THE KENT COUNTY

LAWN TENNIS ASSOCIATION

2019 ANNUAL AWARDS

Presented on Saturday 7 March 2020

Thanks

Thanks to the 2019 Awards Panel Chair: Mary Evans

Sandi Procter, John Ratcliffe, Vanessa Webb, Harri Izzard, Clare Lilley, Janice White

Thanks to the Organisers of the Dinner Mary Evans, Janice White, John Ratcliffe, Graham Silvester

Thanks to Sponsors Trevor May Contractors who donate the prizes for:

Club of the Year 1-4 court Club of the Year 5+ courts

HEAD who donates the prize for: Education Award winner

East West Connect Ltd who support Kent Tennis Junior Players

Presentation of 2019 Awards The Awards will be presented in the following order. In some categories there is an outright winner and in others there is a shortlist of finalists. More detail about everyone listed below is on the following pages. The Awards presented this evening are for achievements in 2019.

AWARD CATEGORIES Junior Player Ben Gusic-Wan Junior Team 9U Mixed County Cup Team Player Hazel Lindfield Team Kent Men’s Summer County Cup Team County Colours Florence Abbott, Nick Brookes, Alice Gillan, James Markiewicz, Nell Miller,

Sophia Thomas, Sarah Wray. Education Deal Parochial CE Primary School, St. Peter’s CE Primary School (Aylesford). Young Person Sophie Campbell (Shooters Hill LTC), Ed Glover (Canterbury LTC),

Sacha Trofimov (Canterbury LTC). Disability Avenue Tennis, Whitstable LTC. Competition Oakwood Family Cup, The Parklangley Grade 3 Spring Tournament,

The Sadie Bristow Competition. Official Jason Baker, Susan Finch, Graham Hunt. Community Venue Kings Hill Community Tennis Club, Tennis for Free (Bromley),

Twist Fizz – Eltham Park South. Club 5 - 8 Courts Avenue Tennis, Frindsbury LTC, Horsmonden LTC. Club 1 - 4 Courts Maidstone Tennis Club Club Coach Chloe Ayling (Kings Hill Community), Zane Cheeseman (Horsmonden LTC),

Nick Wibberley (Canterbury LTC). Performance Coach Harry Bushnell (The Parklangley Club), Simon Grieve (Canterbury LTC),

Matt Smith (Bromley Tennis Centre). Volunteer Carol Harrison (Open Door & Kent Tennis),

Lisa King (The Sundridge Park Club), Charlie McArdle (Canterbury LTC). Lifetime Achievement Colin Jarvis (Avenue Tennis), Peter Marshall (Frindsbury LTC),

Graham Sutherland (Wye LTC). Some categories are included in the British Tennis Awards and winners are nominated for the Regional Awards.

History of the Kent Tennis Awards The Kent Tennis Awards began in 2004 with eight categories – Player, Coach, Club, School, Local Authority, Volunteer, Team and Outstanding Contribution. In 2007, Junior Player and Junior Leader were added and in 2011, the Club Award was divided into small (1 - 4 courts) and large (5+ courts). Local Authority disappeared along the way. In 2015, the LTA created a new British Tennis Awards scheme and as a result we added Disability and Community Awards. In 2017, Awards for Official and Competition were added. For the 2019 awards Performance coach is a new category. In eleven of the categories, Kent nominates winners for regional and national awards. This does not include Player and Team Awards which are done differently at national level. Past winners in each category are listed in this programme for 12 years only.

Kent Tennis Awards of 2018

National Winner: Junior Girl Player of the Year Emma Raducanu Coach of the Year Luke House National Finalists: Education Award Deal Parochial CE Primary School Disability Programme Jimmy’s Tennis at Frindsbury Club of the Year Oakwood Tennis Club Regional Winners: Lifetime Achievement Peter Stotesbury Kent Awards Junior Player Anton Matusevich Junior Team 18U Girls County Cup Team Player Jasper Cooper Team Men’s 35 County Cup Team Club 1 - 4 Brenchley & Matfield LTC Club 5 - 8 Oakwood Tennis Club Coach Luke House Official Charlie Falconer Competition Kent County Championships at Bromley Tennis Centre Education Deal Parochial CE Primary School Disability Programme Jimmy’s Tennis at Frindsbury Community Venue Kings Hill Community Tennis Club Young Person Marcelle Lowe (Gravesham LTC) Volunteer Nigel Jordan (Old Wilsonians LTC) Lifetime Achievement Peter Stotesbury (The Parklangley Club) LTA Meritorious Service Award Cynthia Smith

