Tis The Season To Be Merry On The Courts

There was something for everyone in our traditional Christmas celebration night on 5^th December at Club Towers. Father Christmas dropped in to see our younger juniors on a stopover from the North Pole, while there were festive carols, mulled wine and minced pies aplenty. The two racquets events on the evening were our traditional Xmas Jumper Tennis tournament and the Adult and Junior Squash competition. Both events are great fun and were very popular again this year and we share a few details below with some pictures too..

Adult and Junior Squash Tournament – Juniors Get Their “Claus” In

Eight enthusiastic juniors paired with eight adults in this year’s Adult/Junior Christmas Squash Tournament, bringing with them plenty of festive spirit and some brilliantly creative team names.

Before play started a prize was awarded for the  best team name, which went to Alex and Marc with their cracking entry: “Frosty the Boastman.”

The format followed our traditional festive challenge: every adult faced every junior from the opposing teams, with matches played to 15 points. As always, our front-wall targets added plenty of chaos and banter. Juniors who struck a target earned bonus points, while any adult who clipped a target found themselves at the mercy of a forfeit, such as a push-up after every shot. This was hilarious for spectators, entertaining for juniors, and totally exhausting for the adults involved! Watching some of the grown-ups collapse to the floor mid-rally definitely added an extra layer of fun.

Each pairs’ combined points accumulated to determine the eventual winners. The standard across the board was fantastic, with the juniors especially showcasing their skill and determination, and racking up more than a few victories over their adult opponents.

The final scores were incredibly close:

Champions: Sam & Izzy with an outstanding 147 points

Runners-Up: Jamie / Mikund & Jai with 142 points

A huge well done to every junior who took part – Oliver, Alfie, Alex, Nick, Jai, Izzy, Joshua and Etta – and a big thank you to all the adults for getting involved, embracing the forfeits with good humour, and helping make the tournament such a fun and supportive event.

Balls Aplenty in Xmas Jumper Tennis Tournament

Twenty players entered the Xmas Jumper Tennis Tournament in the dome, with festive dress and music to boot. Coach Alex created a fun format with four players in each of five aptly named teams …The Jingle Ballers, The Red Nose Reinballs, The Christmas Ballballs, the Holly Jolly Navidad and Santa’s Oddballs. Clearly there was a ball theme on the night!

Alex seeded the players so that all teams were balanced to match up well against each other, and rounds of matches were played between players in opposing teams. The final results were as follows, with a prize for the players in the winning team …

Santa’s Oddballs (Dave, Missi, Eunice and Alex)– 74 points

Jingle Ballers (Lynne H, Paul, Harriet and Penny) – 56 points

Red Nose Reinballs (Kathy, Ed, Lynne Q and Rachel) – 52 points

Christmas Ballballs (Jane, Martin, Lucy and Donna) – 40 points

Holly Jolly Navidad (Lili, Lawrence, Jenny and Pauline)– 38 points

The individual winners were …

1^st        Dave      21 points

2^nd       Paul       18 points

Best Dressed        Missi  

We had some great feedback from the players afterwards, and quote of the night goes to Missi with …. “Great fun!. Thanks Alex for organising and how lovely all you tennis friends are! ”