From: The Racketeer 28, Febraury 1998
Tennis at Mapperley Park - 75th Year
by Andy Lusis
NOW that the club is about to celebrate its 75th anniversary let's take a brief look at how things have changed on the playing side. We know very little about the early years, so we can only assume that the members spent many happy summers on the courts, probably restricting themselves to social tennis, as there is no record of matches against other clubs until 1946. In the years since the club first entered league teams there have been many ups and downs, the highlight still being the runners-up spot achieved by the Men's team in 1952, though a recent revival saw that record almost equalled in 1996.
Fifty years ago the club ran only two teams: one men's and one ladies'. Now we run three men's, two ladies', two mixed and a junior team in the summer, the same number of senior teams in the winter, along with two Indoor League teams - 17 in all. In 1948 the club had only 50 summer and 16 winter members, today we have well over 200 members, 58 of whom (including juniors) played in matches during the summer. While it is good that so many members were given the opportunity to gain match experience, the fact that so many were asked to play shows how often the club's better players were unavailable.
Which brings us to the performance of our teams. All the details have appeared in The Racketeer, but for anyone who went to the wild party thrown by Paul and Vince and can't remember what it was for - the Men's B team were promoted from Division 7A. Perhaps the one match of the season worth recalling is the Men's A team encounter with Boots A, where we overcame the unexpected absence of one of our senior players and the concession of two sets to snatch a famous victory. Unfortunately the Boots team had the last word, squeezing us out of the single promotion place in Division 4B by half a set. Putting aside our mostly average results, the team captains still deserve some recognition for their efforts in organising matches and getting a full complement of players to turn out for (almost) every match. This year our players will train like demons, practice their strokes daily, and raise their commitment and determination to unprecedented heights. And pigs will fly.
Turning to the Club Tournament, this was once again run in a no nonsense manner by Duncan. The finals were mostly contested by the usual suspects and, again, the results have been reported in the Racketeer. Cynthia had a fine win in the Ladies' Singles, while Adam Richardson notched up his first win in the men's event. The plate events took place again - or rather, some of them did; to make them work tighter control of the first-round matches in the tournament proper is needed. Spectators at the American tournament and President's Day witnessed outstanding displays of superb tennis - when they watched the Wimbledon Championships on TV. However, they were treated to the excellent catering of Christine Preston and her helpers.
It was a mixed year for club coaching, with attendances ranging from enthusiastic crowds to half-hearted dribs and drabs. Match practice still does not live up to its name. For the coming season Adam has been appointed to work with the juniors, organising the team as well as coaching, while Adrian Coles will take care of the adults.
At the next AGM, while our more dedicated members review the past year's events, out on the courts some of our keener players may well be taking advantage of the extra playing time provided by the new floodlights. This is something of which the 16 winter members of 50 years ago, let alone the club's founders 25 years earlier, could only have dreamt.