Tennis Club Reports from 2022

Hallmark May 2025. With the lighter evenings comes the summer league and we are off to a flying start with the mixed doubles team winning 8-0 against Princes Risborough. It’s early in the season but we are feeling competitive having built strong and consistent teams the last few seasons.

The men’s and ladies friendly singles tournaments are about to get underway which is always a good battle with a well-deserved winner.

The Gin and Fizz night was postponed and will now be combined with the fun tournament on the 28th June. There will be a social throughout the tournament during the day, and then into the evening merriment at the beautifully refurbished Sports Club.  Tickets will be available shortly- all welcome!  

The big news is the construction of the long awaited Padel court. We would like to extend a thank you to the parish council for their generous grant towards this exciting project for local sport! At the time of writing the concrete lorries were arriving to complete the foundations for the court. For those of you who don’t know about Padel it is the fastest growing sport in Europe, it is family friendly and can be easily played in groups with mixed abilities, it is played on a softer surface so kinder to joints! We are looking forward to welcoming g our first players by June- visit our website or follow us on facebook/Instagram for more information and to see the range of introductory offers!

Hallmark March 2025. Spring is finally in the air and with it comes enthusiasm for tennis! The courts are starting to get busier as members come out of hibernation and dust off their rackets. We are all looking forward the summer league and friendly competitions and tournaments!

We are excited to announce that the Club is in an advanced planning stage to bring padel tennis to our community. Padel is the world’s fastest-growing sport, popular with the likes of David Beckham, Anthony Joshua and Andy Murray, and is a cross between tennis and squash. It is played on a half sized enclosed tennis court

with the ability to hit off the sides. It’s very popular as it’s easy to pick up, good for mixed abilities and age groups and it’s a good work out while being kind on your joints! There are currently only six courts in Buckinghamshire, and we hope by mid-summer

Dan’s award

Our amazing coach, Dan, has been awarded coach of the year. His nomination included recognition of “his hugely popular tot’s tennis sees him playing the role of a shark, dog trainer and tennis coach” and his ability to “Teach the unteachable”

Coaches like Dan are extremely rare, he is a brilliant player and coach. We are extremely lucky that he enjoys the challenge of teaching us and the club simply wouldn’t be the same without him!

Gin and Fizz. Our ever popular Gin and Fizz night was due to be held at The Sports club on 14th March, but has been postponed to a little later in the year (date TBC), the event is open to everyone and we would love to see lots of people there!

Hallmark November 2024. It’s not really been the best season for tennis with several matches being postponed in October due to rain and the courts being covered in leaves! A willing team spent an afternoon clearing the courts and surrounding area only to find the leaves returned within 24 hours… there’s something about shovelling snow while it’s still snowing but we burnt a surprising number of calories, so on balance I’m sure there was some benefit!

Our Womens team have enjoyed a great start, sitting top of Division 7 after three fixtures, however, a defeat (following a valiant effort) at Aylesbury threatens their position. Mens 1 & Mens 2 are both mid table, and our mixed teams are both seeking their first wins- it’s early in the season and they have both only played 2 fixtures so far. We wish them all success throughout the season.

We entered our first under 8’s team in the mini red challenge at Buck’s indoor tennis centre - it was a great learning experience for all involved and a huge WELL DONE to Mason, Jacob, Isla and Phoebe (and Dan)- we are all extremely proud of you!

In early October nine members enjoyed a fantastic 4 night stay at La Manga in South East Spain.  The tennis centre boasts 28 courts and 7 padel courts, and visually, the clays courts are always striking with the rich ochre of the brick dust set off by dark green hedges and giant cacti.  We played some 4.5 hours each day split between tennis and padel, followed by visits to some local restaurants.  A great trip, and there is even more interest next year!

The ladies social on 1st Nov was a riot, The Thai at Great Kingshill is an excellent venue and the food is great…. The team there are also very patient! Thank you for hosting us!

The Christmas dinner is coming up on the 30th November, by the time you are reading this we will have had it and I suspect a great time was had by all and the food at The Pink and Lily was, as always, excellent!

If you are thinking of New Years resolutions, cardio tennis is a great way of getting fit. Sessions run Thursday morning and evening and Saturday morning It’s a bit like circuit training with a tennis racket and a bit of friendly competition… tennis ability not important! For anyone retired or semi-retired, members and non-members there is a U3A session 1-3pm Wednesday.

Hallmark June 2024. Report by Nicky Housby

We kicked off the season, in early April, with a very well-attended Open Day. This was a chance for new members to experience what is on offer at the club and meet existing members, many of whom came out of hibernation for what appeared to be the only day In April that it didn't rain! Numbers at the club have grown this year the tots tennis being particularly popular.

