Former British Davis Cup player and Sky Sports tennis pundit Barry Cowan dropped into Leicester to share his tennis experience and present the trophies at the Tennis Leicestershire Annual Awards evening.
The event which took place at the Leicester Tigers Stadium at Welford Road, was a chance for nearly 300 tennis enthusiasts from across the county to come together and celebrate all the achievements of the last year.
One of the big winners on the night was James Ison, who picked up the Boy's Player of the Year Award as well as the prestigious Greenshire's award. The evening also included a moving tribute to the late Jon Hall of Roundhill TC, who sadly lost his brave battle with cancer in December and his wife and daugher collected the Special Service to Tennis Award on his behalf.
The awards evening kicked off with an introduction from Tennis Leicestershire President Mark Cox, who gave an overview of the range of successes enjoyed by county players and teams over the last twelve months. Mark then handed over to Barry Cowan, who talked through his career as a player and broadcaster and shared some of his more light hearted experiences. Barry recalled how he famously took Pete Sampras to five sets at Wimbledon and provided some entertaining insights into working in the media with the top players in the world.
The awards presentation then began and the winners were as follows:
Boys Junior Player of the Year - James Ison
Girls Junior Player of the Year - Anna Chesca
Senior Player of the Year - Kerry Pollard
Veteran Player of the Year - Simon Leavy
Team of the Year - Kibworth 1st Mens Team
Special Disability - Matthew Chilvers
Coach of the Year - Dave Lowden
Lifetime Achievement - Gene Harris and Harry Matty
Volunteer of the Year - Jane Gadsby
Special Service to Tennis Award - Jon Hall
Greenshires Award - James Ison
Anthony Hunting Cup - Gordon Reekie
The Leicestershire league winners were also presented with their trophies. Big winners included Stoney Stanton TC who picked up 9 league trophies, and Carisbrooke LTC who picked up 5 trophies including the Sports Mercury Cup.
Paul Sheard, the LTA's Tennis Development Manager for the region, said "It was a really enjoyable evening and great to recognise so many people in Leicestershire tennis. It was fantastic to have Barry Cowan present to share his experience in tennis and present the different award winners. We are already looking forward to next years event".