Trophies and Awards The Charles Bailey Award for Outstanding Achievement This is the most prestigious of the Kent Awards. The trophy is presented in honour of Charles Bailey, who made 80 appearances for the Kent Men’s team. In 1983 he became captain and the team rose from division 3 to national cham-pions in 1986 and retained the title in 1987. He was a member of the Kent Council for 23 years until his death in 2006. In 1998 a new tennis centre at Sevenoaks School was named the Bailey Centre. The trophy is a silver bowl and pres-ented to a person who has made a significant contribution to Kent Tennis over many years in participation, performance or tennis administration. It is known in the LTA Awards as the Lifetime Achievement Award. The Ian Wright Award for Junior Player of the Year Ian Wright was a member and official at the Bexley Tennis Club for over 50 years, running the Bexley Junior Tournament and often known as Mr Bexley. In North Kent, he managed the league handbook for many years. For Kent, he was a long standing member of the junior committee, on the Kent Council for 27 years and a Life Vice-President for a further 16 years. The award is a shield and is presented to a junior player who has achieved significantly at a very high level, probably internationally.

The Sadie Bristow Award for Junior Team of the Year This cup was a new trophy in 2018. It is in honour of Sadie Bristow, who suffered an unexpected fatal anaphylactic shock in August 2018. Sadie represented Kent in the 9U team. She was a fantastic athlete and tennis was a huge passion. Although only nine years old she had achieved considerable success, ranked number 1 in GB, having won over 40 tournaments. Sadie’s parents and friends have set up a foundation in her memory to raise funds to provide tennis opportunities for children in schools and raise awareness of allergies. The trophy is a cup and has been donated by the LTA. It is presented to a junior team which has achieved significant success at a high level. The LTA Meritorious Service Award County Associations are invited annually to nominate a person who has made a significant contribution to tennis in their county. We do not nominate every year, only when there is a suitable candidate. From 2001 until 2017 the intention was to recognise the contribution of a person in any aspect of tennis either in clubs or for the county itself. From 2018, the criteria were changed to recognise a person who has contributed for a significant length of time to county tennis activities.

2007 Oliver Evans 2008 Lewis Burton 2009 Francis Sargeant 2010 Lewis Burton 2011 Thomas Wright 2012 Nell Miller

2013 Emma Raducanu 2014 Nell Miller & Anton Matusevich 2015 Anton Matusevich 2016 Nell Miller 2017 Jack Pinnington-Jones 2018 Anton Matusevich

JUNIOR PLAYER OF THE YEAR

Presented with the Ian Wright Trophy by Clare Bristow from the Sadie Bristow Foundation Past Winners

2019 WinnerBen Gusic-Wan

Ben Gusic-Wan has had an amazing year winning the Super Auray event early in the year and the Orange Bowl at the end of the year - which are the 2 biggest events worldwide for his 12U age group. Ben is also the national 12U Boys Singles Champion and the National 12U Boys Doubles Champion with his partner Pranav. Wonderfully for us, he has also found time this year to be very much a part of Kent tennis - representing the county in the 14U County Cup and competing in the County Championships.

JUNIOR TEAM OF THE YEAR

Presented with the Sadie Bristow Trophy by Clare Bristow from the Sadie Bristow Foundation Past Winners

2019 Winner

2012 Sevenoaks Years 7&8 Girls team 2013 Kent Boys 12U team 2014 Kent Boys 14U team 2015 Kent Girls 14U team

2016 Kent Girls 10U team 2017 Kent Boys 10U team 2018 Kent Girls 18U team

Kent 9U Mixed Team

Captain: Harry Bushnell Vice-Captain: Tom Samson

Team: Alex Mirrington Toby Gwinnell Alex Bickerton Ben McLoughlin Ruby Marriage Imogen Smith Lisa Bolton Anastasia Nahornaya

Results: Beat Sussex 6-3 Beat Berkshire 8-1 Beat Essex 8-1 Beat Surrey 6-3 This age group is a Regional Event and the Kent team were winners for a fifth time in six years in the South East Region, played this year at Bromley Tennis Centre.

