ALBANY TENNIS NEWS - by Pat Sharp

On Tuesday the club arranged presentations to four of it's members, Sean Drewry, Laura Feely, Elena and Hannah Snidal, who have been selected for the IOM Tennis team to play in the Nat West Island Games in Gotland (Sweden) in June.  The presentations were made by Peter Gallagher of Tower Insurance and Steve Christian on behalf of Equiom. The club is very grateful to them for their donations. We realised this was going to be an expensive trip for our young members and with the support of two of our constant sponsors Equiom (IOM) Ltd and Tower Insurance (Isle of Man) Ltd we were able to give each player a cheque for £100 towards their expenses and a sponsored T shirt. One of the players Katie Harris (17) had to return to Loughborough College on Monday so club President Bryan Sharp gave Katie her sponsorship. We will of course be saying "Goodbye" to Katie in September when she departs on her 4 year tennis scholarship in Arkansas, USA.. The players were also given T shirts with the sponsors name on and Equiom pens for writing their postcards from Gotland.

More success for Albany members in the UK. Sean Drewry was just back from playing in the North of England Championships (Grade 3) where he won 3 matches to reach the final before losing to the top seed. He then played another Grade 3 event in Hull where he reached the qtr finals of the men's Singles but then teamed up with Chris Jeffrey to win the Men's Doubles beating the top seeds in the final with a 13-11 Champions tie-break. Well done Sean - some good match practice for the Island Games.

Chrystals Senior Open Tournament - entry forms are now available at the club and have also been e-mailed to members and other clubs. The format is progressive based on your rating - juniors playing yellow ball are also welcome as they would play in a lower group with the chance to progress. The winner's prize in the top group is £50 and £30 for the runner-up, so this is an event worth entering. All finalists will receive an engraved medal. Send your form to Entry Secretary, Ballabreck, South Cape, Laxey, IM4 7BY, e-mail to albanytennispr@manx.net or "post" in the club white post box. Early entries would be greatly appreciated.

Saturday coaching will re-start on 29 April so I look forward to seeing you all.