been worth the disruption.
A packed clubhouse witnessed the daring exploits of Dave Egerton and his seven companions climbing in America. The views shown were breath taking. The challenges and problems of Montana Aconcagua at 7,000 metres in the Andes were followed by his equally daring exploits on Mount Denali, a 6,000-metre summit in North America. Members showed their appreciation to Dave and subsequently to Nerys who provided a splendid supper. A great and happy evening was had by all, raising approximately ?100 for club funds in the process.
To relieve the frustrations of being unable to play on Basford's snow clad courts, eight fortunate members sought refuge at Stone St Dominic's Indoor Courts for a couple of hours in the afternoon. Thanks were expressed to Derek Newport for making the arrangements.
A group of twelve club members took up the kind the invitation of Councillor John and Mrs. Angela Cooper, the Mayor and Mayoress of the Borough of Newcastle, to attend his Parlour for tea and wine followed by a talk on the Civic Regalia and a conducted tour of the Council Chambers. After being greeted by the Mayor and Mayoress, the Mayor's Sergeant, Derek Myatt, retained the group's attention with his informative and interesting demonstrations and explanations.
A series of social matches on Sunday afternoons have been arranged for the 2009 season. With one event per month from April through to October (with the final event on the Saturday evening), what could be better than an organised game of tennis. Sign up for each event on the sheet in the club house. See the Events section for further information.
The first Management Committee meeting of 2009 elected Mark Hagan to be Chairman and Jill Armstrong to be Minute Secretary.
From January 2009, a trial will be run of a court booking system. This will allow courts to be booked in off-peak periods, with limited availability for booking courts in evenings. Courts will be bookable up to two weeks in advance on booking sheets in the Clubhouse.
The replacement of courts 3 and 4 has been completed and they will be available to play on from Wednesday 17th December, in time for the Winter Ladder.
Basford has been Clubmark accredited, making the club the first Tennis club in North Staffordshire to be accredited. Further information on Clubmark is available on the Clubmark web site.
An exhibition match between Basford and the Royal Air Force was held on Sunday, 28th September with the Mayor and Mayoress of Newcastle Borough Council, Councillor John & Mrs. Angela Cooper, Staffordshire LTA President, Ian J. Dudson CBE, DL and Borough Council Leader Simon Tagg in attendance. With the sun coming out just as the main matches commenced, an excellent day was had by competitors and spectators alike. A first-rate buffet, an inexpensive bar and plenty of sunlit seating provided a very pleasant environment in which the matches could be watched. If you didn't get a copy of the programme, you can download one. There are lots of pictures in the Photo's section. If you would like a copy of a photo, please contact Mike Baggaley. There's also a copy of the Sentinel report on the Press Reports page and details of the commemorative mugs you can buy in the Notices section.
The 2008/2009 Winter Ladder is starting soon. If you would like to play, please put your name on the entry form in the clubhouse entrance.
The club Garden Party held on August 31st was a great success. Despite intermittent showers, an enjoyable time was had by all who played croquet and entered the all-whites, wooden raquets tennis competition and listened to Trentham Brass Band, which played in a marquee. The festive atmosphere was rounded off with a buffet and the official launch of the club history booklet.
Amy Ellis played in the 14 and under finals of the HSBC Road To Wimbledon competition for the second year running in August after winning the Staffordshire qualifying competition. She arrived on the Sunday to practice before the competition started the following day. In the round robin first round, she was unlucky not to progress to the main draw after being one of three players of four to win two matches but lost out on game count back. In the knockout consolation draw, Amy won her first two matches in straight sets and then the quarter final from a set down. The semi final was really tense; with Amy coming back from a set and 1-4 down to win eleven straight games and the match. Amy was more relaxed for the final, winning in straight sets before rushing off to join a coaching clinic with Tim Henman.
The emphasis of the organisers is to give the players an unforgettable experience. Amy's matches were played on the Aroangi practice courts and indoor courts at Wimbledon. Players and supporters were able to walk round the courts and grounds. Competitors used the players' changing rooms and were given a pass to use for lunch in the cafe. Amy enjoyed the true Wimbledon experience of waiting for courts to become available after rain breaks and playing with the ground staff at court side, waiting to rush on and also the pressure of knowing a loss meant a trip home - she was determined to keep winning though as she was enjoying being there so much. This visit Amy was lucky to play six out of the eight singles matches on grass and is proud to say that over the two visits she has not lost a singles match on grass at Wimbledon. Amy was thrilled to have her trophy presented by Tim.
Amy warmed up for the competition by winning her first two grade 3 tournaments, at the Giffnock Open in Glasgow and the West Cheshire Tournament, helpfully on grass, and also getting to another final at Wigan. There was no break after Wimbledon either, as the Staffs County Closed was the following week. Amy continued her good form there, being runner up in the under 14 singles, third in the under 16 singles and winning the under 14 girls' doubles.
