TENNIS
Welcome to the tennis page of the club's website
On this page you will learn all about the tennis section down at the club, from our courts to social and top team play!
History
St.Annes tennis club is one of the oldest clubs in the county dating back to 1900 the club is steeped in tradition with many of our past members competing at Wimbledon, in fact the club can boast that a past club President (L.A. Godfrey) even won the doubles tournament at the fabled London club winning the title twice before going on to marry the legendary Miss Kitty Mckane. St. Annes is also proud to claim that Arnold England a great benefactor to the club and probably the finest player ever to come out of Lancashire regularly played at the Championships back in the 30’s and 40’s in between winning the club tournament 25 times a record that still stands to this day and surely one that will never be broken!
St. Annes can claim that over the last 25 years we have been the club to join with not only the best courts but also the most successful social and team play on the Fylde coast.
Courts
The club boasts some of the best hard courts in the north of England with nine courts, with the three show courts floodlit for late evening play! The courts are set in 3 blocks of 3 and all are regularly maintained prior to the start of every new season to make sure that they are the envy of all our competition! This year we have relaid three of the courts with synthetic grass and these are being floodlit withe latest American style low level lighting witha switchon date of the second week in April.
The club has its own professional LTA licensed coach in Bruce Garner who is available for individual and group coaching sessions please see the coaching section for further details.
Social
The social side of tennis at St. Annes is the very heart of tennis down at the club with a thriving social scene that includes club night on Tuesdays in the summer and regular American style tournaments at weekends followed by popular barbeques. A wide variety of social events are organized and are advertised regularly within the club.
Teams
The team side of things is where the more competitive member can represent the club at local, county or national level. The local competition the Fylde league is played during week nights from 6.30pm with teams comprising of 4 players who play in 2 pairs against their opposite number before switching and playing the other pair.
Firstly the juniors under our long serving club coach Bruce Garner compete at local level in the Fylde league (played at weekends) where we boast 2 boys teams and 1 girls team with the boys also competing at county level.
Our ladies too compete at local and county level with the club hosting 3 ladies teams. They also compete in the Liebert cup which is a 6 person competition played at weekends over a full afternoon, the club last winning this prestigious North West region tournament back in 1998.
The men boast 6 Fylde league teams Our top team having won the 1st division on no less than 17 occasions including a run in the 80’s and 90’s where they won it 7 times in succession (Manchester United eat your heart out) The men also take part in county competition (played at weekends) in Lancashire League division 1 where 4 of our top players compete in a competition that combines both singles and doubles play. We also take part in the prestigious Roscoe trophy a 6 man doubles event (again at weekends) played against clubs in the North West of England winning the event three times the last back in 1991, as well as the Ranson Bowl a similar event of which the club are the current 2005 champions. The men also play in national age group events competing in 35’s and 55’s. This allows some of our older players who’s mind is still willing but whose body isn’t quite what it used to be, to still compete against gentlemen of their own age with their own problems!
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Picture Above: Roscoe Trophy Winning Team - 1991
Team practices start at the end of March on Wednesdays for men and Thursdays for ladies with competition for places anticipated to once again being strong.
The club also hosts a club tournament in the summer for men and women as well as a handicap tournament, this year we are hoping to hold both at the same time followed by a presentation evening in conjunction with the social secretary where there will be plenty of food and drink for one and all. The juniors also hold their own tournament followed by a presentation evening with plenty of food but only soft drinks served!
If you are new to the area or just fed up with your old club new player or experienced county player then please come down to St. Annes where you be warmly greeted and shown round our superb facilities where our motto is “Pro Gaudio Ludi” “ For The Love Of The Game”
2009 Club Tournament Winners
Mens Singles - Michael Brown
Ladies Singles - Steffi McPheeley
Mens Doubles - Michael Brown & Hussain Sooky
Ladies Doubles - Steffi McPheeley & Belinda Greenwood
Mixed Doubles - Jonathon Ash & Steffi McPheeley
2009 Club Honours
Mens Fylde League Division 5 Champions
Ladies Fylde League Division 4 Champions
Girls' Division Champions
Boys' Under 14 Champions
Fylde League Fixtures & Results
To find all the Fylde League Fixtures and results split by divisions please click on the link below:
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