The first Goulburn Murray Tennis Association Yarrawonga team for many years consisting of Danielle Lawrence, Angela Mitchell, Renee Byrne, Ash Wheaton, Thomas Lawrence and Xavier Chessells.
The Goulburn Murray Tennis Association commenced round 1 on Saturday. It is fantastic to have a Yarrawonga team back in this competition after a hiatus of many years.
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The team will compete in Division 3. Congratulations to Danielle Lawrence, Angela Mitchell, Renee Byrne, Ash Wheaton, Thomas Lawrence and Xavier Chessells who made up the squad on the weekend.
The team played against Nathalia and a very enjoyable day was had. Skipper Danielle Lawrence was Yarrawonga’s best winning two sets.
After several very close sets Yarrawonga went down 7 sets to 3 but indicating how even it was the difference was only 10 games.
Yarrawonga’s strong relationship with neighbouring club Numurkah continues this season allowing club members to play Division 1 and 2 tennis.
Numurkah’s Division One team has won the last 4 titles. In the first round of the season Numurkah played Shepparton with Jack Bassett, Lucy Bassett and Grant Chappell playing.
Grant was in great form winning all of his three sets and Jack winning two sets. Overall Shepparton were too strong winning 6 sets to 5.
In Division 2 Numurkah had Tess Bassett and Ellen Bruce playing.
Against Nathalia, Numurkah had a strong victory winning 9 sets to 2. Ellen was dominant winning all of her sets with Tess claiming 2 sets including coming back from 5/1 in singles to win 6/5.
30+ Doubles Tournament
On Sunday Yarrawonga hosted the first tournament of the North East Veterans Tournament.
Chief organisers Marj Blackwell and Ruth Macpherson were well supported by a band of club members to ensure the tournament was a great success.
32 players formed six different groups with the standard of tennis excellent considering many in attendance had not swung a racquet since last season.
There were players as far as Melbourne taking part and these were well complemented by a large number of players from Yarrawonga.
Locals John Brunner and Ellen Bruce were in great early season form, and both played very well to win their groups.
Daryl Bennett was runners up on his card to also claim some much treasured club merchandise.
Kids having a ball
Elizabeth Thomas keeps her eyes on the ball in the Saturday morning tennis.
Photo by
Les_Garbutt
Saturday mornings juniors were back for the second week and it was terrific to see the kids on the courts enjoying themselves.
With 205 players signed up for the various programs it is going to ensure a great season.
The Hot Shots program is designed for novice players aged between 5 and 7. The kids learn the fundamentals of tennis on small courts with low compression tennis balls.
Minor games and skills are combined in the 40-minute sessions designed to keep the kids entertained whilst learning new skills.
The assistance of parents for this program is essential and it was great to see everyone getting involved.
The coaching program is the next step on the Saturday morning coaching journey and is aimed at players between the ages of 7 and 11.
The club welcomed a new coach to the Saturday morning program with Grant Kendall overseeing this area and he has had to be very creative with around 25 players in each group.
Grant is a very experienced coach and he designed activities that were both entertaining and appropriate for player development.
The number of players participating in matches was again exceptional. The players took part in a fun game of ‘Up and Down the River’ that ensured everyone in attendance hit a maximum amount of balls whilst they were there.
With many kids starting off a little rusty, it didn’t take long for rallies to become longer with some awesome shots being played.
Whilst the numbers for the Saturday junior program have been overwhelming, the club has taken positive steps by ensuring there is a lot of coaches to ensure as many balls are hit each morning as possible.
There are still positions available in the 10.20am Hot Shots and coaching groups and anyone interested is encouraged to contact Lisa Linehan or Jason Bassett as soon as possible to join the fun.
A junior squad program will soon commence on a Wednesday afternoon. Squad is overseen by experienced Club Coach Greg Duns.
Tom Bruce runs towards the ball to hit this volley.
Photo by
Les_Garbutt
Greg provides a range of drills to ensure stroke and tactical development.
Greg and his coaching team also provide junior group coaching sessions on Wednesday afternoons. These sessions are great fun and to improve at tennis it is recommended that a weekday practice session coupled with Saturday morning matchplay is a perfect combination.
For younger players the more tennis sessions the kids do the better they become.
Working Bee
On Saturday whilst the juniors were playing President Pat Mansfield and Head Greenskeeper Michael Sheahan oversaw a Working Bee.
As usual members were sensational in lending a hand to ensure the complex continues to look magnificent.
Wilby Tennis Competition
Round one of the Wilby and District Tennis Association commenced on the weekend. It was fantastic to see the competition back again for another season. With a mixture of youth and experience in all teams, each encounter is played in great spirits.
Burramine hosted Tungamah on the fantastic Yarrawonga courts. Both teams were filled with juniors and some substitutions were made to ensure everyone in the vicinity had a hit.
Tungamah’s men showed their strength to win 4 sets to 2 with veteran Jamie Hicks leading the way with 3 wins.
In the ladies the same score was repeated with Tungamah taking a 4 sets to 2 win. Indicating how close the ladies was none of ladies won all 3 sets.
Burramine bounced back in the mixed taking this section 3 sets to 1. Overall Tungamah won by 12 games, taking the night 6 points to 2 points.
Telford also hosted Savernake at Yarrawonga. Savernake has recruited strongly in the off season and their men won 4 sets to 2 with new player Jason Ross winning all of his sets.
Telford bounced back in the ladies winning all 6 sets with Angela Mitchell, Chris Hawkins, Laura Nunn and Emma Pearce all in great form.
The mixed sets were shared 2 all with Savernake winning this section by 3 games. Overall Telford won by 2 games in a great night of tennis. The points were shared 4 points apiece.
After round 1 the ladder is Tungamah 6, Wilby 4, Mulwala 4, Savernake 4, Telford 4, Burramine 2.
The two Mulwala teams from last year have merged to form one squad out of Lonsdale Reserve.
This decision was made late last week and as a result Wilby and Mulwala both had a bye this week. The draw is being redone and will be available early this week.
Thursday Ladies Competition
The Thursday Ladies teams competition will commence this Thursday, October 23. This competition has proven extremely popular with 40 ladies making up 10 teams.
Teams have a breakfast cereal theme which will create some interest. Players are requested to arrive around 5.50 so matches can commence on time.
Fill-in players are always welcome and certainly required during the season. If you are keen to fill in please contact Narelle Bassett.
Tuesday Mens Tennis
The Tuesday Mens competition will begin on Tuesday, November 11. Organiser Ash Wheaton has commenced taking names and is keen to hear from any new players that might be interested in playing.
Entries are made individually with evenly matched teams created. Names need to be in by Friday October 24. The season runs until early March and is always great fun.
Rock up and play sessions
The YLTC holds social aggregate style tennis on Tuesday morning commencing at 9.30am for ladies and Wednesday at 1pm for mens social hit.
There is no compulsion to attend each of these on a weekly basis although once you have tried it once it will be hard to not keep going back.
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