Dear Members,
Welcome to the December edition of ‘The Tennis Captain’s Newsletter’! I hope you are all keeping safe as Storm Bram blows over. As usual, this is a quick overview of last month’s events and a look ahead to what’s on the horizon. 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;
“Tennis is a perfect combination of intense action and complete calm.”
Billie Jean King
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Friday Night Social Tennis
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Santa Meet and Greet
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Munster Tennis Winter League Phase 1
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Munster Tennis Winter League Phase 2
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American Tournaments
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Christmas Cracker 2025
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Internal Winter League 2026
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Chair Umpire Online Course
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Junior Tennis Update
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AOB
1. Social Tennis
Social tennis is in full swing most Fridays, and it’s fantastic to see more than twenty members (both familiar faces and newcomers) signing up and taking part each week. A big thank you to the Tennis Committee members for keeping this great tradition going. We encourage you to come along and invite your friends too. It’s a wonderful, friendly evening filled with great tennis, lots of laughs and a super club atmosphere. It’s also a great opportunity to meet members you may not have seen in a while or have not met before! All grades are welcome, and the cost is €5 for tennis and pizza! Great value!! 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 event.
The next dates are;
December 12th
December 19th
January 2nd
January 9th
2. Santa Meet and Greet
What a fantastic day Sunday turned out to be! A truly wonderful Sunday’s Well tradition that has grown enormously over the years. Before he went back to the North Pole, Santa told me that he had an absolutely wonderful time with all the children and that he was blown away by the incredible voluntary work carried out by the Santa Squad, the Grotto Girls and all their helpers. A total of 110 very well behaved children visited Santa throughout the day, making it a truly magical occasion for everyone involved. A HUGE thank you to all who helped make the day so special for us all.
3. Tennis Munster Winter League Phase 1
The Winter League is now in the knockout stages. There is some super tennis being played. A bit of encouragement is always welcome, so if you are free any weekend please come into the club to support our home based teams. I know the players very much appreciate the support. All the information about the matches will be on our social media the Friday/Saturday of the weekend the matches are happening.
4. Tennis Munster Winter League Phase 2
Eight teams have been entered in Phase 2 of the Winter League. Congratulations to all who have been selected on the teams, and the very best of luck with your campaign. The first round matches will be the weekend of the 11th of January 2026 with finals in early May. Your support makes all the difference, so if you’re free any weekend we’d love for you to come down to the club and cheer on our home teams. The atmosphere is always great (can’t say the same about the weather!!) and the players really appreciate the encouragement. Match details will be posted on our social media before the matches take place.
5. American tournaments
The American Tournaments continue to be very popular and are now oversubscribed every month. The December tournament should have taken place last Friday the 5th, but unfortunately we had to cancel due to the weather! We won’t have a chance to reschedule this one before Christmas but the January tournament will take place on Friday 16th, weather permitting! The sign up link will go out at the beginning of January, please keep an eye out for the email. As a reminder, the tournament is open to all grades. There will be three separate competitions within the tournament to cater for all grades. The entry fee is €5 which includes pizza, great tennis and plenty of craic! Many thanks to Karen Keneally and to Anne Keane for all the work and dedication they have put into organising these tournaments.
6. Christmas Cracker 2025
Our annual Tennis Christmas Cracker will take place on Sunday 28th of December. On the day please bring an unwanted Christmas gift (ideally wrapped!). Players will take turns to take a prize from this mountain of gifts! So no one goes home empty handed! Thank you in advance to Kevin McCarthy for his assistance on this one! This is the sign up LINK
7. Internal Winter League 2026
The Internal Winter League will commence in February 2026. I will have more information in January’s Newsletter. For information, there will be five teams of eight (4 men and 4 women) and they will play four round robin matches. The top four teams will play a 3⁄4 playoff and finals. The matches will be played on a Saturday evening at 5pm. The final format will depend on the numbers participating. This is a fun doubles team event open to all levels and is a great way to meet other members.
8. Tennis Ireland Course: Court Supervising & Off-Court Umpiring
Just a reminder about this course. I completed it recently, it takes about thirty minutes and if I can do it anyone can!! As I wrote last month, Tennis Ireland has launched this free Online Training course which is designed to equip volunteers with the knowledge, confidence and credentials to help with club tournaments. The course is designed in a way that allows you to complete the modules at your own pace and a certificate of completion is generated on completion. I would encourage anyone with interest to register and complete the course. There is a poster on the main notice board with a QR code. This course is currently FREE, it will incur a fee in 2026 so register soon!
9. Junior Tennis Update
Our U12 and U14 teams are currently competing in the Carrigaline Cup. The best of luck to all on the teams!
The U12 team captained by Aoife Waters played at home on Saturday against a strong Bishopstown team, there was super tennis on display and despite a few hard fought 3 set matches Sundays Well came in second on the day.
Our U14 team captained by Justin Canty have played two matches and won both. Their next match will be January 4th.
Our U11 Green Ball team reached the semi-finals of the Regional League, and despite some super tennis didn’t progress. Congrats on getting to the semis!
Junior matchplays are also back, these give everyone more opportunities to compete and develop their game.
10. AOB
Following on from last month, the club Whatsapp group is now up and running. A quick recap on what this is and the reasons behind its establishment; the goal is to make communication from the club easier and quicker. It will be useful for small updates, for example; social tennis reminders, court closure, courts frozen, weather warnings etc. This group will not allow responses and the messages will only come from two sources, the club office and the tennis captain. This Whatsapp group is named Sunday’s Well Tennis Club Updates. The sign up email went out on Thursday the 6th November, this is an ‘opt in’ group so if you want to be in the group please click the link in the email. Email will remain the main method of communication within the club, this Whatsapp is only to supplement email and not to take over from it.
Have a great month of tennis and a very Happy Christmas and joy filled New Year to you and all your loved ones.