Chris Archer and Jane Rushby walked away with the top prizes at the First Annual Derbyshire Tennis Awards Evening. The event took place at Pride Park Stadium in Derby on Friday 12th February and was a sell out enjoyed by over 350 tennis enthusiasts from around the county.
The awards evening was organised to celebrate the successes of the past year in Derbyshire and the local tennis community were joined by Guests of Honour Roger Draper, LTA Chief Executive and Andrew Jarrett, Wimbledon Referee. The highlight of the evening was the presentation of a Lifetime Achievement Award to long time former county secretary Margaret Robinson.
The evening kicked off with an introduction from County President John Last and a warm up quiz from event organiser Rob Salmon. The awards began with the presentation by Andrew Jarrett and Rachel Keal to the winning teams from the Derby Area and Chesterfield Leagues. County Colours were then presented by Mens Captain Dennis Archer to James Rushby, Tom Rushby, Chris Archer and Simon Thornewill. The Derek Wardle Award was presented by Muriel Wardle to Sam Ferguson.
After the meal and a speech from Roger Draper the individual award winners were announced and the list of winners included:
Mens Player of the Year - Chris Archer (Church Broughton). Highly Commended - Tom Rushby (Church Broughton).
Womens Player of the Year - Jane Rushby (Church Broughton). Highly commended - Jenny Batty and Sarah Batty (Chesterfield)
Boys Player of the Year - Chris Simpson (CURC)
Girls Player of the Year - Olivia Nelms (Chesterfield)
Coach of the Year - James Grindell (Duffield) and Mike Peel (formerly David Lloyd Derby)
Club of the Year - Chesterfield. Highly commended - Asbourne.
Volunteer of the Year - Jenni Bull (Ashbourne) Highly commended - Dave Chilvers (Littleover)
Veterans Player of the Year - Ashley Broomhead (Duffield). Highly commended - Jane Rushby (Church Broughton) and Nick Fulwood (Derbyshire TC)
Club Player of the Year - Becky Williams (Church Broughton)
Derek Wardle Award - Sam Ferguson
Lifetime Achievement Award - Margaret Robinson
Following the presentation the disco kicked into full swing and everyone danced the night away. Planning has already started for an bigger and better event next year!