Team and club news
What's with the shed
You may have noticed new outbuilding as you approach the clubhouse. This is a metal garage that will store maintenance equipment, and we hope, will free up space in the clubhouse to make it more welcoming.
Thanks to Roy Hutchings, Gerry Nikitopulous, Jim Crockatt, Richard Wintgens for their work in digging the foundations, laying the concrete base and building the garage.
And special thanks to John Howell for his regular work in keeping the courts leaf-free. From time to time, other members have helped with this, but if you see John blowing leaves, please don't be afraid to offer to help.
posted : 2012-02-01
Bagging all the silver
KTC grabbed all the major trophies at the AGM of the Newbury & District Tennis League. Seen here are Paul Homersham, Roxy Voorspuy (ladies capt), Tony Foley (Mens D capt) and Rob King (Mens A & Mixed A capt) with the Mens Div 1, Mixed Div 1, Ladies Div1, Mens Div 4 and Mixed Div 5 trophies received on the night.
Missing from the photo is Mixed C capt John Howell who was having a fag at the time the photo was taken (sorry John, but we keep telling you to give it up). Also at the AGM were Hannah Richards, Mark Grant, Malcolm Davies, and Graeme Coulam meaning a good turn out from KTC on the night.
Well done to all the members who helped us secure so many trophies.
posted : 2012-02-01
Well done girls
The Ladies A team secured the first division title of the NDLTA league with a 6-2 victory over Goring, made just a little easier by Goring fielding just one pair of players on the night, so that we were certain of getting the one point needed for the title without a ball being hit.
However, that should not detract from a great performance by the girls, led by Roxy Voorspuy, over the course of the season to secure the title with one game to spare. Well done to all those who have taken part and made their contribution to this success.
posted : 2011-11-14
Free coaching sessions
Our new coach, Greg Santoro-Fergusson is offering ALL CLUB MEMBERS free tennis lessons on the weekend of the 24th and 25th of September. This offer applies to both Juniors and Adults on both Saturday and Sunday.
The programme will be as follows :Junior mini red 2pm to 2:30pm, mini-orange 2:30pm to 3pm, mini-green 3pm to 3:30pm and Junior 3:30pm to 4:30pm.Adult beginners and intermediate 4:30pm to 5:30pm. Adults intermediate and advance 5:30pm to 6:30pmPeople should bring their own tennis racquets.
This is a great chance for you to meet Greg (and some other members) and to find out more about his plans for coaching at KTC. Whatever level you currently play at, Greg is intending to run sessions to suit you (not just coaching but special sessions for like-minded players), so why not take advantage of these free sessions and see how you could hone up your game with some expert instruction?It would help Greg to know that you are going to be there, so if possible please email him on fergsant@btinternet.com or call 07765004238 to confirm your attendance. Otherwise you will be able to just turn up on the day - Greg will be there.
posted : 2011-11-14
Chris & Mikey triumph
Kintbury A team players, Chris Proctor and Mikey Puttick were winners of the Newbury & District League men's doubles tournament held at Greenacre on Sunday 25th September. Well done to them
Kintbury fielded 4 pairs in the tournament, which was organised by our A team captain Rob King along with Liz Fidler. (Rob King and Phil Howell made the semis, but were beaten by Mike and Chris). Kintbury lady, Janine Fisher also partnered a friend in the ladies tournament, in which they were runners up.
Well done to all our players.
posted : 2011-11-14
Summer party
Kintbury Tennis Club held another great summer party with a hog roast at the Blue Ball in Kintbury on Friday July 8th.
