Dear Members,
Welcome to the September edition of ‘The Tennis Captain’s Newsletter’! I hope you are all enjoying the blue skies today. This is a quick summary of events over the past month and some upcoming events 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 and on Facebook and Instagram.
Quote of the month;
‘If you don’t lose, you can’t enjoy victories. You have to accept both things.’ Rafael Nadal
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Friday Night Social Tennis
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Mary Collins Charity Day
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Induchem Senior Close Championship 2025
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Junior Close Championship 2025
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Munster Tennis Winter League Phase 1
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New Members Night
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American Tournaments
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Members Achieving Upgrades
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Senior Interpros
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Junior Tennis Update
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AOB
1. Social Tennis
Social tennis is ongoing most Fridays! It has been wonderful to see it continue over the summer with at least four/five courts in use most Fridays. Thank you to the Tennis Committee members for keeping it going. Do consider coming in and encouraging your friends also, it’s a lovely social evening where you might meet some members you haven’t seen in a while or haven’t met before. All grades are welcome to attend, €5 for tennis and pizza! This is the sign up link
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. There is a tennis committee member on site every Friday to run the evening.
The next dates are;
September 12th
September 26th
October 10th
2. Mary Collins Charity Day
The Mary Collins annual charity day was held in the Club on Saturday, August 30th from 12 midday until 4pm. This is an annual, fun filled, charity ladies’ doubles event open to clubs in Cork City followed by food and chats in the clubhouse. A huge thank you to this year’s sponsor EY for coming on board for this event, your support is very much appreciated. Thanks also to Liam in Brook catering who donated delicious cold meats for the banquet and to all the individuals and companies who gave prizes for the raffle on the day.
A very special thank you to Laia Raigal and Noelle Twomey for running the event again this year. As with all tournaments, the level of work before the day is enormous and you both brought enthusiasm and dedication to the planning of a great day. Thanks also to Triona Fitzgerald who was a rock on the day and to Jackie who made sure everything in the kitchen and bar ran smoothly. There was €2,000 raised on the day and all proceeds will go directly to Edel House, which provides emergency accommodation for women and children in need. A super outcome, and I’m very proud of our club raising that amount of money for a local charity.Thank you to all who played and donated.
3. Senior Close Championship 2025
The Annual Close Championship will take place from next Sunday, September 14th to Friday, September 19th. Thank you to our sponsor Induchem, without sponsorship an event like this would be much harder to run smoothly.
A huge thanks in advance to Valerie Carroll, Bernie Kenny and Valerie Noonan, our Tournament Directors for organising and running this very important tournament on the Club’s calendar. Thank you to Ger Flynn our Tournament Referee and to all our members who are giving so generously of their time to make sure this event runs smoothly.
On Finals night (Friday 19th) there will not only be super tennis but, there will also be a BBQ and a DJ! So wipe the dust off your dancing shoes and see you on the dancefloor! BBQ tickets are available here, it would be great if you could buy your tickets in advance so the caterers know how many hungry people will be in attendance! There are posters on the club notice board and around the club advertising the BBQ, the QR code on these posters is another way to purchase tickets.
4. Junior Close Championships 2025
The Junior Close will take place from Friday September 19th to Sunday September 21st. This overlaps with the Senior Close but this will not in any way affect the times in either tournament. The signup is still open here
Thank you to Marie Duffy and Ger Flynn for all the work they have put into organising this tournament for our Junior players.
5. Tennis Munster Winter League Phase 1
Signup for this competition is now open until Monday September 22nd. This competition is an external competition where teams of 4 travel around Munster representing their clubs, teams play home and away. Phase 1 is a ladies doubles and men’s doubles only competition…no mixed teams. Please sign up here if you would like to be considered for a place on a team. From personal experience over the years, Winter League is great fun!
6. New Members Night
We will be hosting a New Members Night on Thursday 16th of October. We will be going through subjects such as booking courts, organising games, signing up for competitions etc. All are welcome, but we really hope that our new members come along on the night.
7. American Tournaments
It’s that time of year again! American Tournaments will run once a month on a Friday night instead of Social Tennis. The dates are October 3rd, November 7th, December 5th and January 16th. Keep an eye out for the October sign up in the next week or so.
8. Members achieving upgrades.
Huge congratulations to the following members who, after a great summer of tennis have been upgraded. Well done!
Jennifer Aherne upgraded to Grade 5
Anne Keane upgraded to Grade 5
Stephen O’Connell upgraded to Grade 5
Catherine O’Riordan upgraded to Grade 5
Neil Ferriss upgraded to Grade 4
Fionnuala O’Connell upgraded to Grade 4
Deirdre Twomey upgraded to Grade 4
9. Senior Interpros
Congratulations to our members who represented Munster recently in Belfast in the 30-45’s Interpros; Dave Hannam, Dee Mcsherry, Joanna Riordan, Mags O’Driscoll, Marie Kinnane, Paul Barry, Stephanie Corkery, Tricia Higgins and non playing captain Karen Higgins.
10. Junior Tennis Update
Junior squads are back since Monday, here’s to a great term of tennis and fun.
11. AOB
Adult Coaching; This will start on September 27th for 8 weeks, please keep an eye out for an email from Ger this week.