8U Berkshire Grand Prix at Bracknell Lawn Tennis Club

On Sunday 9th July Bracknell Lawn Tennis Club hosted the 8U Berkshire Grand Prix. The Club entered as part of 6 clubs in the county to help develop the events available for mini Red to try and encourage more entries for Berkshire county championships.

We had 28 players from various clubs, 9 from Bracknell. They played in round robin groups. Everyone loved the club and the ability to be able to view the children playing. We had around 90 people on site watching and playing.

At the end of the matches we had a presentation on court where all children received a medal with the Bracknell logo on it. It was a great atmosphere.

It was very rewarding occasion,  it’s great to see young players playing tennis matches on a badminton size court. Special thanks to Will, Elana, Jordon, Chris HT, Julia and Andy Wilson and one of our young leaders Sam for scoring whilst Trevor ran the time clock and managed the parents expectations and questions. Feedback was awesome so many lovely messages afterwards on how well run and organised the event was.

Lewis Sullivan joins our coaching team

We would like to welcome Lewis Sullivan on board as one of our coaches. Lewis is a Level 4 LTA Accredited+ Coach with extensive experience in adult and junior coaching, as well as Cardio Tennis. Lewis has over 10-years experience in the UK and abroad, coaching all ages and abilities. Lewis still competes when he can, playing for Bracknell 1st team in the Berkshire leagues, he won the Mens Singles and Doubles in our Club Championships last year and the adult Berkshire County Closed.

Lewis has already started running team coaching sessions for our match players. Run on a fortnightly basis at Ladies and Mens team practice sessions, where he runs two sessions for 4 players on doubles match play. These sessions are organised by our Mens and Ladies Captain.

Lewis is available for Private Lessons with Members only.

We think Lewis is a great addition to our club coaches.

Covid-19 Update – 05/03/2021

The Club will be re-opening on Monday 29th March 2021 assuming the government’s criteria for releasing lockdown continues to be met.

At this time we expect to be able to play singles and doubles tennis. We will restart our organised sessions that maintain the rule of 6. Coaching will also be able to resume at this time.

The bar will remain closed and the clubhouse will be accessible for floodlights and toilets (to be confirmed) only.

Spectating will not be permitted but 1 adult/guardian may supervise a child in 1-2-1 coaching.

More details can be found on the LTA summary grid.

We look forward to getting back on court,

Covid-19 Update – 20/12/2020

Bracknell Forest has been moved to Tier 4 as of 20/12/2020

So, what does this mean for the tennis club:

  • Singles only is permitted unless all players are from the same household/support bubble.
  • All our organised club sessions are now suspended until further notice.
  • Spectating is not permitted (except in the case of one parent/guardian supervising a junior)
  • Socialising after play is not permitted.
  • Travel into and out of a Tier 4 area is not permitted except for essential travel.
  • Box leagues can continue but please advise us if you are not happy or unable to continue playing in the box league.
  • Berkshire league matches will currently not be possible.
  • The bar will be closed
  • The clubhouse will be restricted to use of the toilets and to get drinking water.

Enjoy your Tennis

Passing of Dr. John Crispin Dixon

John was an intensely private individual and despite many people having many years of association with him, it is poignant that we know very little about his background.  He went to Cambridge to study medicine and whilst there was a keen rower.  He went on to be a GP.  He later became a tennis player, only taking up the sport well into his adulthood, and became passionate about all aspects of the game; the top players and tournaments; identifying new exciting young players; how it should be played; how a tennis club and tennis leagues should be run.

His other great passion was skiing and for a number of years he rented a small flat in Zermatt, Switzerland so that he could spend a whole season out there.  He even took the opportunity to visit Roger Federer’s old tennis club to see how it was run.  Amazingly he bumped into an ex Bracknell Tennis Club member whilst there.

He loved to visit Wimbledon and the French Open every year.  He also initiated an annual trip to the Monte Carlo Open every April, a tradition that is still going strong with some club members.

John wasn’t everyone’s cup of tea.  He couldn’t do small talk and if he didn’t agree with you on something, you’d probably know it.  But if you spoke with him about his theories on tennis, skiing or medicine, you could talk for hours.

One of John’s great achievements was what he did for Bracknell tennis club.  He was a driving force behind setting up the structured playing arrangements of weekly match practice coupled with the more traditional club sessions.  Not to mention his expertise at barbecues following our Finals Days and laying on a delicious spread for the men’s teams at Christmastime.  John spent many years on the committee, as Captain in 1989, Vice-Captain from 1990-1992 and as Chairman from 1993 until October 2002. During his chairmanship, he was the driving force in replacing the club house from a rather sad Portakabin arrangement to the superb building we have today.  This not only gave the whole club a lift for current and prospective members but has become the heart of the social side of the club too.  His single mindedness got the job done, but probably lost him a few potential friends along the way too.

Despite not taking up tennis when he was younger, John played to a high level, representing Bracknell Men’s 1st team in the late 1990s, helping the team win Division 2 of the Berkshire summer league.  He also made appearances in the Club Championships finals of the Men’s Doubles and won the Mixed Doubles title in 2003.  He was excellent at analysing both the singles and doubles game and was ready with a plan of action to win, even though realizing it was not always possible.

John had lymphoma this year and that made him rather ill.  He had a course of chemo through the summer and he came through that with flying colours.  His doctors were very pleased with his blood test results and declared him better, before he succumbed to a heart condition.

Those who have known John for many years agree that we are fortunate to have had him as a friend. We will miss you, John.

Covid-19 Update – 05/11/20

Unfortunately the Tennis Club is again closed due to the second national lockdown.

We hope to be able to reopen on Thursday 3rd December, or if the government do decide to make changes to allow outdoor tennis then maybe even before. We would encourage people to write to their local MP to highlight why tennis is important to them and that outdoor tennis should be allowed again as a sport with natural social distancing.

For membership or other enquiries, please email: info@bracknelltennis.com.

Tennis activities to try at home

Well Covid-19 may have forced the temporary closure of the club, but for those missing their tennis we’re putting together some videos on Facebook of some activities you can try at home.

Check out our Facebook Page, Like and Share:

https://www.facebook.com/bracknelllawntennis/

New LED Floodlighting

We have now replaced all our floodlights with modern energy efficient LED floodlighting. This marks an investment of approximately £50k by the club but will offer a good return on investment. LED lighting offers huge benefits to the club and it’s members

  • Lower running costs
  • Better for the environment, reducing the clubs carbon footprint.
  • Reliable, less outages, lower maintenance, LED arrays expected to last 30 years.
  • Better quality lighting
    • Whiter light makes it easier to see the ball
    • Improved light distribution