Thursday Social Tennis and Winter Leagues

Read on for information about changes to social tennis in the winter and the start of Winter Leagues

Saturday and Sunday social tennis changes to the winter timetable when the clocks change in October, and will be at the earlier time of 1pm – 5pm.

From the beginning of October, Tuesday and Thursday evening social tennis will be replaced by our internal winter league doubles competitions on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday nights. The first sessions will be held on Monday 7th, Tuesday 8th and Thursday 1oth October.

Each night is aimed at a different playing level, please note that the definitions below are not set in stone, but are broadly:

Monday nights

Men up to and including 6th team standard and women up to and including 3rd team standard.  Players must be of a standard that they can rally in a doubles environment.

Sign up here

Tuesday nights

The Highgate Winter Floodlit Tournament is now back! After the survey carried out by Richard Rogers last year to find ways to improve the format and participation, the vast majority of people have asked to play in a more competitive atmosphere and restrict the players to a higher and even standard of playing. We also took on board the suggestion to end the evening earlier and speed up the game. Here you go then…

Date: Every Tue, starting from the 8th of October

Time:  7pm – to 9pm (arrive at 6.45pm for a prompt start).

Eligibility: Men Team 1-4 and Women Team 1 (if you play in Teams) or Ladder 1 to 3 (if you do not play in Teams)

Format: Doubles sets ‘Fast 4’ (set is to 4 games, no lets, sudden death at deuce). Points are accrued over the whole winter period for the ultimate prize ‘Champion of the Winter League’. Not necessary to play every week but a certain percentage is needed.

Cost: £5 per session (this includes lights and balls) to be  paid in cash on court before playing.

Please sign-up online or in the club house before the 4th of October. Once you sign-up, then you will be invited to a Whatsup chat group to organise each session on a weekly basis (number of players, pairs, etc…).

Contact Sergio De Gaetano (0776 9188442 or sdegaetano@thorntontomasetti.com) in case of any questions.

 

Thursday nights

Thursday’s continues with a ‘semi organised’ social tennis session.

All playing levels welcome and you can turn up anytime between 7pm and 9pm.

£3 per person

Sign up

Numbers are limited on each night, so to book your place online or you will need to add your name to the relevant sign-up sheet on the club noticeboard that goes up one week in advance. If you sign up but then cannot play please inform the session organiser so that a player from the reserve list can be added in your place.

Whichever night you play on you should get a good evening’s tennis, as everyone is given a ranking and your evening’s playing partnerships are based on pairing couples so that you end up playing against a similarly skilled playing couple.  Rankings are revised weekly and everyone moves up or down the ranks according to how well – or otherwise – they play.

New members please note – in some games you will be paired with players stronger or weaker than yourself, and an important part of the winter league tournaments is about developing your skills at supporting partners with different abilities.

Winter leagues cost £5 per person per night to cover lights and tennis ball costs.

If you have are uncertain as to whether you are eligible for a specific night, or have any questions about the winter leagues, then please speak to the organisers who are:

Monday – Roger Cowe
Tuesday – Sergio De Gaetano