Tennis AGM
The ISC tennis section held a well-attended AGM at the club on Monday, 9th June and reflected on another action-packed, successful year of tennis at Henley Road. Notable highlights included:
- Innovative new ‘Elevate Your Game’ coaching series welcoming top guest coaches and players to the club to hone their doubles shot-making skills and tactics. Renowned coach and commentator Mark Petchey took a session, passing on some top tips – he’s a busy chap as he’s now coaching GB No. 1 Emma Raducanu. We hope to see them in action soon at Wimbledon.
- Expanded coaching programme, including new sessions for adults and those with disabilities.
- Continued team success from summer 2024 and over the winter season.
- Superb Academy achievements, including representation at GB level and national finals.
- New coach apprentice Harry C joined the club with Tennis Manager Chris Daynes and his team of coaches, mentoring the next generation. In addition, Mel Davies has joined the coaching squad and will be focusing on a new school’s programme. With a new female coach on board, we’re keen to encourage more girls to participate in tennis with all its associated physical, social and mental health benefits. This is also a key initiative of the LTA.
- Our 3rd ITF Masters event involves a growing number of players from all over the country, as well as many international participants.
- Numerous (literally too many to mention!), highly enjoyable, competitive and social tennis events
– usually culminating with delicious food and a well-earned drink or two from the bar.
Rob Butler stood down as Tennis Chairman after an impressive 6 years at the helm, and Keith Palmer finally started his retirement just a month shy of his 80th birthday after a remarkable 18 years on the Tennis Committee, as well as many years in other crucial club roles such as Board and Council
Member, as well as Club Secretary. Rob and Keith were warmly thanked and presented with gifts on behalf of the club and all its members for their sterling work and commitment to tennis at ISC. Chris Dearling was also thanked for his 6 years as Vice Chairman, and he’s now making an invaluable contribution as a Club Director.
The tennis section welcomes new Chairman Craig Clark and Vice Chair Dan Chapelle with Karen Watling returning to complete the committee.
Picture above from left to right: Rob Butler, Tennis Manager, Chris Daynes and Keith Palmer.
U14 National Finals
At the end of May, academy player Harry S travelled to the East Gloucestershire Club for the U14 National Finals. This competition was played on grass, which is pretty early in the summer season to be challenged on this surface.
At the national level, the standard was always going to be extremely high, so the challenge was on. Harry played a fellow qualifier and endured a long, tough 1stset battle that resulted in a tie-break, which just went the wrong way by only 2 points. However, he quickly refocused and managed to dominate the 2nd set, winning it 6-1.
A championship tie-break beckoned, which saw Harry narrowly defeated by the finest of margins – again, just 2 points, 10-8 to his opponent. ISC Tennis Manager Chris Daynes and Academy Head Coach Ryan Lambert accompanied Harry to Cheltenham, and Chris commented: ‘Harry did himself and the club proud in this match. By winning the 2nd set after losing a close 1st set tie-break, he really showed strength of character and mental resilience.
Together, we learnt a huge amount about competing at this level, and it ignited Harry’s desire to continue to work hard on the practice court in order to earn the opportunity to play at this level again.
The U14 category is a crucial phase in the development of talented tennis juniors. As the body rapidly develops and the mind matures at this age, when the hard graft is invested in court and in the gym, the result is a physically strong, tactically astute player with endless opportunities. This has to be balanced with school work and family life, too, of course.
It’s a real pleasure to be part of these players’ tennis journeys, and we’re really excited about the potential of Harry and his fellow current cohort in the academy.’
Grade 3 competition
In the final week of May, we welcomed juniors from all over the country to Henley Road to take part in our annual grade 3 competition. With 25 events and 287 entries, it was our biggest field to date.
Spectators were treated to a superb standard of tennis with many matches going the full distance. Well done to all ISC junior players for taking part, and congratulations to Scarlett P – Winner of U16 Girls’ singles. Our thanks go to tournament organiser Chris Rudolph and his team of volunteers for their sterling work, as well as Chris Daynes and all the staff at ISC for putting on an excellent event.
Club Championships
Our internal summer club championship is underway, so expect to see some competitive but friendly matches taking place. This will culminate with finals day on Sunday 21st September – please pop this date in your diary.
For information, the pro-am event we’d planned for Sunday, 13th July has been postponed – we’ll advise a new date in due course.
Finally, once again, our friends at Framlingham College are holding their award-winning grass court competition in the first week of August. This is a great tournament held in beautiful grounds, so if you feel like a challenge and wish to enter, then click on the link below for more info–otherwise, if you fancy watching some impressive tennis, then pop along – we’ll see you there!
https://competitions.lta.org.uk/tournament/2214F4AF-69B2-4DFA-AEEB-0F67BD31AA3B
