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News

A WARM WELCOME TO THE CLUB WEBSITE

American Tournament 2012

Don't forget that the first round of the 2012 American Tournament is this Saturday. Please be there for 1:45pm for registration.

Events Calendar and Tea-rota for 2012

The events calendar and tea-rota for 2012 have both been added to the site. The Saturday tea rota can be viewed here and the events calendar here . The monthly lists can also be seen in the right hand column on this page - beneath the list of fixtures.

Old News

American Tournament

And they think its all over.... The final round of the American Tournament took place on the 3rd December. Carlos and Gavin were the top scorers on the day with Jane Gorvett the leading lady. The final table can be viewed by clicking here. But wait.... I understand that the overall winner in each category will be based on the three best scores over the year - with prizes to be awarded at or around the tennis section Christmas lunch (well informed, or what!). I could tell you who has won, but to maintain the suspense you can work it out yourself!

Bonfire tennis - photos

Rather belatedly I've uploaded some of the photos from the bonfire tennis evening. Ever mindful that the site is publically accessible, I've withheld those of a more personal nature! Those that have made the cut can be viewed here.

Events update

There have been a few additions to the events calendar which I hope will interest many of you. In particular:

• 28 October - Canterbury Oast Trust Music Quiz
• 4 November - Bonfire tennis
• 11 December - Tennis section Christmas lunch

For further details on the quiz and bonfire tennis click the links above.

Tennis finals photos

Geraldine Pickthall has started what I hope is a trend and sent me some photos from the tennis finals. They can be viewed here. There's plenty of space for others, which would be gratefully received. As before, please contact me via the contact the webmaster link.

Winter fixtures

The fixture list for the inter-club winter leagues has been uploaded and can be accessed by following this link or via the 'Playing' tab at the top of the page. There are further links on that page to all the matches in the Kent league (via the Kent LTA website) and also to the club's results from past seasons.

Tennis finals

As notified previously, the finals of the club's handicap competition and most of the open categories will be taking place on Saturday 24th September. I normally take photos of the play, but I am not able to be there this year (is that a sigh of relief I hear?). So, in the absence of anything better, I have posted on the right of this page some stylized images of what I expect it will be like - to whet the appetite! If anyone does take any photos they would like uploaded (or any other material for that matter) please send them to me via the contact the webmaster link.

Memorial Trophy

The Memorial Trophy Tournament will be held on Sunday 18 September at 2pm. This will be a grass court only tournament and participation will be on a first signed up basis. The registration sheet is on the tennis noticeboard. So please find yourself a partner so that your combined age adds up to 85+. The tournament will be in the form of box leagues.

Congratulations

Congratulations go to our Ladies 1st team, Division 1 - Catherine Darby, Jacqueline Darby, Tracey Bunney and Laura Thomas - who beat Sevenoaks 1 to be Kent champions once again.

Congratulations also go to our Under 14 boys team, Division 1 - Matthew Chatfield, Alex Eldridge, Alex McFadden - who won their summer league, beating Parklangley, Shooters Hill and Bromley LTC.

Update on the Open Tournament Finals

Following the postponement of the club's Open Tournament on 16th July, the event has been rescheduled to September. The plan is that the mixed doubles and ladies doubles finals will take place on Saturday 10th September, with the other finals taking place in parallel with the Handicap Finals on Saturday 24th September.

Beckenham Tennis Times

The Beckenham Tennis Times June/July edition is out and can be viewed here.

AEGON National Club League

Congratulations to Beckenham LTC men's National Club League squad who gained promotion to the South East regional division of the AEGON National Club League on Sunday, 10 July. Jim May, Andy Searle, Gary La Pla and James Oni teamed up to beat West Worthing, from West Sussex, 4-2 in a play-off match to reach the top regional tier. Next season, the top two teams from each of the four regional divisions go through to the knock-out quarter-finals stages of the national competition.

Tennis Finals Day

The Tennis Finals Day is on Saturday 16 July starting at 1pm. In addition to the senior championships, it will also be a family tennis day with the junior finals and parent/player finals. Prizes will be given by past Wimbledon champion Maria-Esher Bueno.

Refreshments will be served from 2:30pm, and there will be a Pizza Supper after the event.

There will be a club play session on the grass courts from 1pm-4pm.

The Beckenham Tennis Club Hog Roast 2011

The clay courts are officially open!

Photo: The Mayor of Bromley cuts the tape to formally open the new clay courts.

Luck was on our side and despite torrential rain just 30 minutes earlier, the sun shone (more or less) throughout the ceremony. The Mayor and Mayoress of Bromley, the MP for Beckenham - Colonel Bob Stewart, Maria Bueno and many club members and guests then watched an exciting exhibition match between Gary le Pla and James Oni. Even the BBC attended, although they left before the start having finished their interview with Colonel Stewart.

I, for my part, took lots of photos, which can be seen by clicking the link or the photo above. They can also be viewed via the photo gallery along with many other sets of photos from the distant past.

