Dear Members,
Welcome to April’s edition of ‘The Tennis Captain’s Newsletter’! I hope you are all enjoying the beautiful weather, perfect for tennis! Here is a quick summary of events over the past month and some upcoming events that you might like to be aware of. Please contact me if you have any questions or want to know more about any of these events. Club events are also published on our website along with relevant links to signup.
Quote of the month. “A champion is defined not by their wins but by how they recover when they fall”. Serena Williams
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Friday Night Social Tennis
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Internal Winter League
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Ladder Cup Final
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Winter League Phase 2
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Civil Service Cup
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Sunday’s Well – Munster Tour 1000 Senior Open, May 12th – 24th
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Spring League
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Sunday’s Well – Munster Tour 1000 Master Open
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Cork Choral Festival – Choirs on the Courts
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Junior Tennis Report
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International News
1. Friday Social Tennis
Friday Social Tennis is continuing to grow, hopefully the longer evenings will encourage you all to come and play. There is a €5 entry fee to play, which includes pizza in the bar around 9pm. All grades are welcome to attend, this is a great way to meet new and existing members. The sign up link is here.
Alternatively, you can sign up using the link on the club website or you can use the QR code on the Social Tennis poster on the main notice board in the clubhouse. The next series of dates are as follows;
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13th April – NOT ON because of Internal Winter League
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18th April (Good Friday)
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25th April
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2nd May
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9th May
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16th May – NOT ON because of the Open but come in and support.
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23rd May – NOT ON because of the Open.
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30th May
2. Internal Winter League
The Internal Winter League is nearly over and some great tennis is being played. The 3rd/4th place playoff will be on Friday April 11th at 7pm between Shane Goggin’s River Room and Gillian Fitzgerald’s Clock Tower. The finals between Karen Keneally’s Mardyke and Mark Nolan’s Cork & County will be on Saturday April 12th at 4pm. Best of luck to all teams!
Like last year, we will be hosting a Ladies Grade 6 mini-tournament on the 11th and 12th of April.
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11th April (Friday) – 3rd/4th place Playoff of Internal Winter League & Grade 6 Ladies Mini-Tournament at 7pm.
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12th April (Saturday) – Finals of Internal Winter League, Ladder Cup Finals and Finals of Ladies Grade 6 at 4pm.
3. Ladder Cup Final
Finals are next Saturday the 12th at 5pm on courts 1-3. Ed Donovan is aiming for four in a row challenged by Kevin McCarthy in the final.
The Normandy Cup final will feature Chris Shepherd versus either Donal Johnson or Simon Fitzgerald.
The Lee Cup final will be between Hugh Robins and Niall Ferriss.
Martin Hurley did a fantastic job as usual. The dinner takes place following both Internal Winter and Ladder Cup finals. Please support by purchasing tickets on this link Ladder Cup Dinner Registration
4. Winter League Phase 2
Our Grade 1 team captained by Dee Swinburne is playing semi finals on Sunday 27th April at home. Come and support, some great tennis will be on display.
5. Civil Service Cup
Well done to Rachel Lynch, Emer Groarke, Clive Kerrisk, and Ruari Keneally who played in the Civil Service Cup in Douglas on March 30th.
6. Sunday’s Well – Munster Tour 1000 Senior Open
Our annual Munster Senior Open is happening this year from May 12th to May 24th. Here is the tournament software link
The opening dates for entry are as follows;
6pm on Sunday 13th April for Grades 1,3 & 5
6pm on Monday 14th April for Grades 2,4 & 6
Thank you to our sponsors O’Connors Pharmacies for their continued support of this event, and to our Tournament Director Bernie Kenny and Tournament Referee Ger Flynn.
7. Spring League
This is currently open for entries. This is a mixed doubles event for Grades 1,2 & 3 in a combined team and Grades 4, 5 & 6 in a combined team. This year there will also be a Singles League. You can enter by the following link
8. Sunday’s Well – Munster Tour 1000 Masters Open
The Munster Tour 1000 Masters Open was held from 27th to the 30th of March. Over 270 entries from all over the country played in 40 different events from the over 30’s to the over 80’s. Congratulations to all players who took part, and to the many Sunday’s Well members who were placed and who won events. Thank you to Insight Insurance for their continued sponsorship. A million “Thank You’s” to Ger Flynn, Marie Duffy, Bernie Kenny and Kevin McCarthy for their time and efforts organising this fantastic tournament. They made the magic happen! You can see photos of finals day on the club’s facebook and instagram.
9. Cork Choral Festival – Choirs on the Courts
Following the very successful hosting of choirs last year, as part of the 125 celebrations we will be hosting two choirs during this year’s Cork Choral Festival.
The two choirs performing this year are Sing4Joy from Switzerland and Cán Aderyn from Wales. There are 76 & 33 singers respectively in each choir. They will be performing on courts 1, 2, & 3 on Saturday May 3rd at 2 pm. Last year’s event was fabulous and I would encourage all members to come along and enjoy the spectacle. Hopefully the weather is as good this year! The event is open to the public so tell your friends.
10. Junior Tennis Report
Heartiest congratulations to our U18 team; Jessica Carly, Nicole Walsh, Johnny and Tommy Fitzgerald who won the Munster U18 Cup in Rushbrooke on the 9th of March. Great tennis and a super result. Well done to you all on a super campaign!
Congratulations to Tommy Fitzgerald who won the boys U18 at Larkspur 500 Open recently.
Our U12 team played in the plate finals of the Pet Essentials competition recently. It was a very close final and despite losing, our team played very well and represented themselves and the club brilliantly. The team was; Finn Kerisk, Cian DiBlasi, Maebh Ní Riain, Alexandra Costello with Ide Ní Riain subbing in at the last minute for Alex who got injured.
Tommy & Johnny Fitzgerald are going into the club on Tuesdays and Thursdays as hitters, the kids love hitting with them. Thank you Tommy and Johnny.
A very successful Adult & Child tournament took place on Sunday the 6th of April, thanks to Louise Statham, Kate Keneally and the fabulous Junior Committee for organising. A great day was had by all.
11. International News
Congratulations to our members who recently represented Ireland at the ITF Masters World Team Championships in Antalya, Turkey.
Women’s 30’s: Tara Higgins (Captain) & Stephanie Corkery
Women’s 45’s: Tricia Higgins (Captain)
Men’s 45: Paul Barry & Kevin Rea
Some highlights of the event; Tara secured a doubles win against clay court specialists Argentina, while Tricia triumphed in her singles match against India – a family affair!
Kevin secured a win in his singles against Turkey in a nail biting match and Paul enjoyed a thrilling doubles victory against Turkey. From what I have heard it was an incredible week, and we are so proud of their achievements in representing Ireland. Well done to all involved!
There are 4 of our members travelling to Wrexham to represent Ireland in the 4 Nations over the May bank holiday weekend. Congratulations and best of luck to Jennifer Haugh, Marie Duffy, Maura McCarthy and Grace Reidy!
Our members Dee Swinburne will be travelling to Portugal, Joe Donovan and Eileen Daly to the USA and Hugh Harrington to Croatia to play in The World Team Championships. Different countries for different age groups. Best of luck to all of you!
Hope you all have a great month of tennis!