PLAYER OF THE YEAR

Presented by Malcolm Smith, Kent Tennis Board Chairman Past Winners2007 Sean Thornley 2008 Paul Drane 2009 Marcia Ackers 2010 Sean Thornley 2011 Holly Richards 2012 Ian Payne

2013 Anne Williams 2014 Robert Searle 2015 Hazel Lindfield 2016 Bob Milner 2017 Niall Sweeney 2018 Jasper Cooper

2019 WinnerHazel Lindfield, The Parklangley Club

Hazel is the Kent Ladies Seniors Organiser and Captain of the over 60’s Ladies Team.  She was selected to play for Great Britain in the over 60s World Championships (Alice Marble Cup) where the team won the bronze medal. On the British circuit she won the ladies 60s singles and doubles titles at the English Seniors Indoor Championships at Welwyn, the British Open Seniors Clay Court championships at Bournemouth and doubles at the British Open Grass Court Championships at Eastbourne. Hazel was a singles and doubles finalist at the British Seniors Closed Grass Court Championships at Wimbledon and a finalist in the singles at Eastbourne. In the ITF world rankings, she ended the year ranked 24 in singles and 8 in doubles.

TEAM OF THE YEAR

Presented by Malcolm Smith, Kent Tennis Board Chairman Past Winners2007 Kent Men’s team 2008 Kent Ladies team 2009 Kent Men’s 55s team 2010 Bromley LTC Men’s team 2011 Kent Ladies 70s team 2012 Kent Ladies 70s team

2013 Kent Ladies team 2014 Kent Men’s team 2015 Kent Ladies 55s team 2016 Kent Ladies & Kent Men’s teams 2017 Kent Ladies team 2018 Kent Men’s 35s team

2019 WinnerKent Men’s Summer County Cup Team

Captain: Andy Burgoyne Vice-Captain: Rob Searle

The Kent Men’s team were crowned Summer County Cup National Champions in July in Eastbourne. They had been promoted from Group 2 in 2018 so this was an outstanding achievement. Andy Burgoyne said “I am so proud to Captain this team to what is our 6th title while I have been Player/Captain”.

Team: Nick Brookes Andy Burgoyne Lewis Burton James Davis Alistair Filmer James Markiewicz Francis Sargeant Rob Searle Matt Summer Sean Thornley

Results: Beat Hertfordshire 6-3 Beat Essex 6-3 Beat Suffolk 7-2 Beat Middlesex 7-2 Beat South Wales 6-0

EDUCATION AWARD

Presented by Mary Evans, Kent Tennis Deputy President. The winning school will be presented with a prize from Head Past Winners2007 Not awarded 2008 Sevenoaks School 2009 Homewood School 2010 Sevenoaks School 2011 Not awarded 2012 Amherst School

2013 Lady Joanne Thornhill School 2014 Bromley High Junior School 2015 Sevenoaks School 2016 Glebe SEN School 2017 Deal Parochial CE Primary School 2018 Deal Parochial CE Primary School

2019 ShortlistDeal Parochial CE Primary School Closely linked with Deal Indoor Tennis Centre, the school runs an inclusive tennis programme for all its 207 pupils. The programme includes curriculum time lessons, after school and lunch time clubs, before school girls only clubs, sessions for children with special needs, inter-house and challenge competitions, trips to Eastbourne and Wimbledon, and 25 teams entering schools competitions. 5 teams qualified for Kent finals. Older pupils are nurtured in leadership through the tennis programme and the enhanced school community spirit has inspired some parents to play also.

St. Peter’s CE Primary, Aylesford Prior to 2019 almost all the children in the school had never picked up a tennis racket. Now there are 2 mini courts marked in the playground and Taylor Made Tennis from Kings Hill Community Tennis Club deliver weekly coaching to students in years 1-6. By the end of the year all pupils could play and score. They run extra-curricular clubs and enter teams into the local School Sports Games. The Head Teacher and staff are fully engaged and join in, and some of the year 6 students are learning leadership and scoring skills to help with the School Games next year.

