The little club with a big serve
This month’s tennis news starts with a touch of sadness and a huge vote of thanks to our erstwhile Club Captain Jeff Warren, who has stepped down from his role in the face of mounting commitments that have dragged him in other directions. Our monthly news will unfortunately no longer contain that trademark “Jeff humour” that we have come to look forward to for a bit of a laugh while catching up on tennis news. We will miss you Jeff, and hope that one day you find the space and energy to rejoin us.
As I write this article Tennis NZ has cancelled all organised events until at least 2nd May 2020 and advised our club do likewise. In response, we have regretfully cancelled our club championships, interclub competition, club days, junior coaching and tennis fitness until further notice.
So, until Coronavirus scuttled our carefully laid plans, what was going on?
Our team of dedicated Junior Interclub players did so well last year that they were promoted a division. With 5 out of 6 games completed at the time of writing, they have acquitted themselves very well, putting in the hard yards and holding their own in some really close matches, of which they have won three. Coach Pete has been a great support to the team, and even managed to squeeze them into Thursday night coaching at Te Puna because Ōmokoroa junior coaching on Saturday mornings clashes with the interclub competition. The boys have really improved under Pete’s tutelage, and have thoroughly enjoyed the competition. A shout out to ITM Ōmokoroa who have generously sponsored team uniforms.
Over December/January OCTC for the first time hosted a business house tennis competition. Held on Thursday evenings, it was a continuation of the business house held at Ōtūmoetai, which took a break over the holiday period. The standard of play was excellent, and even with no pavilion and only portaloos for convenience the participants thoroughly enjoyed playing at Ōmokoroa and gave really positive feedback about our venue. We are keen to host a similar competition again next December/January, Coronavirus permitting.
It’s going to be wonderful once the pavilion is completed and we can back up our competitions with a kitchen/lounge, lovely clean toilets and decent showering facilities. We are pleased and proud to be supporting the Ōmokoroa Sports and Recreation Society in planning and fundraising for this awesome facility.
We have had a men’s team entered in the A2 Division of the Tennis Western Bays Friday Night Interclub competition. They’ve played well and were on track to gain second place out of the four teams entered. Unfortunately, due to the cancellation of the competition, they were unable to play the final game. Co-ordinated by Andrew Dallas, the team included Keith Bardwell, Brendon Coles, Andrew Easton, Richard Garlick and Jonty Jenkins.
So that’s our news summary, and as one tennis ball said to the other – see you ‘round.