Courts Opening Event - News, Views and Photos

On Sunday 24th March nearly three years of hard work came to fruition when the new artificial clay courts were opened at the club.  They are a fantastic facility and open up so many possibilities for the tennis section and the club.  The new courts are now in play and many people have already ventured out this week for their first hit on the new surface.  So far the feedback has been extremely positive. Back to Sunday.....luckily the sun shone and although rather windy later on in the day, over 400 people turned out to support the event. A team helped throughout the day - registering participants and selling cakes and hot drinks:   The adult cake competition was won by Clare Lucas and the Junior Competition by Arrie Allen-Kyng.  Thanks to everyone who baked and especially to those who produce such brilliant 'tennis-themed' cakes. The raffle was very successful, raising money towards the courts.  Thanks to the team who sold tickets before and during the event - and also thanks to those who bought tickets.  John Shaw won the star raffle prize of the Babolat Limited Edition Tennis racquet:     Russell and Amelia were on duty to ensure that everyone wiped their feet before entering and also when leaving the new courts:   The sporting day commenced with the inaugural Alderley Edge Schools Tournament in association with Stuart Murray Tennis Limited.  Five local schools (Alderley Edge Community Primary School, Alderley Edge School for Girls, Mottram St Andrew, Nether Alderley and Ryleys) and ten teams participated in two age groups:   Ryleys School (Joey, Toby, Jacob and Jack) won the ‘Under 9s’ tournament: Alderley Edge Community Primary (Mae, Maja, Jamie and Arthur) won the ‘Under 11s’ tournament: Free coaching sessions were held for children aged 3-18 and over 50 children participated.  A cardio tennis session was also run:   A family tournament (the Quorn Cup) took place with 18 pairs participating.  This event is for children under 10 paired up with a family member over 18.  Lots of hard fought rallies ensued with close games:   The semi finals were contested by James and Amelia Potter playing Hugo and Howard Thompson and Louis and Richard Brierley playing Harry and Chris Hardcastle.  Both semis were won 10-8 - so very close fought matches. The eventual winners of the Quorn Family Cup were Louis and Richard and the runners up were Hugo and Howard. The winners and runners-up are invited to a Red Ball Festival Day of their choice at an LTA Summer tournament.  We hope you all enjoy your day out!   John Berry and his team ran a barbecue and provided hot food throughout the day and as ever, the bar was open.  Thanks to John and his team for their support:     We had run a children’s competition before the event.  The winner was to cut the ribbon alongside an adult member of the club. The children had to answer the question ‘Why is Alderley Edge Tennis Club such a great place to play tennis?’  After much deliberation Ruth Samuels (Junior Tennis Chairman) and Stuart Murray (Head Coach) chose two wonderful entries as follows from Zara Baglin and Lily Hardcastle.  Both received Easter eggs for their entries. Lily was selected as the overall winner.     The formal opening of the courts then took place with Jon Harari (Tennis Chairman) introducing Ruth Samuels (Courts Project Lead): John thanked the project team for all their work and said that the courts were a fantastic facility for the club going forwards. Ruth said that the courts were a fabulous testament to the whole club working as a team.  Thanks were given to the club for supporting the tennis section, to those who had made donations, to organisers and attendees at the many fund-raising events as well as the Lawn Tennis Association and Cheshire Lawn Tennis Association for their support.  Ruth handed over to Jan Slack who has been a member of the club for over 50 years.  Jan said a few words of thanks and then together Jan and Lily cut two ribbons to open the courts. And a plaque was unveiled to remember the day: The formal opening was followed by some exhibition matches.  We were lucky enough to watch David Quayle aged 18 playing Nick Baglin. David started playing tennis at 6 years old and Stuart Murray started coaching him when he was 12. At the age of 16 David was accepted to train under Patrick Mouratoglou in his pro team at his academy in the south of France.  David has played in top national and international tournaments on the ITF junior circuit and has now started the men's international circuit, gaining international points.  Training partners include Serena Williams and Caroline Wozniaki.  David frequently comes back to train with Stuart to improve his movement patterns to world class. Nick Baglin has been involved with the club for the last few years acting as a team manager for his daughter's team. In his younger years Nick played at junior Wimbledon.  A fabulous spectacle ensued played in great spirit with the eventual win going to David.  Two doubles matches were also played – Maldini Simic and Ed Rowlands played against Mason Dace and Mike Armstrong.  Maldini and Mason are both in the under 18 county squads despite only being 15 years of age.  Some lovely rallies and again great fun to watch.  Ed and Mike then joined Nick and David to play some great men’s doubles tennis. The day ended with a fun mixed handicap tournament involving both adults and juniors.  There were 44 participants playing on 8 full size courts. Three of these courts were split into mini tennis courts – much fun ensued with adults trying to hit mini red tennis balls and it was great to see adults and juniors enjoying their tennis together.  The eventual winners and runners up were as follows: Men – Winner – Chris Bowden; Runner-up – Richard Sibbett Ladies – Winner – Rachel Morgan; Runner-up – Mel Storey Junior Boys – Winner – Roman Lanzbergin ; Runner-up – Ivan Marr Junior Girls –  Winner – Ashley Baglin; Runner-up – Isabella Taylor-Stokes What a great day for the club. The words on Lily’s top said it all ‘Making it Happen!’  The club has done amazingly well to make this project happen and we all look forward to using the new courts for many years to come.  Thanks to everyone who helped along the way.  We are all incredibly lucky to play our tennis at this very special family club. Further photos can be found at the following link: Gallery of photos