County Award

Suffolk LTA hosted their annual awards evening for 2007 at the Orwell Park School, in Ipswich.  Guest of honour was the Chief Executive of the LTA, Roger Draper.  During his speech he recognised the importance of volunteers to the success of tennis in the UK.  We were delighted that long standing club member, first team captain and perhaps most importantly of all, junior coach, John Tallent, was awarded an LTA county tie as recognition of his long-standing involvement and support for tennis in the local community.

Dates for the Diary

At last the resurfacing and painting of the two main courts is complete and they look fantastic - better still they play fantastic as well. So to celebrate this and give them a formal 'christening' we have a couple of events lined up. On Sunday, 23rd September at 2pm, it is 'Finals Day' with the finals of both the mens and ladies singles due to be played.

The following week, Sunday 30th September, there is an American Tournament open to all members. It starts again at 2pm and there is a £1 entry fee.

Finally on Friday 12th October, there is a Quiz night to be held in the pavilion. Judging by past events this is likely to be a great night with teams of up to 5 people competing in 10 rounds. Organise your team now or come along on the night. Starts 7.30pm. The bar will be open and a fish and chip supper available.

Framlingham 2007

Hello everyone. Yet again a enjoyable, and exciting Framlingham. This Framlingham was memorable for Joan Hassell as it was her 50th Framlingham. She had a present given to her after a final (on Thursday) and that was when everybody was there watching. Sproughton had a successful Framlingham with many reaching finals. And one winning them.

 

Me and Ben Hart entered the U16 singles and doubles with the prospect of at least winning one round. In our doubles we were un-successful losing 6-2 6-1 against two boys we knew we had a chance against. In Ben's singles he managed to win two rounds, and then losing to a seed 6-2 6-2. I unfortunately lost first round of my U16 playing a Norfolk junior losing 0 and 1. I entered a total of five events and those were 2. I entered the U14 singles, doubles, and mixed. In the singles I lost first round, and entered the plate losing first round of that 2 and 3. In the doubles I played with a "Partner Wanted" winning my first round. Then getting trounced 0 and 0 against one of the finalists. In my mixed I played with my another "Partner Wanted" and losing first round.

 

John on the other hand entered the Vets (Veterans) singles, doubles, and mixed. In the singles the Number 2 seed lost 6-0, 1-6, and 4-6. In the doubles John and another good player (Bob Booker) lost in the Semi-Final 7-5 6-4. He played Charles Fulcher who plays for Felixstowe and is renowned for Quick Reactions, a good doubles player, and bad language. In the mixed John and another Sproughton player (Woo), Christine Nugent cruised to the final with John. They lost a close match, but won that "magic" £10 each prize money that couldn't pay for the petrol home. Remember its all about the experience. And glory.

 

Colin played in the Vets Mens doubles and won the final getting another £15 each that was also payed to the Runner-Up's. His aprtner was Mike Ellis .

 

Over all though, this Framlingham was a memorable Fram,with very good weather , and plenty of sun , and hopefully next year Sproughton will do even better.

 

Matthew Tallent

 

Sproughton Blogger

Sproughton vs Adastral Park 3 (Away)

Hmm... What a washout. We managed to play 6 full sets and 3 "half sets". Due to the deluge we had to stop near to 9 o'clock. Anyyyyway. Our pairs were:

1. Ben Hart and Adam Chappell
2. The Matthew's (Me and Chappell)
3. Glen and Mike

Ben and Adam lost against the first pair 8-5 during the end of the first washout. (There were two washouts, One at the end that was heavy, and one at the start was drizzly). Against the second pair in the first deluge they lost 8-5 again. At the final rain they were losing 5-1 when Ben and Adam had to stop.

 

Me and Matt lost against the first pair in the first game 8-5. At our first game against the second pair we lost 8-6 feeling we should have won. Our final but kind of... WET game was lost at 3-2 with the start of our come-back in our sight.

 

Glen and Mike played the first pair at the last deluge and were losing 5-1. Against the second pair they lost 8-0. A suprising lose as me and Matt got 6 games. Against the third pair they lost 8-3 and were unlucky as I presume that was at the first deluge.

 

Unfortunately there wasnt much to say as we didn't get the finish all the games due to the rain, and earlier rain spell. But!! The show had to go on as it was only drizzle. :) Bring on less rain?