YOUNG PERSON OF THE YEAR

Presented by Mary Evans, Kent Tennis Deputy President. Past Winners

2007 Michael Briggs 2008 Claire Jones 2009 Jack Heimann 2010 Matthew Snow 2011 Not Awarded 2012 Sam Leighton

2013 Emre Saridogan 2014 Robyn Enslin 2015 James Carlton 2016 Ulysse Abbate 2017 Daniel Hodgson 2018 Marcelle Lowe

2019 ShortlistSophie Campbell (Shooters Hill LTC)

In 2019 Sophie attended a Tennis Leaders course and the development of her organisation and leadership skills have been outstanding since. She is an assistant for children’s group lessons and has a real passion for helping to improve their tennis and the children respond to her with great enthusiasm. The coaches think she has a natural talent for coaching, and are thrilled with the way she conducts herself both on and off court. She won the club’s Jack Petchey Award

in 2019.

Ed Glover (Canterbury LTC)

Ed has been assisting confidently with coaching and club sessions for tots to teens in term time and school holidays, is a member of the junior committee and plays for the club men’s team. In 2019 he gave a lot of time to assist with the Sadie Bristow Foundation activity delivering school and club open days, manning information stands and took part in a 12 hour tennis marathon. He also took his Level 1 Coaching course. Ed is a fantastic person who will help brilliantly with any type of session.

Sacha Trofimov (Canterbury LTC)

Sacha assists with lessons and competitions in both term time and in the school holidays, is a buddy hitter and a member of the junior committee. In 2019 she passed her Level 1 Coaching course, and attended apprentice training sessions with the Head Coach. She is a confident leader on court, a good organiser and even manages other younger assistants. She is a fantastic character at the club, gives much of her time voluntarily and willing to step in at the last minute.

DISABILITY AWARD

Presented by Kathleen O’Hanlon from East West Connect Past Winners2015 Bromley Tennis Centre 2016 Bromley Tennis Centre 2017 Bromley Tennis Centre 2018 Jimmy’s Tennis at Frindsbury

2019 ShortlistAvenue Tennis Avenue Tennis is a fully accessible venue and the team is proactive to cater for players with any kind of disability. The Head Coach coaches a player in a wheelchair and encourages them to enter competitions, various children have learning difficulties and are seamlessly integrated into regular coaching groups, local SEN Schools use the facilities at the club, and the gym team have a programme of rehabilitation for people with physical difficulties. Recently the club recently hosted a charity quiz to raise funds for a local double amputee to climb Kilimanjaro.

Whitstable LTC Three years ago Julian Shaw took over the running of 3 outdoor public courts on behalf of the local council. Under his leadership wheelchair tennis has become a regular part of club life with local players able to enjoy and access a truly welcoming club environment. He acquired 2 specialist wheelchairs and received a grant to deliver a variety of disability sessions. During summer 2019 he took tennis to a local SEN School, reaching some profoundly disabled children. He has followed this with monthly sessions at the club with a specialist coach.

COMPETITION OF THE YEAR

Presented by Chris Mann, LTA Competition Support Officer and Kent County Championships Referee Past Winners2017 Kent County Championships 2018 Kent County Championships

2019 ShortlistOakwood Family Cup Competition As Club of the Year 2018, Oakwood club was invited to host the annual Kent Tennis Day in September. A notable part of the day was the Family Cup, for teams of an 11U plus an adult. All Kent clubs were invited to send players. It was well run, enjoyable and every pair took a goody bag home. Other activities ran alongside the competition including fastest serve, a Sadie Bristow Foundation target practice with Toy Story characters. And the refreshments were amazing.

The Parklangley G3 Spring Tournament This event has run for over 20 years but 2019 was particularly successful. It catered for players 8U to adult and for the first time included an event for players with Learning Disabilities. Overall the tournament had the biggest entry in recent years and the LTA survey revealed a 94% satisfied or very satisfied score. The tournament team was easily recognisable in branded kit, live updates were posted on social media, off-court activity featured red tennis on badminton courts and TV coverage from the French Open. There was an organised daily warm up using a ‘rebo wall’ and special menus and opening hours in the restaurant.

The Sadie Bristow Competition Clubs who ran a ‘Sadie Day’ in memory of nine year old Sadie Bristow were invited to send 2 players to play in a special event. In the competition’s first year 20 players from seven clubs and more from two local schools played with their friends and families joining in other fun games and challenges. It was organised and refereed by volunteers and hosted free by the Queen’s Club. It was outstanding for its inclusivity, bringing a diverse range of players together to make new friends and enjoy tennis and raising funds for the Foundation.