It was good to see so many sections of the club represented - first team players, lower team players, parents of children in coaching, casual players, and a great many friends and supporters of the club. Thanks to those who came along, and encouraged others to join us, and especial thanks to Roxy, Nick and Rob for organising a great social event that also raised some useful funds for the club. We are looking forward to next year already.
posted : 2011-07-15
Fun Run June 5th
The annual fun run round Kintbury took place on June 5th 2011, starting and finishing from the recreation grounds. Approximately 150 runners (and walkers) from all over the region took part. Many thanks go to Dave Wright for organising the event, and to the (very few) volunteers from the club who helped with marshalling etc.
posted : 2011-06-09
Fantastic Food Quiz Night
Approximately 120 people attended our Fantastic Food Quiz Night on May 7th, 2011. It was a great social evening with a really good atmosphere, and of course, a chance to raise a few funds for the club.
The Blue Ball provided catering for the event, helping us to live up to our Fantastic Food billing, and the quiz was won by the 'five & half brains' team, comprising at least three of our members (Paul Morgan, Greg & Helen Blanchard) who kindly donated their winnings back to the club.
We even had a rendition of Happy Birthday for Jessie Homersham which rivalled 'Land of Hope & Glory' from last night of the Proms. Thanks to all for turning up in such great force, and special thanks to those that helped with setting up and clearing up.
posted : 2011-05-08
Open Day
Kintbury Tennis Club held an open day on May 1st starting at 11am. A few new faces turned up as well as many old friends eager to renew their membership of Kintbury Tennis Club. The draw was also made amongst BTM members for the right to purchase Wimbledon Tickets.
posted : 2011-05-06
Well done lads
Two of our young players took on a team from Wootton Hill on Sunday April 17th and came out victorious. Jordan Shaw and George Benson first won a doubles encounter then their respective singles to gain a clean sweep.
George Benson & Jordan Shaw v Nick Leah & Oliver Phillips 7-5 6-1 George Benson v Nick Leah 7-5 6-4 Jordan Shaw v Oliver Phillips 6-0 6-2
posted : 2011-04-20
KTC gain Clubmark accreditation
Kintbury Tennis Club has received Clubmark accreditation from the Lawn Tennis Association. Clubmark basically recognises that the club is well run, has effective policies and procedures relating to important issues such as child protection, and that our coaching programme meets LTA standards.
The Clubmark certificate was presented to committee on March 28th by Jo Downing, LTA rep for this region. For more info click clubmark.php
posted : 2011-04-18
AGM March 28th
The KTC Annual General Meeting took place at the Blue Ball in Kintbury on March 28th at 7pm. More than 20 members attended.
Key decisions taken were to accept a change of constitution and to set subscriptions for the coming season to be the same as last year.
For more info click constitution.php
posted : 2011-04-04
Winners again
With the final of the mens pairs competition nicely poised at one set all, after some fabulous tennis from both sides, it was a shame that an elbow injury to Paul Morgan forced the match to be abandonned in favour of Rob King and Nick Burn. So Rob and Nick reclaim the title they won last year (and the year before?) and get to keep the trophy.
Actually, they get to keep two trophies after Rob found the original tucked away in his garage, and brought it along to the final with the replacement that has been used in the interim!
It was a sad end to the final that had promised a great deal. Paul and Malcolm set off at a blistering pace and cruised through the first set. Rob and Nick fought hard in the second, conjuring up some magnificent recovery play, and hitting some great winners to make it one set all. But then that was it. Pity. John had brought chocolate cake for the spectators so all was not lost.
posted : 2010-09-24
John reigns supreme
What a clever boy..... except he can't spell challenge.
But he must be able to play tennis.
posted : 2010-09-06
NDLTA Yorkshire Cup Final 2010
Sunday 5th Sept saw the final of the Newbury and District Lawn Tennis Association’s Yorkshire Cup played out between last year’s winners Harwell Labs and Kintbury Tennis Club. The Yorkshire Cup so called after it was presented by Yorkshire man Peter Smith back in 1966 is a handicap doubles tournament whereby the teams are made up of 2 men and 2 ladies. The match comprises of a men’s doubles, a ladies doubles, followed by 4 mixed sets.
