Tennis Cornwall held their Annual General Meeting on Monday 28 January. The meeting was very well attended with representatives from most of the tennis clubs in the County.
The Chairman Sue Eames reported on the year which of course saw Andy Murray winning Olympic Gold and his first Grand Slam at the US Open. With this great success and Laura Robson and Heather Watson gaining world Top 50 rankings the profile of tennis has increased.
Cornwall runs many county teams for Juniors Seniors and Veterans in both Summer and Winter and the Chairman congratulated all the players who have represented Cornwall over the year. Special mention was made of Mike Keat who won the over 70’s doubles at the National Grasscourt Championships and Oshi Leverton who won the doubles in the under 12’s National Claycourt Championships. Oshi’s success was the first national title won by a Cornish junior for many years.
Alisa Cole, Max Cameron-Webb and Oshi Leverton are all matrix funded LTA players which gives enormous support to their development. LTA Chief Executive Roger Draper and his family took part in the Truro Open Tournament in the Summer and sent a thank you note for our Cornish hospitality.
The Road to Wimbledon is a competition for under 14s and was won this year by Nadia Rawson and Kieran Roskell-Thomas.
One of the highlights of the year was the Girls Roadshow which took place at Newquay. Well over 150 ladies of all ages attended and we were lucky to have Andys mum, Judy Murray there all day. She ran a class with the coaches and then gave her expertise to the players throughout the sessions.
Another first in Cornwall was the First Beach Tennis tournament which took place at Tolcarne, Newquay in July. Over 500 people had a go and it is hoped Beach Tennis will become a permanent fixture in the Cornwall calendar.
There has been ongoing development of Club facilities with new Indoor Courts in Bude and resurfacing and new floodlights at Wadebridge. A number of clubs have recently received Inspired Facilities cash awards from Sport England which will enable further improvements to the County tennis facilities.
At the end of the meeting the annual awards were made.
Spirit of Sport - Senior Janet Beach (Penzance TC) Junior Robbie Hampshaw (Heron TC)
Volunteer of the Year – Senior Cliffy Banfield (Falmouth) Junior Rhys Curnow (Penzance TC)
Community Coach of the year – Steve Holmes and Jackie Beer (Bodmin Tennis Centre)
Mini Tennis Coach of the year – Thomas Leach (Penryn)
Most Improved Player (sponsored by Whirlwind Sports) Nadia Lawson (LevertonWilliams Tennis) Mini Louis Davey (Bude/Tarka Tennis)
Club of the year – Heron Tennis Centre
James Webster Cup for contribution to Junior Tennis - LevertonWilliams Tennis
James Webster Cup support to Tennis Cornwall - Malcolm Peters
It was very encouraging to see so many Clubs represented......Thank you.