OFFICIAL OF THE YEAR

Presented by Chris Mann, LTA Competition Support Officer and Kent County Championships Referee Past Winners2017 Chris Mann 2018 Charlie Falconer

2019 ShortlistJason Baker Jason has a reputation for being a very well organised referee, always calm and efficient and able to cope with whatever the weather throws at him. He is considerate to all ages of players and if they have any special requirements. He plans well and communicates arrangements to players well ahead. He is one of the Kent County Championships officiating team doing the evening shift after work in the city. A very dedicated and passionate official.

Susan Finch Susan has been an ABTO Referee for 10 years and in 2019 passed her National R3 Qualification. She has grown the competition programme at The Parklangley Club from 6 to 50 per year with new events such as Quorn Cup, R2W, events for players with Learning Disabilities and entries into the new National Winter League. Many tournaments are now over oversubscribed. Susan’s tournament feedback is excellent with many ‘extremely satisfied’ scores. Now keen to help other competition organisers, she organises referee workshops and has mentored 3 new referees and a court supervisor.

Graham Hunt Graham qualified as a referee in 2018 and from that time has grown into a role he really enjoys. He has refereed Grade 5s and 6s at Avenue Tennis, the club tournament and the ladders which have 150 players. He is meticulous in his preparation, gives good customer service at his events and attends other events to support parents who are going to tournaments for the first time. He also helps to develop the scoring and competition organising skills of junior tennis leaders

COMMUNITY VENUE OF THE YEAR

Presented by Robert Ratcliffe LTA Regional Participation Development Partner Past Winners2015 Community Tennis at Ladywell Fields 2016 Kings Hill Community Tennis Club 2017 Kings Hill Community Tennis Club

2019 ShortlistKings Hill Community Tennis Club The club continues to provide affordable and fun tennis coaching, camps and competitions to youngsters and their parents across Kings Hill. Players of all ages now play in family mix-ins, play in teams and go on outings. They have become firm friends through the club. Currently the club makes use of courts at local clubs during the winter because of lack of floodlights. That may all change with energy going into a project to build 4 new floodlit courts in the local sports park.

Tennis for Free, Bromley The Tennis For Free scheme has grown year on year and in 2019 grew by another 10%, now with 11,000 members using 20 courts on 4 park sites. In 2019, 2 courts were resurfaced. In 2019 the coaching programme increased by 25% and they ran TFK classes, club sessions, team challenges and a scheme championship, open days, local leagues and Kent Leagues and local schools court sessions. All venues have high standards of safeguarding, the gate access system for court entry and online bookings have been improved and members receive a monthly update.

Twist Fizz - Eltham Park South During 2019 TwistFizz had a positive impact on the local community breathing new life into the run down courts at Eltham Park South inspiring local residents to play, and delivering community outreach programmes to groups most susceptible to inactivity. They raised £16k to refurbish the courts opened in July and attracted 170 new children and adults now playing weekly and in regular competitions. They work with community partners to broaden the reach of tennis and make use of new technology such as online booking, smart meters and member smart cards for floodlights.

CLUB OF THE YEAR 5+ COURTS

Presented by Tim Freeman from Trevor May Contractors The winning Club will be receive a voucher for £500 from Trevor May Contractors Past Winners2007 The Parklangley Club 2008 Blackheath LTC 2009 Sevenoaks LTC 2010 Shooters Hill LTC 2011 Gravesham LTC 2012 Wye LTC

2013 Bromley Tennis Centre 2014 Sydenham LT&CC 2015 Shooters Hill LTC 2016 Old Wilsonians’ LTC 2017 Avenue Tennis 2018 Oakwood Tennis Club

2019 ShortlistAvenue Tennis Avenue enjoyed considerable growth in 2019, its 3rd year in its new world class facility. The coaching programme increased by 20% (300 players), teams have won their divisions in the Kent Leagues, and junior players were selected for county teams. 2000 children are reached per month in the schools programme, the coaching team has expanded to 6 whilst 3 new coaches from within the programme have achieved level 2 qualifications. Social functions feature highly and the club has become a very popular community hub.