The "A History of Basford Lawn Tennis Club" booklet was launched at the Garden Party on Sunday, 31st August as part of the club's 125 year celebrations. Compiler Derek Newport, who spent eight months researching the club's history, was on hand to sign copies at the event. Further information is available in the Notices section.
An excellent quiz was run by Mike Armstrong on Saturday 19th April, with no sign of near-impossible "Wacky Races" questions this year. The winning team was the "email to plumb" team, which consisted of Mark, Jill, Paul, Sarah, Mike and Shirley; part of the team can be seen hard at work bottom right in the picture. A big thank you to Jill's mum for arranging the catering and to Nerys and Hilary for hosting the bar on its first night open after being licensed.
Staffordshire LTA has awarded Key Club status to Basford for 2008 and will be giving the club extra funding to develop its performance and grass roots programme, with the focus being on competition.
Several Basford juniors were in action over Easter at the Grade 3 Wirral Open. Ben Stannard and Amy Ellis reached the semi finals in a successful tournament for Basford players. Stannard, seeded 8th, made an impressive start beating Kieran Cronin (8.1) 6-3, 6-1 and Pascal Nicholls (8.2) 6-0, 6-2 to race into the quarterfinals. In his quarter final match he faced a tough counter puncher in Sean Sivewright (7.2) but came through 6-2, 6-4. He eventually lost to the number 3 seed 6-4, 6-4. Amy Ellis had an equally impressive run. After a hard fought 6-4, 2-6, 10-8 victory over fellow Staffs player Grace Baker, she won 6-2, 7-5 in her last 16 match and followed it up with a 6-4, 7-5 victory in the quarterfinals using some impressive serve volley tactics. In the semis she faced the number 1 seed and battled hard before losing 7-6, 6-1. She also reached the last 16 of the 16 and under draw along with fellow Basford player Hannah Parker. Jack Eagles played but lost 6-4, 6-3 in the first round.
Basford Tennis club had victories in the National Junior Club league in both the 14 and under and 16 and under age group. Basford's 14 and under team beat Albert 4-2 in a rain affected match with victories from Jack Eagles, Ryan Maughan and John Thornhill. Eagles and Maughan combined in the doubles to wrap up the victory. In the 16 and under event, Basford beat Burton 6-0. Josh Eardley produced an impressive display to beat a fellow 7.1 6-3, 6-3. Harry Smith, Omar Sahawon and James Bellfield all had comfortable 6-0, 6-1 victories to secure the win.
Shropshire and Staffordshire LTA Super Grand Prix Mini Tennis Red competitions will be held at Basford on Sunday 8th June and Sunday 13th July at 2pm. A Mini Tennis Orange competition will be held on Sunday 20th July at 2pm. The entry fee for for each event is ?4. For full details, contact Mike Armstrong on 07908 221420.
Basford Boys 14 & Under lost out 4-2 in the first match of the National Junior Club League after a battling display. Jack Eagles, put up a good performance, but in the end lost 6-4, 6-4 to a player 2 ratings above him. Ryan Maughan had a similar tough task, playing a player ranked 138 in his age group - he eventually lost 6-2, 6-4. Chris Riley and John Thornhill lost an up and down doubles match 6-1, 0-6, 10-3 to leave Basford 3-0 down at the half way point. John Thornhill made it 3-1 with a tidy 6-3, 6-1 win at number 4 and Chris Riley battled back from a set down to win 3-6, 6-3, 10-7, but Eagles and Maughan lost out 6-3, 6-1 in the doubles. All in all it was a good display, especially given the size of the Stourbridge club (16 courts and 1000 members). The boys next travel to Albert Lawn Tennis Club, Wolverhampton on the 8th of March, while the Boys 16 & Under team kick off their campaign on the 16th of March at Basford.
The clubhouse lounge redecoration is now complete. PLEASE NOTE: In order to maintain the lounge in a neat, tidy and welcoming state, tennis bags will no longer be allowed in the lounge. If you need to bring a kit bag, please leave it in a changing room.
The club is going to try to get Tennis Clubmark accredited. Tennis Clubmark is the LTA's quality club award. There is more information on Tennis Clubmark on the LTA web site.
The Bye-Laws have been updated for 2008. Please familiarise yourself with the new Bye-Laws.
The new club web site has been released. If you spot any problems, please email the webmaster.
An exciting series of themed social tournaments is being planned for Sundays through the spring and summer. Further details will follow when they are available.
The clubhouse is in the process of being redecorated.
The windows in the clubhouse have been replaced with double glazed units, which not only look better, but should keep the room warmer as well.
The junior open that has been held at Basford for the last two years has moved to Draycott this year. However, there is some possibility of staging a junior open at Basford in 2009.