Albany Lawn Tennis Club
We are a friendly tennis club with over 300 members aged from 4 to 85. Albany is a unique tennis club on the Isle of Man proudly boasting privately-owned floodlit courts and facilities, as well as an indoor court ensuring play is possible in all weathers and seasons. We offer opportunities for social play, a great coaching team, men’s, ladies’ and mixed League tennis, and a tournament programme for all. New members are always warmly welcomed. Come along and visit us any time, meet our friendly club members and see our excellent facilities. We operate a ‘try before you buy’ policy so you may visit three times with a member before having to commit to join the club. Click buttons below for LEAGUE INFORMATION and UPCOMING EVENTS.
Messages from our Social Facebook Group
ALBANY TENNIS NEWS by Pat Sharp
The Senior/Junior Doubles tournament run on President’s Day last Sunday provided members with the opportunity to play a fun event with partners they don’t usually play with or even meet at the club. Played firstly in round robin groups with every pair progressing to the knock-out with seniors only allowed a 1st serve the placings were:
Group A 1.1 Jack Christian/Ryan Colquitt 21, 2 Charlotte Clarke/ Sonny Shipley-Martin 18
3 Bryan Sharp/Sophie Christian 14, 4 Greg Kelly/Annelese Mellor 11. Group B 1 Jayden Go/Zac Colligon 21, 2 Rob Colquitt/Ava Austerberry 20, 3 Aailish Kelly/Lucas Harding 15, 4 Kirsten Hall/Noah Chambers 10. k/o qtr final Jack/Ryan bt Kirsten/Noah 7/0; Rob/Ava bt Bryan/Sophie 7/4, Charlotte/Sonny bt Aailish/Lucas 7/3, Jayden/Zac bt Greg/Annelise 7/1; semi-final Rob/Ava bt Jack/Ryan 10/3, Jayden/Zac bt Charlotte/Sonny 10/6; Final Jayden/Zac bt Rob/Ava 10/9 10/7 prizes presented by Club President, Bryan Sharp
The full list of raffle prize winners is on the notice board. Thanks to all who bought tickets and donated prizes. We will be running a Christmas Tombola and hope members will do their best to sell at least one book of tickets. We already have some good prizes.
The Big Stir Coffee Morning held at the club last Friday and organised by Linda Donald and Carisa Skehan. They raised £120 for MacMillan Cancer Support. Everyone forgot their figures and enjoyed loads of lovely “gooey” cakes and coffee for a donation. The Friday Morning ladies is a very happy and generous group who raise funds for various charities as well as buy items for the club – like our lovely new fridge. Thank you to everyone for their support. On Friday 11 October they have their annual Harvest Lunch – if you want to attend please put your name on the list on the noticeboard.
This Saturday we start the Club’s Closed championships, sponsored by Auxesia Ltd. The Mini Red coaching session at 12noon will go ahead but not the 1pm session as the Under 8’s tournament will be played and the 1pm pupils will be competing. All players will be informed of their match times. Any queries contact-mail Ian Watson (watsonpts@manx.net) or ring/txt 496293.
PLEASE be advised that the email address quoted above is incorrect. The correct address is: ianwatsonpts@manx.net.
Reminder that the club junior and senior closed singles and doubles championships starts this weekend.
If you have not entered and would like to play please send Ian an email by Wednesday stating which event/s you would like to play:
Seniors
Men’s/ Ladies singles and doubles
Junior 8,9,10 14 and 18 singles
Email to: ianwatsonpts@manx.net
Is normal training on for red ball?
Noise levels
Please can I remind all members to be extremely conscious of the amount of noise they are making if they are playing early in the morning or in the evenings.
There has been repeated instances recently of people playing at or before 8am or after 9pm and making a lot of noise. Just last night there was very noisy play carrying on until 10.40pm on a Sunday night.
Please can I ask all members to be considerate of our neighbours and particularly at these sorts of times it is vital that we do not:
• Play indoors with the double doors open
• Hit against the indoor court walls
• Shout loudly or make unnecessary noise
• Use a load ball machine or similar noisy device
• Play music
• Slam car doors
Above all please use common sense and recognise that there are people trying to sleep not too far away. It is vital that we cut noise to a minimum at these early or late hours.
Many thanks,
David
There have been many instances where the car park is used as a drive-in and meeting place. I've had to pick up lots of takeaway litter etc when I used to be first there for sessions.
Can't we find out who are the culprits?
Congratulations to Jayden and Zac - winners of the Presidents day tournament. Well done to runners up Rob and Ava and all who took part. A great afternoon. Thanks to Pat and Bryan and all who helped on the day. Thank you all for coming.
ALBANY TENNIS NEWS by Pat Sharp
I hope some members are supporting The Big Stir at the club, TODAY Friday from 10.30am – 12 noon. Hosted and organised by Linda Donald and Carisa Skehan there are always lots of homemade cakes for sale – I just hope I get there before they are all gone. Donations will be gratefully accepted and all funds raised will go to the Macmillan Cancer Support. If you can’t join us today a small donation would help the cause.
The Presidents Day on Sunday will go ahead even if the weather is not good – we have the indoor court reserved. Please be there for 1.45pm and don’t forget your fee - £2 juniors and £3 seniors. We still have room for 3 more junior yellow or green ball players plus 2 seniors.
Contact Bryan Sharp on 861497 if you wish to enter. Tea will be provided (no charge) and there will also be a raffle with some excellent prizes. The afternoon’s proceeds will be shared between the club’s newly formed Development Fund and The Friends of the Children of Chernobyl.
As part of the fundraising Albany club polo shirts are to be sold at a reduced price of £5.