Frindsbury LTC 2019 was another great year for the club, having been the Regional winner for LTA Disability Programme in 2018. Frindsbury’s committed team of volunteers, in partnerships with Jimmy’s Tennis, who are key to maintaining and running the club, with safeguarding at the heart of everything they do. A full programme of events are delivered, ranging from family tournaments to fun days to regular LTA sanctioned competitions. They engage with local schools, the armed forces and local university. Their focus over the last 12 months has been to consolidate and develop community links. Their disability programme now has 274 people involved on a weekly basis. The membership is starting to grow, and plans in place for a new indoor facility and an extension

Horsmonden 2019 was a great year for the club. It is a small village club and yet now has 635 members (342 adults and 293 juniors). LED floodlights were installed on all 5 courts, an online booking system was introduced, the club designed a new logo and website and we added wifi in the clubhouse. We have an active committee working closely with our Head Coach, excellent safeguarding practices and a wide range of activities include coaching, cardio tennis, regular club sessions, socials and team tennis.

2019 Winner

CLUB OF THE YEAR 1-4 COURTS

Presented by Tim Freeman from Trevor May Contractors The winning Club will be receive a voucher for £500 from Trevor May Contractors Past Winners2011 Oakwood TC 2012 Bethersden TC 2013 Hythe LTC 2014 Deal Indoor TC

2015 Oakwood TC 2016 Bethersden TC 2017 Chipstead LTC 2018 Brenchley and Matfield LTC

In 2019 Maidstone took the decision to grow their membership and they did by 25% to 192 members, including many juniors. They rebranded including new logo and colours, website and a club brochure, a new online booking system allowing members and non-members to book, and a family open day. New club clothing is given to junior teams and available to buy for all members, never done before. A successful season in the Leagues with 3 division wins and an LTA safeguarding support visit feedback stating ‘exceeding standards’

Maidstone Tennis Club

CLUB COACH OF THE YEAR

Presented by Sandi Procter, LTA Deputy President Past Winners2007 Tom Carlton 2008 Harry Bushnell/Alastair Filmer 2009 Phil Layfield 2010 Martin Whitehouse 2011 Nick Cavaday 2012 Zane Cheeseman

2013 Craig Allen 2014 Jake Johnson/Luke House 2015 Simon Grieve 2016 Matt Borthwick 2017 Dave Von Ribbeck 2018 Luke House

2019 ShortlistChloe Ayling (Kings Hill Community TC) Chloe has enormous energy and a real love of tennis that has grown her community programme from nothing to 250 players in 3 years. She links with local schools, runs competitions with fun themes, takes players and parents on outings and encourages her young players to become leaders and coaches, thus developing her own coaching team. Her Club has won the Kent Community Award for 3 years and in 2019 she started a new project to build more tennis courts in answer to growing demand.

Zane Cheeseman (Horsmonden LTC) Zane’s ‘Hotshotz’ programme runs across multiple venues, mainly at Horsmonden where he coaches 144 juniors, 43 adults, cardio sessions, pay and play, wheelchair tennis and holiday camps. He organises junior teams and tournaments, and added a singles ladder in 2019 with100+ matches played. He organises the club tournament, Open Day and National League team and chairs the Maidstone League. In 2019 he played in the National Championship winning Kent O35s team and is ranked #4 in GB O35s. He also achieved his Level 5 coaching qualification.

Nick Wibberley (Canterbury LTC) Not only is Nick a talented coach with a warm personality but also creative. He has instigated a wide variety of new opportunities to increase participation - new adult beginners, indoor doubles league for members and non-members, team training sessions mixing adults with juniors, VI sessions, junior mix-ins and SEN Schools sessions. His competition programme has grown with new half termly team challenges, weekly matchplays and in-district red festivals. He runs the schools outreach programme, tennis leader courses and the clubs coach apprenticeship scheme.

PERFORMANCE COACH OF THE YEAR

Presented by Sandi Procter, LTA Deputy President New Category for 2019

2019 ShortlistHarry Bushnell (The Parklangley Club) In 2019 Harry showed exceptional skills as a coach and a leader. He has restructured the clubs performance programme with a clear vision, philosophy and direction for players and parents. As well as coaching players competing at national level he has delivered valuable presentations to parents. He has been a successful Kent Captain for many years and in 2019 his 9U won the Regional County Cup and his 10U Girls were 3rd in the National Finals. Also in 2019 he was appointed as a Kent coach responsible for delivering the county training programme for 8U to 11U.

