Tennis on the march in Mallow
Diarmuid Sheehan Tennis in north Cork has come on in leaps and bounds in the last eighteen months
FOR those of you that are not familiar with the world of tennis in Cork this may well be a chance for you to get to grips with one of the world’s most popular sports, a sport played in every country on the planet bar none.
Tennis may not come to the forefront of Cork people’s minds when considering a sport for themselves or their kids however there is a vibrant and welcoming tennis community in many areas around the county.
Clubs in the north of the county have been working hard to promote the game in recent years with many localities seeing their tennis infrastructure dramatically improve in the last 10 years or so.
Tennis is now played at a competitive level in Dromahane, Hazlewood, Lombardstown, Milford, Whitechurch, Mitchelstown, Kilworth, Ballyhooly and Mallow with the latter seeing huge improvements in all aspects of their club in recent times.
Mallow, has long had a tennis club, but through a lack of interest, investment and capital over the years the club has had to survive thanks to the generosity of its limited playing members as well as the goodwill of Mallow Golf Club, who are the custodians of the club.
Tennis has often been seen as the preserve of an elite, but like golf and many other sports such cricket, hockey and squash the game has had a much more welcoming feel to it in recent years as people go in search of a sport or past time that will keep them active and social into their senior years.
In the last twelve months, Mallow Tennis Club has seen a resurgence in interest from the local sporting community and this impressive growth in interest has spurred those involved in the club to push for more – and thanks to Main Club Sponsor VASS, local fundraising and a number of generous sports grants the facilities at Mallow Tennis Club have been upgraded to a standard that would make the place unrecognisable to people that hadn’t visited for a number of years.
New playing surfaces to all four full size courts have transformed the playing conditions however the members didn’t stop there with work to fencing, a viewing stand and player rest area also going a long way to making Mallow Tennis Club one of the best sporting facilities in the Avondhu town.
In the last number of weeks, a major upgrade of the floodlight system at the club has meant that competitive and recreational tennis can now be played day or night in conditions that are widely regarded as suitable for professional players.
From the outside tennis might appear to some as a very basic game, and when played well it can be, but to play it correctly and get the most from the game it is important that would-be players learn the basics when they first start playing and at Mallow Tennis Club that job falls to Head Coach Antoine Bercy.
The French born tennis coach together with his team leads the coaching programme and junior development at the club and has managed to bring on some very talented and promising kids while also helping to improve the skills of those of a more mature and experienced vintage. This programme is responsible for bringing tennis to a new level in Mallow. While it may seem to those without a major interest in tennis locally that the club is just in its infancy the reality couldn’t be further from the truth as there is a great tradition of tennis in the Mallow area and the club has always been welcoming and accommodating to those at all levels of the game.
Last week, Mallow Tennis Club hosted the Ulster Bank Mallow Senior Open Tournament with players coming from all over the province, to take part in what proved to be a very successful and competitive tournament.
The tournament was open to players from all clubs in Munster with the finals taking place last Sunday. The hosting of the first Senior Open Tournament in the town in some time was seen as an important step in making sure that Mallow Tennis Club takes its place among the more established sports clubs in the area and thanks to the efforts of all concerned to make the week’s event a success the club is well on its way to achieving that goal.
On the court, there was plenty local success for a host of local Cork players securing
Last week, Mallow hosted the Ulster Bank Senior Open Tournament with players from all over the province
wins. In the grade 2 mixed there was a win for Vitalijus Lucas Sadauskas and partner Louise Twomey with men’s Grade 3 won by Shane Murphy and partner John Whelan.
Keara O Leary and Valerie Woodcock took the spoils in the Grade 4 ladies while Adrian Corbett and Rory Casey took the same grade title for the men. Meile Sadauskiene and Ciara Galvin were champions at Grade 6 ladies level while in the men’s grade 6 Michael Walsh and partner Richard Walsh were the winners.
Away from the competitive side of elite tennis the club at Mallow has seen impressive growth over the last eighteen months with a fourfold increase in active playing adult members from 20 – 80.
While the successful growth in adult numbers is a great achievement and something to be very proud of for all at the club it is the development programme for young members which now has over 70 participants that will hopefully secure the future of the tennis club in Mallow and will see it go from strength to strength in the coming years.