Outside the Lines - December 2024
Wed, 18 Dec 2024 00:00
OUTSIDE THE LINES
DECEMBER 2024
A WORD FROM THE PRESIDENT
We have come to end of this part of the season and hasn’t it gone quickly? There have been a lot of activities at the club since the beginning of the 24/25 season and I wanted to use this opportunity to thank some of the contributors: Arthur for his great work maintaining the grounds; Maurice and Peter for their fantastic work on the clubhouse in Newtown and fixing the damage that was done at Salamnca when our pipes were stolen; our many interclub players who represent the club with pride week in and week out; the managers of our interclub teams (a sometimes thankless but essential job!); all those who gave their time to run our very successful club days and nights; my wise committee for their expert stewardship; and of course, all of you who have made our club such a vibrant and attractive place to play tennis.
We had our Christmas party on the 15th of December, which is an important tradition at our club. Many thanks to Byron and his expert chef skills and his team of helpers. It was another fantastic meal and lots of mirth to be had. Congratulations to Georgie and Matt Preece for taking out their divisions in the pre-Christmas party fun tournament. I mentioned at the Christmas party that our club days and nights take a short break over Christmas, returning on Sunday 19 January and Wednesday 22 January.
Josh Wright has been assisting the committee with some ideas about how to further grow the club membership and how to bring a lot more tennis back to Salamanca. There is a bit of work to do, but one thing we will be starting in the short term is a club evening at Salamanca starting on Tuesday 14 January from 5:30pm. Please come along and please help out so that these evenings are just as successful as what we do every Wednesday during the summer at the Newtown courts. A big thanks to Josh for his work so far and we look forward to letting you all know about some of the other initiatives we are working through.
Interclub doesn’t start again until late January, so lets all make use of the free courts with this warmer weather. In the meantime, I, on behalf of the committee, would like to wish you all a merry Christmas, a happy New Year and I look forward to seeing you all on the courts soon.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Rapaura Tennis Club Doubles Tournament
SUMMER PRE-XMAS INTERCLUB UPDATES
Premier Interclub
Premier Womens 1
By Robin Dodderidge
A sound pre-Xmas finish of third. We narrowly lost to Churton Park in the playoffs and then had a comprehensive win against Lower Hutt for 3rd and 4th. We farewell Ella and wish her the best of luck as she heads to the U.S for college tennis and thank her for being a fantastic team member over the course of the last couple of seasons.
Premier Womens 2
By Naomi Burwell
We had an awesome pre-Xmas season coming 2nd behind a strong Titahi Bay team. We were lucky to have Ava Doddridge from the Prem 1 team fill in for us for a few matches, which bolstered our hitting power. And there was another stellar performance by Daisy Leckie who won all of her singles matches. Daisy returned to tennis after a few years away raising kids, so it's great having her back. We look forward to the post-Xmas season as we have a fantastic group of ladies and there's also a few new faces who have joined the club, which will assist to get us to the #1 spot.
Premier Womens 3
By Andrea Travers-Jones
What a fantastic way to wrap up the first half of the season, finishing at the top of the table! We were thrilled to welcome Eve Kiddle and Rosy Interrigi, who have been great additions to the team. A huge thank you to Clare and AYoung for stepping in as our super-subs and the rest of our amazing team – Karen, Emma, and Leilani thank you for making the season both competitive and fun. I’m looking forward to the second half of the season!
Premier Mens 1
By Hervé Michaud
Our team finished 2nd out of 8 teams, which is the best result we could hope for. We now stand a chance to play in another grand final if we keep it this way post-Xmas. Ary was outstanding at #1, winning 4 out of 5 matches against the best players in the region. Oscar showed how much he loves this game by featuring in every single match and often winning in 3 sets. I made up the numbers when I could and invited players from Prem 2 and 3 to join our team. Big thank you to Max, Simon, Sam , Marcel , Chris, Nizar, Duncan and Byron for filling in. It is great to see all the depth and connections that exist between all the teams at the club.
Premier Mens 2
By Sam Blackburn
We had a solid pre Christmas season finishing mid-table with 4 wins in a competitive grade. Simon and Riley both returned to the grade looking strong, and mentions to Nizar, Aarav and Chris in being excellent additions to the squad this year.
Premier Mens 3
By Ben Leggett
The team performed with pride in what was a particularly difficult grade. Unfortunately results didn’t always go our way, which means that the team has been relegated to Prem 4 post Christmas. All is not lost and I know the team will rally and finish the season strongly.
Tecnifibre Senior Interclub
Womens 1st Grade
By Nicky Beale
Injuries and player availability made for a challenging pre-Xmas season. Despite this we achieved our goal of not doing the usual bounce back down to second grade and finished a solid 5th. This was largely achieved through some strategic assistance from Karen, Asoiva and Suzanne. Sanda was our steady performer playing all but the last two games. We had welcome assistance from newcomers Apolline and Mary, and later in the season Nicola and Rose joined to help us field a team. We look forward to building on this performance post-Xmas.
Mens 1st Grade - A
By Michael Upchurch
A topsy-turvy season of some big wins, one heavy loss, tight matches (so many 3-setters and tie breaks), injuries and rearanged games. In the end we finished a very respectable 5th, just behind Wellington C. Special mention to Justin Allen who played every match, doubles and singles, in the end. We hope to face the other Wellington teams post-Xmas (love a good derby), but with a more consistent line-up.