 

 

Mens 3 vs St Johns 3

Yet again, a lose. But do not doubt the powers of the Mens 3 team without the John Tallent who won us our constant 3 sets . Our pairs were:

1. Adam Chappell and Luke Barnes
2. Matthew Tallent (me) and Ben Hart
3. Matthew Chappell and Mike Lawrence

Our first pair, Adam and Luke were fighting the game to the end with Adam actually making an aggressive shot! That is unexpectedly rare. Against the first pair they lost 8-3 battling hard. Against the second they won 8-6 gaining a chance to win that sweety prize (I will explain at the end). Against the third they were expected to win, but lost 8-6.

 

Me and Ben said to each other to at least get one match that night, and that ws exactly what we done. Against that first pair we lost 8-4. Not much to be said as we didn't play well at all. Against the second pair we won on a tie break 9-8. Woo~~~. The third pair weren't playing well at all, and we won 8-2 with suprising ease (Why did we lose two games?).

 

Mike and Matthew lost all three, but battled hard to get the games they won. Against the first pair they lost 8-0 against the hard pair. Against the second pair they lost 8-5 getting the right points, and right crucial shots. The last pair beat them by 8-1.

 

The sweety prize is the prize to the first pair with two juniors to get the first set.

 

WHO WILL GET IT?!?! 

Sproughton 3 vs Adrastral Park 3

Hi all, The match was Sproughton 3 against Adastral Park 3. Just to say... personally I think this team was the friendliest team we've encountered. Yes. Again you have guessed it. We lost 6-3 again. With John and Adam winning 3. Aaaanyway. Now to the scores/pairs. Our pairs were-

1. John Tallent and Adam Chappell
2. Richard Oaks with Matthew Chappell
3. Matthew Tallent (me) Luke Barnes

Ok, John and Adam did win all their matches . Against the first pair they won 8-5. The first pair was the hardest to beat, but most talkative and friendly. In the match against the second pair they won again. The score was 8-1. Almost a white-wash.Against the last pair , the match was won  8-4.

J

Richard and Matthew... we er...Yes. We lost those games. On the bright side we did lose closely. In some of them. The first pair we lost at 5-8. Their second pair lost again at 6-8 resulting in another loss for Sproughton. The last and final game they lost at 2-8. So...against the hardest pair they do best at... Easiest pair worst... Confusing.?

L

Me and Luke lost our games as Luke - supposedly - didn't like his racket, and accused himself of playing the worst in years. Against the first pair we WERE white-washed *sobsob*. The second we done better losing 3-8. A bit better. Then we dropped to our lowest low losing 1-8 to the lst pair.

L

So overall we didn't do very well. Matthew (Chappell) lost with Richard, and me and Luke lost the matches we played. Well, It IS all about the experience factor.

Sproughton 3 Vs St. Johns 3

Yet again, a good game. Althought I said it was a good game we did lose, but in the process we tried our best.Our pairs were:

1. Matthew Chappell and John Tallent
2. Luke Barnes and Adam Chappell
3. Me and John Barton

Matthew and John won all their matches, but with a hard last game. Against their first pair they won 8-4 winning quite easily. Against the second pair they won again (How do they do it?), winning 8-4 again. The second pair were consistent and one person was always glued to the net. Against the third pair they won a "close" game (although we knew they'd win), winning 9-7. This pair were young and had a booming serve.. None of our pairs got on well with them , as they thought they were above us .

Luke and Adam lost all their matches with a close (?) second match . The game against the first pair they lost 2-8 when I accused them of not playing like they would in a Wimbledon final. Against the second pair they lost 6-8 (which was the close ((?)) game) where they both were just playing a consistent game. The final game against the third pair was lost 2-8.

Me and John Barton lost all our matches, but unfortunately winning the least games *sob*. Against the first pair (who thought when someone was at the net you HAD to lob them) we lost 4-8. The second pair won against us 4-8 in a struggle. The last pair (third) we lost 1-8.

*Extras* When Luke and Adam played the Third pair, Luke was very irritated because of the arrogance of one of the boys playing. And when John and Matthew Chappell won against the third pair... We were so happy.

Overall I thought we didn't play well or badly. Its just the big points, and the extra net cords that can win the game. I say MORE PRACTICE!

