The Club’s AGM will be held on Monday 7th March 7.30pm at the Playing Fields Clubhouse. All members are welcome – Agenda available soon…

The competitive leagues are going ahead as normal (pre Covid-19 format) and therefore we hope to enter all our teams as usual. If you haven’t played in a team before and are keen to be involved please get in touch at rufforthtennisclub@gmail.com and the relevant captain will contact you.

Don’t forget Club Play sessions for all members continue on Mondays/Thursdays 6pm and Sundays 9.30am. Just turn up and join in!

Finally, we can share the fantastic news that Angela Crossley, Head Coach at Wetherby Tennis Club (ACTC) has agreed to be our new Club Head Coach. We are very fortunate to benefit from Angela’s vast experience as a coach, mentor and much more….

Kate Lewis will continue to lead the coaching programme under Angela’s guidance and support. Kate’s ongoing development will be extended as part of the coaching team at Wetherby TC. There will be lots of exciting new opportunities from the club’s relationship with ACTC including shared resources, junior competitions, tennis leadership courses etc. A new coaching programme will be advertised soon including Adult Beginners sessions, please get in touch if you are interested or know someone that might be.

Back in September 2020, Christine announced that after 27 years as club secretary she would be stepping down from the role. She actually started the process to create the club over 30 years ago! Given her tremendous efforts and commitment for the past 3 decades it felt fitting to formally thank her and celebrate all her achievements. Unfortunately, due to Covid-19 restrictions last year we decided to delay any social gathering until it was more appropriate. We did, however, put together a very comprehensive application for a Lifetime Achievement Award to Yorkshire LTA. Earlier this year we heard the fantastic news that Christine was the very deserving Winner of this award for 2020!

Hence, the desire to celebrate Christine and all she stands for was even greater and so the club set about planning a dinner in her honour. The theme was ‘This is Your Life’ and apart from knowing we had booked a table for dinner she had no idea of the evening we had planned for her! Special guests from her past, all involved with Christine in her tennis life, were contacted and invited to join us and say a few words on the night or contribute to the ‘red book’. And so the celebration was in hand…

Christine’s surprise was the highlight of the proceedings as she scanned the room to take in all the faces from past and present. Andy Ivel, Club Chair delivered a journey of her life from all the research that had been done in the preceding weeks. At various points family and friends recounted their memories and stories of how and why they know and value Christine in their lives.

A wonderful meal was enjoyed by all in the private dining room at The Tickled Trout.

It was a special evening for a special lady, without whom we would not have the wonderful tennis facilities that we have at Rufforth Tennis Club! Thankfully for all of us, Christine has agreed to take on the Life President role and will continue to provide support for the continuing benefit of the club and all it’s members.

A fantastic night of socialising and competitive fun was had by all last Friday! Wine connoisseur, Doug Harrison was introduced by the club chair, Andy Ivel…and the double act led us through the evening, as we tasted 6 wines from different countries, made using different grapes and retailing at different price points. Interspersed were several quiz questions and the Rufforth community did not disappoint when it came to competitiveness and wine knowledge!

As the evening progressed the answers deteriorated for most but a few hardcore wine drinkers attempted to stay with the front runner Tracy Hurst. We had a brief break for a cheese and pate supper to soak up some (not all) of the alcohol at which time the guests were able to try Gary Barlows current red and white wine offering in Morrison’s stores – yes that’s right more wine during the interval!!

By the end of the night there was a lot of noise generated by those desperate to win the coveted prize of a bottle of Champagne, however, having led all evening, Tracy was a not going to relinquish the lead at the final hurdle and was indeed a very deserving winner – Congratulations! The ‘booby’ prize, of a bottle of tonic water, was gratefully won by Lynn.

Thank you to all of you that came and supported our first fundraiser in many years, it was a great success and has inspired the club to plan for 2022! We hope to see you all there…

Thanks to Kate, Andy, Carole and Wendy for making the event happen and thanks to Jane Wright for her support in ensuring the venue was perfect for the occasion. And a huge thank you to Doug for his expertise and knowledge that enabled us to run this event so successfully – his dedication to the enjoyment of wine drinking is unparalleled!

https://www.yorkpress.co.uk/sport/19066073.rufforth-tennis-coach-wins-yorkshire-lta-lifetime-achievement-award

Read the full article at the link above!