Eaton Bray Lawn Tennis Club

Posted on October 7, 2006

It has been a truly remarkable summer at our Tennis Club. Bearing in mind our size - we have just over 100 members around half of whom are regular players - we have achieved fantastic success in the South Bedfordshire summer league by winning definitely 3 and possibly 4 league titles! I say possibly 4 as there are some 'irregularities' to be clarified in the Men's division 3 league which I can't discuss or the authorities will have to shoot me (they make the recent Italian football scandal look like a tea party, however I can confirm that our club is totally 'clean'...) but we may well take that title too for our Men's B team, so for the record those that we have certainly won include:

• Men's division 1 with our Men's 'A' team of Nick Boys, Darren Kerins, Michael Tatham and Kevin Todd.
• Men's division 4 with our Men's 'C' team squad of David Arnold, Ross Bagni, Roy Cook, Simon Mitchener, Alan Painter, Danny Sunderland, David Hillman and Keith Hillman
• Ladies Division 2 with our Ladies team squad of Val Abercrombie, Jenny Baines, Jane Cross, Olga Davison, Lynn Dorman and Carol Karnon.

Bearing in mind the quality of some of the opposition in the big clubs like Luton & Vauxhall, Dunstable, and Leighton Buzzard, this is a tremendous achievement for our village club and we are justifiably very proud. Congratulations to all who organised, participated, prepared the teas and supported the teams. There's not many tennis clubs around who can claim such a record AND have the social appetite that we do. And you can still join us for the rest of this season at some amazingly good prices, just call one of us for more information or pop round to my house with a brown envelope stuffed full of fivers and I'll do the rest. Trust me I'm a salesman.

By the time you read this, work on our new courts will be well underway by local company Complete Tennis Service, and we're very grateful to all those who have contributed towards this £35,000 project, to include new fencing; we're saving up to get it electrified to keep out the rif-raf.

Thanks to Ross and Judy on the committee who single-handedly (or double backhandedly) provoked various organisations into giving us grants of over £5,000, to the South Bedfordshire District Council 'More Active' Grant Scheme who donated £270, to Roger Bowden for donating his Wimbledon ticket, and to all members who took out extended memberships at inflation busting rates, all of whom have enabled this project to happen. Floodlights, new courts, winning leagues, barbeques at any excuse, quiznights, dances ... can any other organisation offer so much to so many for so little? Hold on I missed out the 'so few'. Oh I'm too tired now, you'll have to add that in for yourselves at an appropriate point.

For any further information about the club, including when we get together for our social tennis sessions up at the School Lane courts, or our various activities, please call either Chairman Ross Bagni, Coach Nick Boys, or if they're all out and I'm not doing a barbeque, me, Andy Cross.

Source: Focus, October 2006