Wednesday, July 26, 2006

Road to Wimbledon 2006 Gloucestershire county finals

"12 Boys and 8 Girls battled it out at Oxstalls Tennis Centre on the weekend of 8/9 July 2006 in the U14 Road to Wimbledon county finals, with the winners of each event gaining the right to represent the county on the Wimbledon courts in August.

Saturday saw the boys round robin section which went to form, with Richard Owen, Felix Clarke, and Ed Williams winning their groups and qualifying for the semi-finals.

The highlight of the day was a 3 way championship tie-break shoot-out for the last semi-final place between the 3 group runners-up, with Alex Duncliffe saving 4 match points and eventually going through 15.13 against Jake Roberts in an absolute thriller.

Finals day on Sunday, saw the girls compete, and again experience shone through as the semi-final line-up saw Elisha Hande face Megan Horder, and Alicia Barnett face Lillie Owen. Both were tight affairs with Elisha winning 6:3 6:1, and Alicia coming through 6:1 6:4.

The final saw favourite Elisha Hande the victor in a straightforward 6:0 6:1 win.

The Boys semis score lines did not reflect the closeness of the play as Richard Owen romped to a 6:0 6:0 win against Alex Duncliffe, and Felix Clarke was too strong for Ed Williams winning 6:1 6:2.

The final hinged on a very tight 1st set, Richard eventually taking it 6:4, and then hitting form as he eased through the 2nd against Felix 6:2 to take the final again.

Well done to all the competitors for getting through, and for their attitude and enthusiasm over the 2 days, and we are sure that Elisha and Richard will have a fantastic time at Wimbledon in August"

Commentary By Steve Roberts

Posted at 10:04 PM [link]

Monday, July 24, 2006

Gloucestershire Youth Games 2006

The annual Gloucestershire Youth Games took place on Saturday 17th June across several sites; GL1, University of Gloucestershire, Plock Court and Oxstalls Tennis Centre. Here children from all over Gloucestershire took part in a massive day of sport all coordinated by Local Authorities, Active Gloucestershire, National Governing Bodies, School Sport Coordinators and School Partnership Development Managers.

Tennis involved all six districts; Cheltenham, Cotswold, Forest, Gloucester, Stroud & Tewkesbury and saw boys and girls from school years 7 & 8 take part in the tennis competition. This event was aimed at beginner tennis players who had never experienced competitive tennis play before this day. All participants played really well and team managers who had been on hand giving coaching in preparation for the day were very impressed to see the progress their teams had made.

The day started off with a huge warm up for all participants; here all participants were issued with a sport relief "doing it" red sock. Participants not only got enjoyment and fun from the day but also helped a great cause; Sport Relief, so thank you to those who donated money to this cause and wore the red sock all day, thanks also to the friends and families who gave generously handing over loose change to the sport relief buckets! (For more information on getting involved with Sport Relief visit www.sportrelief.com).

Participants were pleased to see some familiar sporting faces supporting the event; 400m hurdle list Matt Alias made an appearance on the courts to show off his tennis skills. Later the winning team would be presented their gold medals by Olympic silver medallist diver Leon Taylor (photo below).



Our very own GLTA representative, Morgana Lovell also got an opportunity to get snapped with Leon and his Olympic medal (photo below).



The overall results from the day saw the Cotswold team finish in third place, the Forest finished off in the second position whilst the Gloucester team celebrated being crowned tennis winners. Tewkesbury picked up the fair play award in tennis, which was voted by the other districts they played so well done to them and all the teams who took part.

The day was a huge success and it?s all thanks to all the children who participated and the wonderful team managers, so thank you to everyone.

[photos to follow shortly]

Posted at 9:08 PM [link]

Cirencester Tennis Club - new head coach required

We are currently recruiting for a motivated, business minded, self starter to take on the role of Head Coach.

Are you a highly self-motivated tennis coach with a proven track record of delivering innovative coaching sessions? Do you have experience of coaching different groups of players in a club environment? Can you effectively manage a club coaching programme?

If ?YES? is the answer to these questions then we want to hear from you!

Cirencester Tennis Club is situated 30 minutes drive for Cheltenham in the beautiful Cotswold?s. The club has a thriving adult and junior membership and is both LTA Mini Tennis and Performance accredited. There are currently six courts, three of which are floodlit. There are also plans in place to add two new courts, one of which will be floodlit. There is priority coaching time on the courts.

The Head Coach?s role is a self-employed position but a retainer will be paid for a level of work as agreed between the club and coach. This will be discussed as part of the interview process and will be accountable against club projects such as outreach work in schools and junior clubnights.

Head Coaches responsibilities:

• Complete management, co-ordination and implementation of the club?s adult and junior coaching and competitive programme.
• Management of additional coaching staff where required.
• Create and sustain links with local schools and the community to encourage new members.
• Advise and support social tennis within the club.

As well as being LTA qualified to CCA level (or equivalent) and holding a full and current LTA coaching licence, you will have excellent organisational and communications skills. You will be computer literate and have good administration skills.

If you find the above post of interest please apply by sending a current CV and covering letter to:
Adrian Potter, Westwinds, Baunton, Cirencester GL7 7BB
Telephone: 01285 654632 or 07779 078871
Closing date for applications: Monday 14th August 2006

Posted at 8:32 PM [link]