Sproughton 3 - St.Johns 6

Sproughton 3 against Stowmarket 3

For a division 8 match, it seemed to be better. Today was a hard gruelling 9 sets in which the final score was a 3-6 loss. The Sproughton pairings were: M. Chappell and L. Barnes, M.Tallent (me) and A.Chappell, and finally J.Tallent and B. Hart. The Stowmarket players (in their pairs) were: M. Clements and K.Simpson, J.Spitzer and K. Vincent, and H. Hudson and L. Carrol.

In three sets in which Luke Barnes and Matthew Chappell played... Were lost. In which they were the scores of 2-8, 1-8, and 0-8. They played as first pair meaning the hardest match was first, and in that game they played the best with the score of 2-8. The first pair was Stowmarkets best as one of their players on that pair could do the best "angle-dropshot-volley" that I've ever seen. Their second game was 1-8 against the 2nd pair. That combination was a steady, consistent pair that was playing much better against Luke, and Matthew. In the last game, (suprisingly) they played the worst which was a 0-8 loss. The last pair ( I thought) was the... "consistent" pair.

Our second pair of M.Tallent and A. Chappell had probably the most confusing result in the history of game scores. The second pair who we played first was our best game. The score was 5-8, and from being 2-6 down this was a good score. I'd say the motto of that game was "The match is never over until the final point is played." Our second game was against the third pair which we lost 8-0. The first odd 3 to 5 games were all dueces going on. But, as the score says... We lost ALL of the dueces in a frenzy of bad shots, and net cords going against us. Our third but final game was the 1st pair in which we lost 8-1. To myself I think the game we won was a forfeit in which the other pair just didn't bother to play well. Either that or we just played great, that we weren't doing the in the rest of the games.

The third - and final pair - of J.Tallent and B. Hart (suprisingly?) won every match. First pair was against the 3rd pair which was a 8-2 win. I personally don't know how they managed to win AND only drop two games. The second match was against the number one pair which they won 8-1. I again don't know how they did it. The pair tell me that the other pair didn't play so well as they did against our 2nd and 1st pair as no "angle-dropshot-volley" shots were played. I still don't know how it happened. The third game was against their 2nd pair in which they won 8-2. Ben Hart from where I was standing was almost falling asleep. J.Tallent (yet again) was playing at the best of his standard and winning 99% of the points.

The team average age was almost 14. Until my Dad joined to make it 19.5. In our defence we didn't play that bad, but on the other hand we could've played better or more consistently.

There is a team photo here (Image 2).

-Matthew Tallent.

P.S The "or more consistently." part was edited by John Tallent.

New Season

The new summer season is nearly upon us.  At our recent AGM, the membership rates for this year were agreed as Adults £65, Juniors £38, Family £140, Concessionary £45, Country £45 and Winter £30.  As before there is a £5 discount on these figures (£10 for families) if paid by 15^th May.

 

The new summer club nights start on Monday 16^th & Wednesday 18^th April.  Junior coaching begins on Friday 20^th April – See the juniors page for more details on times.

Css-ed

The web-site has been revamped slightly - The pages are now written entirely using CSS which should mean they are more consistent. There are still a few updates to make in the coming weeks (new pictures in the gallery for instance) but in the main the new site is up and running. If you spot any problems, let me know by adding a comment to the blog or use the Contact Us page.

AGM

This years AGM is scheduled for Monday 26th, March at 7.30pm in the pavilion. It's your club so come along and join in. Items on the agenda will include a review of 2006, membership fees for 2007 and fund-raising ideas. If you've never been to the AGM make this year your first!!

Wiki Wiki 2

Well despite convincing the editor who originally flagged our article for deletion that is was valid, two other editors have come along and decided we do not meet the Wikipedia criteria, so we no longer have our presence there. It was good while it lasted - but never mind there is still an article on James Trotman, a favourite son of Sproughton Tennis, on Wikipedia.

Wiki Wiki

We now have an entry on Wikipedia . There is currently some debate from one of editors as to whether we deserve an entry on there but it is there and if you add your support, it is more likely to stay!

Googletastic

Finding our club has never been easier as we now have a map powered by Google on the Contact Us page showing the location of the club. Since the map is a Google map you can do all the things you are used to doing with Google Maps, zooming in & out, adding satellite image overlays etc. Now there is no excuse not to come and play (well only today's snow!).

New Balls, please!

Hello and welcome to the first Sproughton Tennis Club blog. We will use this as another way of trying to keep the world updated of all things relevant to STC and maybe a few others as well.