T&RA Schools Tournament results
If proof were needed that the best way to succeed is to build your own court, Radley provided it at the weekend. The court was only officially opened in the last Mic term, but in last weekend's T&RA National Schools Real Tennis Tournament Radley College were joint winners with Canford of the First Pairs, outright winners of the Second Pairs, and Winners of the Team Event. Hayling Island won the Colts. In all, 9 schools took part in the day's events, which had to be played at Hardwick, Oratory and Radley to fit all the games in, with results as follows:
First pairs: Joint winners Radley and Canford. In joint third place were Clifton, Oratory and Rugby, followed by Eton and new starters KGS.
Second Pairs: Radley, followed by Canford, Eton and Radley C in joint second place, with Oratory and Clifton also taking part. This result ensured that the Team Title went to Radley, who won two more sets than Canford
Colts: After a play-off, Hayling Island defeated Radley, with entries also from Clifton, Eton, Oratory and Dulwich.
Organisation of this event, which attracted a record entry, was led by Mick Dean, ably assisted by Mark Eadle, Chris Ronaldson and many other masters who gave up their Sunday.
There are in fact several more schools playing tennis as a result of the T&RA Schools initiative and other local arrangements between Clubs and Schools. In future years we hope to welcome players from Sherborne [The Hyde], Parkside [Cambridge], Warwick [MMTCC] and others who are just starting to play. If your school might be interested in learning this sport, please contact your local Club Pro or the T&RA Office to arrange some introductory sessions. We already provide some limited funding for Schools seeking an introduction to tennis, and would be happy to act as the conduit for more of this should any members wish to donate. We pay for some of the court time and some of the tuition for Schools without a court, and in the last year have seen this initiative taken up by Dulwich, Sherborne, Parkside, Warwick, and Rugby. Funds are limited, but it seems to help - 'seed capital'
The Schools weekend comes one week after the Inter-University Cup was held at Cambridge, in which 13 Universities and 42 individual young players appeared
on court, some of them with handicaps approaching single figures. The T&RA is keen to encourage initiatives which lower the average age of the
tennis fraternity, hopefully in the expectation that this will lead to an increase in the number of courts wanted, as well as helping to fill those
we already have.