Most sizes are available and we also have used tennis balls for sale suitable for dog training or if rinsed in the washing machine ideal for small children. They are £5 for a bag of twenty.
A reminder to all members - if they find a light not working, a door not locked or any other maintenance issue will you please ring Bryan (861497) and he will see that it is fixed asap.
(Wed night) Hot off the press – Albany A bt Castletown a 6-0 and this means they are 1st division Champions., which is good as club captain, Jackie Russell has had nightmares finding players available for matches, though, in fairness, I think this has applied to the other clubs as well.
Finally may I say a belated “Congratulations” to our Todmordon team for retaining the trophy.
Well done Jackie, Charlotte, Ava, Aailish, Sean, Rob, David (B) and Tim.
Looking forward to Sunday 🙂
Reminder to all juniors:
There will not be any club squads for the next 2 weeks as Ian will not be available.
THERE WILL BE RED BALL SESSIONS ON A TUESDAY AND SATURDAY AS USUAL.
Also:
Club championships for junior and Senior members starts on Saturday 4th October.
Get your entries in now!
What time does everything kick off for Orange ball next Saturday?
Just wondering if the booking for junior coaching can be cancelled so that the indoor court can be booked by other people? Thanks
ALBANY TENNIS NEWS BY Pat Sharp
Congratulations to our Todmorden Shield team who successfully defended their 2018 title.
The team was Jackie Russell, Charlotte Clarke, Aailish Kelly, Ava Austerbury, Sean Drewry, Rob Comber, David Bufton and Tim Davies. Albany will host the event next year – date yet to be decided.
The raffle to be drawn on President’s Day is the first of many fundraising events we are planning, to raise funds for a proposed small conservatory facing courts 2 and 3 and LED lighting for the indoor court. Just put £2 in one of the envelopes provided, write your name on it and place it in the box. Prizes include a £20 Shoprite voucher, Prosecco, tin of Celebration chocolates, Albany shirts – Junior and Senior sizes, tennis balls and a mystery prize. At the request of club president, Bryan Sharp, the total amount raised from the tournament and the raffle will be shared between the Albany Development fund and the Friends of Children of Chernobyl.
Over many years – probably 55yrs – members have raised funds for various projects e.g . buying the land, 3 tarmac courts, floodlights, up-grading the court surfaces, the indoor court and the clubhouse. Members have supported all types of events such as sponsored tennis, sponsored walks, a ladies football match, Tombolas, raffles, cheese and pickle party, Christmas Fayres and endless jumble sales with dear old Nora Dobson in the Red Cross Hall. etc. All good fun and worthwhile. Maybe our juniors, with their parents would run an event. Twenty five years ago our juniors had raised £8,000 towards the indoor court.
The sub-committee are looking for ideas and members to help or organise. We are considering a Christmas fayre where members could hire a table and sell items for their favourite charity or the club. We will almost certainly be holding a Christmas tombola for which donations of prizes would be gratefully received. If you can help please contact me or Jan Gaskill.
Forthcoming events are - Friday 27th September the Friday Morning Ladies Group are holding the Big Stir in aid of MacMillan Cancer Support. If you have some spare time, please go and support them. There will be lots of lovely cakes on sale.
Friday 11th October – Friday Morning Ladies Harvest Lunch after the usual Friday morning club session which will be funded by the Friday Ladies group. This group is a very successful part of Albany’s activities and they welcome new members especially new residents.
Thank You Ladies!
A huge thank you to the ladies of Friday Ladies Morning who have bought the Club's new fridge.
Brilliant to see how a bit of tennis, coffee and great company can make such a big difference - thank you all!!
Club Memories from the 1960's!
CONGRATULATIONS!
The club sends all our best wishes to our Coach, Ian Watson, on becoming a Grandad for the first time!
Seth David became UK tennis' next great hope on 24th March 2019!
Recycling Initiative
Wear it Pink Day 2018
Road To Wimbledon 2018
Congratulations to all the players who entered this year's Road to Wimbledon event. On the 15th July, 8 boys and 8 girls competed in the Isle of Man County section of this competition. The winners, Rich Mirski and Charlotte Clarke, qualified to play at Wimbledon against the other county champions. The runners up, Jayden Go and Sarah Long, also got to go to Wimbledon for some special coaching sessions. During the week of 13th August, the County champions played in round robin and knock-out matches at Wimbledon. An Isle of Man player has never progressed from the group stage before, but this year both Roch and Charlotte did and both got all the way to the semi-finals!! Charlotte even went on to win the girls' tournament altogether. This is an extraordinary achievement by both players, whose hard work and dedication should be commended, together with that of their parents and of their coach, Ian Watson. Congratulations to all of you! Photos from Road to Wimbledon 2018 Charlotte's Tournament winning point!A Glimpse at Our History Here are the videos shown on the night of the '50 Years at Ballaughton' Celebration Dinner held in September 2016, which shows the timeline of Albany's development over the past 50 years.
The club's Annual General Meeting was held at the club on Wednesday 28 November at 6.30pm.
The meeting presented the 2017/8 statutory accounts, which were adopted, and the membership and indoor court fees for 2019/20 were agreed. David Long was voted in as the club's new Chairman, and we wish him well. David will take up the info@albanyltc.co.uk e-mail address.
All these sessions are a great way to play some tennis and meet friends, and are open to senior members and nominated juniors. Join in our fun and friendly social sessions held each week on:
OPEN TO ALL
- Sundays 10:00am to 12:00pm
- Tuesdays 7:00pm to 9:30pm
- Wednesdays 10:30am to 12:30pm