The Gin and Fizz night in early May was a little smaller than previous but as always proved to be a very enjoyable evening. We are looking forward to a Summer BBQ and the ever-popular Christmas party later this year.

The winter leagues were very successful, seeing the men’s team win division 5, the mixed team come second in division 6, and the ladies 5th in division 7. The summer season has got off to a flying start for the mixed doubles who are through to the quarter finals of the KO bronze cup and sitting top of division 6.

Coming up in 2024: We have a friendly mixed doubles tournament running on the 9^th June, the summer singles tournament final on the 22^nd June (with drinks, nibbles and hopefully a BBQ). The men’s team are heading out to La Manga again in October to work on their tans... sorry, tennis.

The big news is, after a couple of years of planning and fundraising, the toilet facility will be built at the club this summer. Plans will be made to ensure minimal disruption to anyone using the club and Slad Lane.

lf anyone is keen to get out on the courts and enjoy the sunshine please do get in with us.

Hallmark August 2023. Report by Nigel Glenister

Sport England’s surveys show that the number of adults playing tennis regularly has increased by 43% for the 12 months to November 2022. This is the highest figure recorded for tennis and it is reflected too with 3.6 million children playing annually.

At Lacey Green, we are also seeing more tennis being played at all levels. Dan’s junior coaching groups are thriving, and I am pleased to see more women coming through and playing in the mixed and ladies’ team.

Certainly, our cardio tennis workouts are attracting a lot of new potential members who aren't far off joining as full members. I don't think it will be too long before we can create a second women’s team to play in the Aylesbury League.

The current team are in a strong position in division 7 and sit in second place, one point behind the leaders. This is recognition of all the practice that has been taking place recently, and new players wanting to step up and play matches.

Our mixed team have also had a strong season to date and have every chance of promotion to division 5. Men’s 1 are mid to lower of division 3 having been promoted every season. Players in division 3 and above tend to be very good players with a number being ex county players. Our men’s 2 team have had some good recent success and with a new influx of keen players have every hope of moving higher over the next year or so.

On 19th May we held a very successful auction and gin & fizz evening. | am so grateful to all members, residents and local businesses who donated such lovely gifts for the auction. We had a large projector screen setup so that members could bid and real time prices. Some of the hotly contested items were changing hands constantly right up to the close at 10pm! In the end, the evening raised just under £7,000 which was an amazing achievement! Many thanks to everyone who helped make the evening such a success!

There was no time to recover as we held our open morning the following day! A quick setup and it was time to greet potential new members. We had advertised the event widely on Facebook and we knew that there was going to be a good attendance. Dan did a full morning of free coaching, and I am pleased to say that we have gained some new members, both children and adults.

By the time you read this, the summer holidays will be just starting. During the latter part of July and the majority of August, Dan will be running his multisport summer camps, and there is something for everyone.... tennis, cricket, rounders, unihoc and football. These run from 9am to 4pm and cost £45 per day. Interested? Contact Dan: 07754 016067 or email dsmithtennis@gmail.com

Hallmark May 2023. Report by Nigel Glenister

We were delighted to win the “Connecting with Communities Award” for Buckinghamshire in early February. The award recognises all the work we do locally including: 7 links with local primary schools, taster sessions for local clubs, weekly U3A session, walking tennis and the biggest junior programme in the area.

The growth in membership has enabled us to expand our teams, resulting in more success on court. At the Aylesbury League Tennis Awards evening held at Ellesborough Golf Club in April, we picked up 4 trophies from last season including a new award for most improved club!

However, the winter season just ended, has proved to be a little frustrating apart from the ladies’ team who stand a very good chance of being promoted to division 7. Men 1 came equal second on points, but narrowly lost promotion on sets won. Men’s 2 had a very disappointing season and finished bottom of division 7 and will be playing in division 8 next season! The mixed team having been promoted last season, had a consolidation season finishing mid-table.

The summer leagues commence in early May and Men’s 1 find themselves in the lofty position of being in division 3 with some stiff competition to face.

Regular readers of this column will know that we are building up substantial funds to build a clubhouse and a 4th court. We are starting to get bottlenecks on court, particularly with the popular Sunday morning session which regularly hits our maximum allocation of 18 members. We are also looking to invest in a different court surface with artificial clay being the most popular (and the most expensive!).

As well as applying for various grants, we have also been actively fund-raising, including a very successful car wash at the beginning of March, raising some £800.

Our main fund-raiser this year is the annual gin and fizz evening on 19th May. Included with this is an auction of various lots which total over 25. We are so lucky to have many generous members and the lots include 5 holiday villas/apartments (including Florida and Spain).

There are also tickets to major summer events, local family tickets and many other exciting prizes.

We are so grateful to all the local businesses that are supporting us and at the time of writing these include: Allure Nail and Spa, Booker Gym Club, Bucks Goat Centre, Hell-Fire Caves, Great Hampden Arms, Heather Breed Upholstery, Pink & Lily, Princes Risborough Golf Club, Twenty-Four Hair and the Whip Inn.