Mens 1st Grade - B
By Dave Chan
It's been a tough season with some of our players deciding to play in Prem or retire. A couple of new players have joined and although we had a few close ties, we weren't able to get over the line, so looking forward to the post-Xmas season for some new inspiration.
Mens 1st Grade - C
By Mike Graham
The team finished fourth in what was a tough grade, which puts the team in promotion territory as the Titahi Bay team traditionally declines moving to the afternoon grade. Well done to all; great tennis by Igor and Milo up the top of the order and farewell to Marcus and Reuben who are moving out of Wellington after Christmas.
Mens 1st Grade - A
By Mike Graham
It has been a poor pre-Xmas season. We are last by a good margin and if we can not improve we are heading for Mens 3. Both James De Bono and David Gould had gritty singles wins. Go Wellington!
Mens 1st Grade - B
By Henry Craib
After just avoiding relegation last season, we ended up coming 3rd this season. There were many great matches from the guys, very few arguments, and no broken racquets (a first for the team). Match of the season had to go to Andrew versus his dad Hamish, an absolute battle!
Mens 5th Grade
By Josh Wright
Great to welcome Jack Simonlehner, Howie Gaudin, and Josh Coleman to the team this season — and to welcome back Marty for a couple of guest spots too. The team fought hard, taking 3 wins from 7 ties. A few tough losses saw us land second-last in the table, but we're fired up and ready to build on the positives for the second half of the season. Happy hitting everyone!
Womens A Grade
By Nicky Beale
A big congratulations must go out to this fantastic group of women who all join in to make Tuesday nights a fun evening and enjoy playing against a diverse group of opponents. We managed to top the grade by 3 points. There were lots of laughs and amazingly we only had to reschedule one round.
Mens A Grade
By Ben Leggett
The team finished first equal, which is a great result given the strength of the grade. Thanks to all those who contributed and looking forward to another successful post-Xmas campaign.
Mixed A Grade
By Paul Rountree
A very successful pre-Xmas round for the team finishing 2nd in the grade, which was the same result as the post-Xmas competition last season. With injuries etc., the team has relied on a large number of replacements and a big thank you to Andrea, Clare, Karen, Monika, Naomi, Craig, John and Matt plus our regular players Asivoa and James.
Midweek Summer Interclub
Womens Grade 2
By Angela Chan
Great season of midweek tennis with good weather. We only had one postponed round in the wonderful Wellington wind. Thanks to Phillipa for acting as captain in the last part of the season. The last round was particularly tough as we could only put forward a 3-person team against the top Karori United team, though Phillipa and Jenny were able to secure a game off the #1 and 2 combo, which was a good win/effort.
Wellington Junior Interclub
WGTN Boys B - Wellington Pīwakawaka
By Emma Duffy
The team have done well sitting right in the middle for achievements in total team scoring so far! There have been some great rallies against some very good opponents. I feel like they have been warming up leading up to Christmas and will do even better after a well deserved break over summer school holidays. Maiah who has not played tennis for years was happy to join the team so that we had four players to continue, has enjoyed playing inter club and been an asset to the team. Finbar, Louie and Kenzyl have too turned up to every game with enthusiasm and continue to show a great interest in the sport! Special thanks to Ekam, Apolline and Raf for helping us in some matches! Well done Wellington Piwakawaka and let’s see what next year brings!
WGTN Boys D1 - Wellington Kākāpō
By James Every-Palmer
Kākāpō had a fantastic pre-Xmas season. Winning all but one of their matches, we finished top equal. Great quality tennis and lots of excellent spirit and team work throughout. We’re looking forward to promotion, and bring on C grade post-Christmas!
Note from Yin Hsien Fung:
Both Piwakawaka and Kākāpō have performed really well for the pre-Xmas season, finishing 3rd and equal 1st in their grades respectively. Special mention of Luke van der Bijl and Lola Naidoo of Kakapo for winning all of their matches, well done! Thanks to the juniors and parents for their continuous support, and special thanks to Emma and James for managing the teams so seamlessly. Have a good break and we are looking forward to the post-xmas season.
COACH’S TIP - DOUBLES POSITIONS
By Hervè Michaud
The key to winning doubles at the net: get involved!
I see a lot of net players waiting in the doubles alley while their partners rally from the baseline.
However, most of the balls cross the net around the middle part, making it easy to intercept. All you have to do is be in the right place at the right time.
Position:
- When the ball is on your opponents’ side, you should be one or two steps away from the net, halfway between the centre line and the singles line. You don’t need to cover the doubles alleys (tramlines), unless your opponent is about to hit an easy ball.
- When your partner is about to hit a ball from the baseline, you should assume a defensive volley position (in front of the service line): just watch the opposing net player who may intercept.
Movement:
- When the opposing baseline player prepares to hit, you must move. Staying still is not an option. Move forward, then quickly to the middle for the intercept (poach). Or move forward, then pretend to go to the middle and stay (fake). When you fake this move, you prompt your opponent to hit straight down the line into open space, which you cover for an easy volley.
- If you haven’t managed to hit a volley, move back into a defensive/ reflex volley position. The net player represents your most imminent threat. If he/she can’t intercept, step forward to go back to your aggressive net position (fake or poach)
Play the percentages. If you pick the easy shots and leave the hard ones to your opponent, you stack the odds in your favour. Get involved at the net, doubles is about helping your partner.