Benenden Tennis Festival Summertime Slam

Totally Tennis played host to a Benenden Tennis Festival last Sunday with a Summertime Slam event open to both mini red and orange players. The three hour event was run by performance players Miles Bromilow and Liam Hignett and packed with a whole host of tennis related fun, games and competition.

The festival is designed to give players new to competition the opportunity to learn about scoring and the rules of tennis while the more experience players get some match practice but the overall theme is for the players to have fun.

Games to get everyone warmed-up, including balloon tennis, around the world and knockout tennis, preceded the matches. The mini red competition was a round robin draw of seven players with lots of competitive matches. The overall winner was William Durman who won all his matches and Neel Chandrasekar was runner-up.

The Orange competition was split into two boxes with the top two players from each box going through to the semi-finals. The first semis match was an all sibling affair with Box A winner Geven Chendhilkumar facing his brother Guhan who was Box B runner-up, Geven was the victor 10-6. Meanwhile in the other semi-final the winner of Box B Hayden Cummings beat Box A runner-up Ansh Annaredy 10-4.

The final was watched by all the competitors with Cummings declared the overall winner beating Geven 10-4. The day finished with a presentation and prizes for all the competitors.

Bromilow said, “Congratulations to all the players who took part. We look forward to hosting similar events in the future and even some more Benenden Tennis Festivals.”

Healthcare provider Benenden has partnered with the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) to encourage people of all ages from the local community to get involved in themed competitions and live an active lifestyle. Benenden Tennis Festivals are a fantastic opportunity for clubs and venues throughout the country to host fun, themed competitions for local players.

Launched in 2016, the Benenden Tennis Festivals programme saw 870 venues get involved which created over 30,000 opportunities for players to take part in fun, local competitions. There are four themed festivals that clubs can choose to host this year; Aussie Open (celebrating the first Grand Slam of 2017), Women/Girls (a female only festival to celebrate International Women’s Day in March), Summertime Slam (celebrate Wimbledon and the summer of tennis in June or July) and Monster Smash (a spooky event in October or November to celebrate Halloween).

Hignett and Bromilow are part of the LTA’s Referee Development Group which teaches them the necessary competition organisation skills to run events – read more about that here

Additional information used courtesy of www.lta.org.uk/competitions/family/benenden-tennis-festivals/

 

 

Hignett and Bromilow Join Referee Development Group

Totally Tennis performance players and Sherfield School tennis scholars Liam Hignett and Miles Bromilow are adding more skills to their ever growing tennis portfolio by attending a three part Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) referee development course.

The boys were invited to become part of the new Referee Development Group taking place across the South West of England. The LTA initiative aims to develop young players aged 16+, especially those who have shown an interest in coaching, to enable them to run events at their respective clubs by teaching them the necessary competition organisation skills.

With the number of tennis players competing having dropped in recent years from 24,000 to 20,000 the LTA has announced its commitment to reversing the decline. This new group is designed to get like minded young players together and encourage them to run competitions and events that give other players the opportunity to play tennis.

The boys will take part in three free courses at the Winchester Racquets and Fitness Club; the Competition Organiser Course which they have already completed, the Court Supervisors Course and Referees Course worth a whopping £125 in total. They have also been gifted team kit and laptop bags and will receive on-going mentoring as well as the opportunity to learn valuable new skills.

Hignett said. “It has been great to be a part of the Referee Development Group. I’m  looking forward to being able to transfer the skills I have acquired to organise LTA tournaments in the future.” he added, “The next two parts of the courses will teach me how to run my own tournaments as a Referee and also oversee a number of courts at larger tournaments as a Court Supervisor.”

“I am looking forward to continuing with the group and embracing the new opportunities it will give me in the officiating side of the game.”

 

 

Sherfield School Boys In Action At The National Championships

The Sherfield School Boys team, which consists of four Totally Tennis performance players, completed in the Team Tennis Schools National Championships Finals 2016-2017 (formerly known as the Glanville Cup) at the Nottingham Tennis Centre.

The Boys Team (L to R) Alex Dawson, Liam Hignett, former Sherfield School Head of PE Adam Gibson, Miles Bromilow and Dean Cooper Kirby

The team of Liam Hignett, Miles Bromilow, Alex Dawson and Dean Cooper Kirby were playing in a tough field of the top sixteen teams in the country at the weekend long event. Unfortunately the boys were knocked out in the first round of the main draw by Cheam High School 8-4. Bromilow and Cooper Kirby both won their singles matches 4-1, 3-5, 1-0(6) and 4-2, 4-2 respectively but Hignett and Dawson lost, both pairings were beaten in the doubles.

The boys then competed in the consolation draw beating Queen Elizabeth School, Cumbria 10-0 followed by St.Peter’s RC High School 8-4 in the semis but then lost in the final against St Bede’s 8-2 with Bromilow the only player to win a match.

