Overall we are pleased to report that there has been a reasonably successful Aegon tournament this year. There were 201 teams playing 370 matches and approximately 2000 rubbers over 86 days. These make interesting statistics and highlight the growing popularity of the event. It offers an interesting team concept where clubs have a team of 4 players, each person playing a singles and then there are two doubles. For the smaller clubs they can play with only two players but have the same format of singles and doubles. The competition offers a competitive experience to both juniors and seniors as the ages range from 8 & under RED players through to Open Men and Ladies.
As well as a normal league structure we ran Red events at Central Venues namely Halton, Chesham Bois and Wooburn Park so our thanks go to these clubs for hosting these events which are aimed at R2, R3 and R4 players excluding the top rated players. The 2nd divisions in Orange (9&U) and Green (10&U) were also aimed at the smaller clubs and lower rated players.
Our main disappointment this year was the number of Clubs who withdrew teams long after the fixtures and schedules were published and this proved disappointing for other Clubs who saw their number of matches within their league reduce thus devaluing the competition. We will carefully monitor these Clubs next year before accepting their entries. The other disappointment was Clubs playing ineligible players perhaps highlighting not understanding LTA rules and Aegon rules as in the Captain’s guide. Players have to play within their correct age group especially in the mini tennis range.
On a more positive note we saw three new clubs join the competition and their feedback has been very positive and they are already looking forward to the next season. Click here for the full list of results and the league winners all receive a pennant from the LTA for their Club and the Under 8’s, 9’s and 10’s all receive individual badges as well. Our congratulations to all the league winners and hope that everyone has enjoyed their Aegon season.
Janet and Malcolm Jamieson
Aegon Team Tennis Buckinghamshire 2016
www.LTA.org.uk/Aegon-Team-Tennis
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