Beckenham Tennis Times

Le Beckenham Tennis Times nouveau est arrivé. News and views from around the club, beautifully packed into two pages. Highlights include: further details on the clay court opening, an update of the auction of promises and raffle, a useful reminder of court etiquette and 2 match reports. There is also a reminder that the closing date for entries for the handicap competition is Saturday 18th June.

You can access the tomes by clicking the links near the bottom right of this page (from where you can also access earlier editions), or more simply by clicking the following links:Volume 1 and Volume 2.

The Great Hog Roast

As the chinese proverb says - "One picture is worth ten thousand words". What more can I add?

Did I mention the live band, and the veggie option, oh, and it's on the 2nd July, .... and hurry to get tickets before they sell out from Liz - whose number is on the poster. Phew!

Clay Courts Grand Opening

The official opening of the three new clay courts will take place on Saturday 18th June at 2.30pm.

The opening will be attended by the Mayor and Mayoress, Beckenham MP Colonel Bob Stewart, and Maria Bueno. Following the cutting of the tape by the Mayor, there will be a one set exhibition singles match between Gary Le Pla and James Oni.

There will be a jazz band ("Brought into Blues"), and tea will be available at 4pm.

Brian Dodsworth Tournament

Congratulations to Annette for winning the Brian Dodsworth Tournament, closely followed by Richard as runner-up with Tom third.

Winter league - Divisional Finals - Update

Mens Vets 2 beat Parklangley Mens Vets 2 by 3 rubbers to 1 in their Divisional Final. Also, Mixed 1 beat Knoll 1 to win Division 1.

Ballot for Wimbledon tickets

Details of the ballot for Wimbledon tickets are now available on the website by clicking here. Every tennis section member aged 9 and over who is a member of British Tennis and who has signed up to the Club direct debit scheme or paid their full membership fee no later than 1 May 2010, is entitled to enter the draw.

Details of how to become a member of British Tennis and a link to their website are provided in the right hand column on this page (towards the bottom).

American Tournament 2011

The results from the April round of the American Tournament have been uploaded and can be viewed alongside earlier results here. At the half way stage Geraldine Pickthall leads overall, with Ian Barker leading in the mens competition. The tournament is now off on its summer holidays and will return in the autumn.

Winter league - Divisional Finals

The Ladies 3 won their Divisional final match against David Lloyd Beckenham 2. Unfortunately the Mens 1 lost theirs by one set to Tunbridge Wells 1 and Mens 5 lost to St. Johns 1 by 3 rubbers to 1. Mens Vets 2 will be playing their divisional final against Parklangley Vets 2 on the 10th April (away starting at 10.30).

Junior Easter Holiday Programme

Details of the Easter Holiday Programme for 5-16 year olds have been added to the site. Further information can be found here.

Calling all members - Summer Pavilion Springclean

The eagle eyed among you (as well as those who receive the regular emails from the club) will know that it's the Summer Pavilion's annual springclean is on Sunday 3 April starting at 10am.

Please make an effort to help preserve the old Summer Pavilion. There will be a job for everyone - sorting, cleaning cupboards and windows, furniture moving, painting, sawing, hammering and the more that turn up the quicker the jobs will get done.

And if that's not enough, lunch will be provided for those that want to stay, followed by tennis in the afternoon.

Ladies summer tennis teams practice sessions

All ladies who wished to be considered for this summer's teams are invited to attend evening practice sessions - starting on Tuesday March 8th at 19:00-21:00hrs. Other dates currently planned are the 22nd and 29th March with another to be decided. Contact Rae for further information.

Summer league matches 2011

The fixture list for this summer's league matches has been uploaded and can be viewed by clicking here. There are a couple of dates to finalise but these will be added shortly.

Tea Rota

It's what you've all been waiting for. The Saturday tea rota has been uploaded and can be viewed here. The monthly list can also be seen in the right hand column on this page - beneath the list of fixtures and events.

Club AGM

Contrary to my earlier post, the Club AGM has been moved to the 15th March starting at 7:30pm. Click here to access the Club's home page.

Events 2011

A provisional list of events for 2011 has been added to the 'Events' page (where else I hear you think!). There are still some items to add, in particular start times, so keep an eye out for updates.

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Halloween Tennis

I can't believe it's that time of year already (apart from by the weather), but yes, it's halloween time again ooooooo. Around 20 hardly souls braved heavy rain to at least give the semblance of playing tennis before retiring in an orderly manner to the bar and an evening of curry and the odd (in some cases very odd) beverage.

Also thanks go to Fabian, Ania, Lynne and Paul and others for all their effort in organising the event. So until next year.....

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Tennis Finals 2010 - photos

The photos are now up - divided by category - including those from the presentation of medals for the mini tennis tournament which was being played on the far courts. You can see the photos by clicking the relevant link below. You can quickly navigate through the pages of thumb nails by clicking on the index below the small pictures and see larger versions of the pictures by clicking on the appropriate thumb nail. I hope that's all clear!

• Open finals
• Handicap finals
• Awards
• Mini tennis awards