Open Day. As we move into the busy summer season, we will be running a record 14 junior group lessons and 12 adult lessons each week. If that whets your appetite, come along to our open day on Saturday 20th May and enjoy free coaching on all our activities. If you are a beginner, we will be running new tennis xpress courses throughout the summer. A great opportunity to try something new and enjoy the great outdoors!

Hallmark February 2023. Excerpt from the report by Nigel Glenister

The men’s 1st team currently sit second in division 5 with a very good chance of promotion this year. The men’s 2nd team, having been promoted last year are struggling in division 7 and sit second from bottom. The points are quite close, so a couple of wins could save them from relegation.

Our ladies’ team are steadily improving and benefiting from a larger pool of players. The extra practice sessions have paid off and they sit 3rd in division 8 with every chance of promotion.

The mixed team are mid table with a mixed bag of results. Having been promoted last year, a year of consolidation would be a good result.

Off court we had a record number of social activities. On 26th November 40 members enjoyed a fabulous Christmas meal at The Pink and Lily. Dan our tennis coach also had his DAFTA awards (Dan’s award for tennis achievement) which were presented during the evening and were highly amusing. Categories included the player who had lost the most balls, time keeping and the worst on court jokes. I may have won one of those awards!

Dan’s Monday improvers group organise a few social activities throughout the year and had a lovely meal at the Black Horse at the beginning of December. The year was completed with both the men and ladies going out. The men had a curry evening at the Radhuni and the ladies had a meal at a Thai restaurant in High Wycombe. We were all impressed with the subsequent video that was circulated showing their hand co-ordination and high-spirited festive singing to Twelve Days of Christmas!

Planning permission for our new pavilion was finally approved on 19th October and since then we have installed a standpipe by the shed and are awaiting Thames Water to connect us in Slad Lane. We are also looking to replace some of our older wooden benches with more modern heavy duty plastic ones. I am grateful to the Parish Council for their continued support and thank them for their recent grant.

Finally, | was pleased to award prizes to two members of the year. Jackie Coles has done an amazing job with fund-raising, putting in hours of work together with her partner Mike. Also, one of our newer members, Simon Floyd has really engaged with the club, playing lots of tennis and introducing a number of his friends to the club. Well done both, here’s to a great 2023!

Hallmark November 2022. Report by Nigel Glenister

As the evenings draw in, our hardy tennis players are still out there playing in all weathers under the floodlights. Having three floodlit courts massively increases playing time and it is pleasing that we are exceeding 60 hours a week on court.

Our membership continues to expand, and we have been fortunate to take on many keen players wanting to improve their game. Dan has certainly been kept busy with private lessons and group coaching. A highlight has been cardio tennis which is a high energy workout to music. The sessions are 9.15am and 7.30pm Thursdays and 10.30am on Saturdays; we have seen record numbers recently.

Congratulations to Mike Kitching who was Dan’s adult member of the month for September. Mike has shown great commitment to improving his tennis and is becoming more consistent during drills sessions and social play.

In our junior programme, Isla Williams has a great attitude towards learning by always listening, and applying what she is taught to her technique. All with a smile too! She is junior player of the month, well-done.

Moving from the summer term to autumn, we normally see a small drop off in juniors, but this year the numbers have stayed the same. This is highly encouraging, and our aim is to get the children playing more friendly matches against other local clubs. Kids love competition and it really motivates them to improve and develop their playing skills.

The planning permission for our new pavilion was due to be decided in July, but like most applications there has been a large delay. Our architect has finally heard back, and we are informed that they are writing it up for approval – fingers crossed!

Having a toilet, kitchen facilities and seating next to the courts will be a massive improvement and will hopefully expand our membership base even further.

In preparation for this, we have paid Thames Water to install a new water main for us in Slad Lane. Like everything, prices were going up and we had the opportunity to freeze the installation costs at 2021 prices. An opportunity not to be missed.

To aid with the funding of the new clubhouse, I am grateful to Jackie Coles for organising the many fund-raising activities that we have held this year. Over 80 people attended our Thursday night quiz on 13th October, and we managed to raise £1,350. Not bad for a weeknight, but then again many work from home on Fridays – or so they Say!

Other events planned include Our annual Xmas dinner at the Pink & Lily on Saturday 26^th November and our fun Santa mulled wine and mince pie morning. It’s amazing how the co-ordination completely goes after a couple of drinks. Funny to watch too!

We were saddened to hear of the demise of Lacey Green Productions. We enjoyed supporting their shows and they have been very generous with their support of the tennis club too. We were delighted to be included on the final distribution of funds and wish everyone who was involved, every success for the future.