It‘s been another successful year for the Sheffield & District LTA, which was celebrated at the annual awards evening on Friday 13th November at Baldwin’s Omega. The evening was attended by Yorkshire LTA Chairman and former LTA Chief Executive John Crowther, along with 237 local players, the highest for a number of years.
The evening started with a minute's silence in memory of Andy Foster, who was President until his sudden death in February. Baldwin's then provided the usual high quality meal. John Crowther then gave a short speech in which he set out the main aims of the Yorkshire LTA for the following year and thanked all the volunteers on the Management Committee and the clubs who keep the Association running. League President Kay Rollings also thanked all the people who helped keep the Association running. In particular, she thanked Jess Redfearn for organising the event. Kay made particular reference to the disparity between the number of boys/men playing tennis as opposed to girls/women. She asked all clubs to encourage more young girls to play the game.
The league trophies and Rowlinson Cup were then presented by John Crowther. A new award, Coach of the Year, was then presented to Ben Howarth for his work at Brentwood Tennis Club. The winner of Club of the Year award went to Abbeydale. The final award, the May Medal, which is given to someone who has made a significant contribution to tennis in Sheffield, was presented to Vicky Lowther of Dore and Totley, a very popular winner.