Despite Kintbury’s strong pedigree in the league over many years we had only won the Yorkshire Cup once back in 1990 and were now giving away 16 games to Harwell. The match began in the gloom and rain with spectators taking shelter wherever they could. Even with heavy wet balls the standard of play and shot making was high on both sides. The men’s doubles was won by Kintbury 6-4 but conceding 4 games to Harwell’s Matthew Davies and Alex Wingent was not helping Kintbury’s cause of pegging back the 16 games. Matt with his shot making and defensive play made life on court difficult for Rob King and Paul Homersham, on many occasions they were asked to win the point one more time and in the end the error came. Kintbury ladies Hannah Parker and Roxy Voorspuy also came through the 1st rubber against Debra Davies and Alice Atkins 6 – 3. It was as an intriguing encounter as Alice aged 15 exchanged big ground strokes with Hannah a seasoned pro with bags of experience from her time on the European tour. Intermixed with this were the consistent lobs of Debra that caused havoc on numerous occasions when perhaps often they should have been dealt with better by all the Kintbury pairs during the match.
Harwell began to boss the tie in the 1st round of Mixed Doubles as mother and son combination (Debra and Matthew) played an inspired set and wore down Rob and Roxy to win 6 – 2. With Kintbury winning the other rubber 6 -1 the tie was still alive but the mountain was getting higher for Kintbury.
Entering the final rubber in the mixed Harwell needed 3 games to retain the cup. Very early on the cup was destined to remain with the holders as Harwell’s family pairing took a 2-0 lead and despite reaching 2-2 with Harwell holding at 3-2 the match was over for Kintbury despite their eventual 6-4 victories they had lost by 6 games 41-35.
Peter Smith presented the Yorkshire Cup to the Harwell Team and the supporters and players bid a welcome retreat to the warmth and dry for a spot of lunch.
posted : 2010-09-06
Success for all our teams
Kintbury Tennis Club has had another great league season. Our mens A and mixed A teams both won division one titles this year, meaning the mixed A have continued their annual sequence of Div 1 titles successes. The ladies won promotion for the second successive season, and the mixed B, mens B and mens C also gained promotions. The mens D managed to blood several new players including a majority of juniors and had our best season for a while, even winning two games bt the maximum score. You can see how we have fared in this and previous years by checking our For more info click honours.php
posted : 2010-09-05
Taking on the bowls club
Roughly 15 members of Kintbury Tennis Club took up the challenge from Kintbury Bowls Club to give bowls a try on the first Wednesday after the new courts opened.
In fact, more tennis players turned up than bowlers, meaning the planned competitive format of the evening was dispensed with, and everyone played for the fun of it. Rumour has it that certain of our members were natural bowls players, and didn't look out of place on the green (largely due to the fact that some of us are getting on a bit).
That said, not one of the tennis players was wearing the regulation combination of white tops and grey trousers, so it was very easy to spot who was who. Nonetheless, notwithstanding the sartorial inelegance, there were plenty of good bowls played by the tennis players, and a very close finish to at least one of the games. Photographic evidence tends to suggest that some of the bowls delivered by our members were somewhat airborne at times (no names mentioned), but it seems that everyone enjoyed their game and that was all that really mattered.
Now we need to take the bowlers on at tennis..... or perhaps not.
posted : 2010-05-13
Grand opening of new courts
About 150 people turned up to our open day, and it was especially nice to see lots of new faces, and new people looking to join us. We had one court full of juniors all day, receiving coaching and help from two coaches. Greg stepped in at the last minute when we thought Phil wouldn't be able to make it (Icelandic volcano), but he actually did make it! Others also helped with coaching.
The courts were fully occupied all day, mainly in sunshine, though by the end of the day it was drizzling slightly. It didn't seem to dampen anyone's enthusiasm though and all in all it was a thoroughly good day.
Jim Crockatt made us a nice new notice board which also went up on the day, so check out any new notices on the board as well as online.For more info click
posted : 2010-05-01
