I start this week with the sad news that one of our vice-presidents, Jim Caine, has died aged 91. Jim was a long serving member of Albany, long before Bryan and I arrived here in 1962. He, like the other members, made us very welcome. The club played in Victoria Road at that time - opposite the now demolished old prison. The club moved twice - further up Victoria Road and then to Nobles Park in three seasons and the decision was taken to fundraise and buy land for our own club site. Jim was enthusiastic for this, giving us our very first prize for a raffle run in conjunction with the club championships in Nobles Park and over many years, after he stopped playing, he attended most of the fund raising events and as a vice -president was proud of what everyone had achieved. As yet I don't know the funeral arrangements but rest assured the club will be represented. Rest in Peace Jim and thanks for everything.
Next weekend, one of our juniors, Charlotte Clarke (12) is competing in two tournaments - on (Saturday 21) Charlotte will play at Birchwood in an under 14 tournament. On Sunday (22) she will travel to Wrexham where she has gained entry in an under 16 tournament. The trip is sponsored by her anonymous donor for whom she is extremely grateful and with this trip she can compete in two events but with one off island travel cost. If any of our juniors played in the UK or Europe during the Easter school holiday PLEASE let me have your results.
Albany Men's A team made a good start to the Summer league season on Monday with a 5-1 win over arch rivals Castletown A. Albany's team was Ian Watson/Jamie Teare and Jim Travers/Peter Dunworth. Next week's club fixtures are: Monday (23) Albany A women v Castletown A and Wednesday (25) Albany B women v Douglas B women. Both home matches start at 7pm.