Top seeds Culford School A were the overall winners beating third seeds Reed’s School in the final 8-2. In the Girl’s event (formerly known as the Aberdare Cup)  second seeds Talbot Heath School A beat top seeds Queenswood School in the final 8-4.

 

 

 

 

Road To Wimbeldin County Runner-Up Spot for Isla

Totally Tennis performance player Isla Hignett was runner-up in this year’s 14 and under Girls singles Road to Wimbledon (RTW) County Finals held at Canoe Lake Leisure in Southsea last weekend.

After a bye in the first round Hignett defeated Maya Gupta 4-0, 4-0 in round two followed by Nakshatra Sridhar 4-1, 4-0 in the quarters and Mia Gerty 4-1, 4-0 in the semis. She was beaten in the finals by Martyna Ciubatiuk 4-2, 5-3 who will go on to represent Hampshire & IOW in the National Finals held at Wimbledon in August. Hignett will get to attend a tennis clinic with Tim Henman and Dan Bloxham at Wimbledon on Saturday 19th August along with all the other county final runners-up.

Tim Henman at the 2016 tennis clinic held for all the county finals runner-ups

Clubmate Tillie Reid also played, she had a bye in round one then beat Egna Kuda Mutedzi 4-0, 4-0 in her second round match and Poppy Marston 4-0, 4-1 in the quarters before losing to eventual winner Ciubatiuk in the semis 4-0, 4-0.

HSBC Road to Wimbledon is the biggest junior tournament in British tennis and gives all players 14 & under the opportunity to progress through to compete on the world famous grass courts in SW19. Last year nearly 8000 juniors participated in the RTW event via their club, park or school with 144 players qualifying to play at Wimbledon at the National Finals.

Additional information and Tim Henman photo used courtesy of www.roadtowimbledon.com

 

 

Player Profile: Trevor Cain

TREVOR CAIN

Squad:  50+

How old were you when you first started tennis?

Sixty

How were you introduced to the sport?

By my wife

What made you come to Totally Tennis?  

My wife

Who is your favourite professional tennis player?

Martina Hingis and Rodger Federer

What do you like most about the sport?

Good exercise and social experience

What do you consider to be your best shot?  

Volley

How often do you play?

Once per week

Do you play any other sport?

Skiing and cycling

What’s your greatest achievement in tennis so far?

Improvement in my ability due to the coaching at 50+ sessions

 

Da Silva Wins Doubles Title in Oxford

Totally Tennis performance player Kirsty Da Silva (pictured left) and her partner Amelia Pirt won the Grade 4 Leys Junior Doubles 16 and under title at Leys Recreation Ground in Oxford on Sunday.

Da Silva, 12 and Pirt, 11 were the only pair to win all their three matches in the round robin competition. They beat Isabel and Georgia Black 4-2, 2-4 [10-7], Michaela Shakespeare and Oyinkansolami Durowoju 5-4(1), 2-4, [10-6] and Holly Craig and Beatrice Painter 4-1, 4-1 to win the event.

Congratulations Girls 😉

Totally Tennis Summer Camps 2017

Wimbledon has finished which means the long school summer holidays are on the horizon and Totally Tennis has the perfect solution for parents looking to keep their children fit and healthy and burn off some of their energy.

The club will be running its popular tennis and multi-sport camps at its centre’s in the War Memorial Park*. The camps are a great chance for juniors to improve their sports skills, fitness and make new friends. With indoor and outdoor courts available the fun continues whatever the British ‘summer’ weather has in store. *Book sessions at the War Memorial Park by the Wednesday 19th July to secure 10% off with the early booking offer.

Packed with opportunities to learn and play tennis, weekly activities also include basketball, football, rounders, hockey combined with lots of fun and games. The scheme has received OFSTED accreditation and the sessions are run by experienced LTA qualified and fully licensed coaches. Sessions will be available from Wednesday 26th July – Thursday 31st August at the indoor centre in the War Memorial Park (WMP).

Sessions can be booked for the Morning (9.00am – 12 noon), Afternoon (1.00pm –4.00pm) or Full Day* (9.00am – 4.00pm), children can be dropped off from 8:30am. Please see prices for WMP sessions below including details of the special two and five day package offers.

 

Children need to bring packed lunches and drinks and be dressed appropriately for the weather (suncream if sunny, warm clothing if it’s cold) as they may be playing inside and outside.

*Children must be aged 5 years or over to stay for the whole day. Please note refunds will only be given with 48 hours notice. Those coming for a full day will be supervised during the lunch break and rackets will be provided for those who don’t have one. All children must be signed in and out at reception. Please ensure any medication/inhalers is readily available and staff have been informed prior to leaving the child/children. Photos make be taken for use on this blog and our social media sites, if you object to your child/children’s images being used please inform reception.

For more information about Summer Holiday Camps and to book please telephone the office on 01256 358816, e-mail tt@totallytenns.co.uk or visit the website www.totallytennis.co.uk