Simon Grieve (Canterbury LTC) Simon is the coach of Ben Gusic Wan, GB player, National Champion, winner of the Super 12 Auray and the Orange Bowl; also of other high achieving players - 4 of the 2019 14U Kent boys team, and Tiegan Aitken and Alex d Sousa, also nationally successful. Simon is an inspirational coach who leads his team by example with attention to detail and huge commitment. He mentors the younger coaches and is always thinking of new ideas. In 2019 he introduced 6.30am training for juniors alongside men’s team players. He was recently appointed Vice Captain for the GB 14U Boys Team.

Matt Smith (Bromley Tennis Centre) Matt has completely reinvigorated the performance programme at Bromley Tennis Centre both on and off court. He has introduced new initiatives on court and relating to parents, which have led to a much improved player experience. His individual players Lois and Eloise Newberry were selected for the LTA National Age Group Programme and represent GB. Matt is an inspiration to his coaching team and is interactive with the wider team at Bromley ensuring that performance is integrated with the whole programme

VOLUNTEER OF THE YEAR

Presented by John Watton, Kent Tennis President Past Winners2007 Vanessa Webb 2008 Jeff Richards 2009 Ken Mills 2010 Martin Ruddick 2011 Vanessa Webb 2012 Caroline Ratcliffe

2013 Peter Abbotts 2014 Jim Gore/John Ratcliffe/Diana Gaines 2015 Judith Heayberd 2016 Caroline Ratcliffe 2017 Hilary Casey 2018 Nigel Jordan

2019 ShortlistCarol Harrison (Open Door & Kent Tennis) Carol has worked tirelessly to revolutionise Kent Tennis social media presence with regular posts about player success, events, club news and competitions. She has singlehandedly boosted social media engagement from 200 to 770 on Instagram, 456 to 607 on Facebook and 1301 to 1335 on Twitter. Over 300 people are engaging with individual posts allowing us to reach people outside the traditional tennis community. Carol has also made a huge contribution to the improvement of the KLT, Annual Review and other publications bringing new ideas and innovative stories.

Lisa King (The Sundridge Park Club) Match Secretary and Committee Member for ten years, Lisa has recently increased the number of competition teams from 15 to 23, organising all the fixtures, captaining three teams, writing match reports for member newsletters and fostering a great competitive and social spirit. In 2019, the club won 18 trophies in the North Kent & Kent Leagues, a year in which Lisa also took on the treasurer role to help out. Everyone in the Club appreciates her dedication and that she always has a smile.

Charlie McArdle (Canterbury LTC)

Charlie plays almost daily in club mix-ins sessions, and greets new players and makes them feel welcome. He assists with the disability programme and tournaments, helps out at club events, is a diligent committee member and now a highly valued Welfare Officer. In 2019 he advanced the club’s safeguarding policies and procedures and the club received an ‘exceeding’ report for their LTA support visit. He is generous with his time, kind, calm and has a great sense of humour.

CHARLES BAILEY AWARD FOR LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT Presented with the Charles Bailey Award for Outstanding Achievement by John Watton, Kent Tennis President Past Winners2007 Helene Jackson 2008 Roger Smith 2009 Angela Darby 2010 Mary Evans 2011 Roger Bottomley 2012 Austin Smith

2013 John Darby 2014 Sandi Procter 2015 Tony Beddoe 2016 Andy Burgoyne 2017 Denis Costelloe 2018 Peter Stotesbury

2019 ShortlistColin Jarvis (Avenue Tennis) After 40 years generating the income, Colin built a £19m world class tennis facility in Medway and appointed a quality team to run it, providing hundreds of children in Medway a place to play tennis. He created a charity which supports talented players with extra coaching and takes tennis coaching and equipment into local schools. He is a very selfless man who puts everyone else first, always at the club to help out and support events.

Peter Marshall (Frindsbury LTC)

A member at the club for over 60 years and club champion first in 1967 and many times since, Peter has been a committed volunteer since the 1980s. He was a wise and level headed treasurer for four decades, led on club and court maintenance and did much of the groundwork for facility improvements, plus chair umpiring club finals. Always willing to move with the times he is now helping the next generation with the next projects. He has literally built a sporting legacy.

Graham Sutherland (Wye LTC) A member of the Tennis club for 25 years, was appointed Chairman in 2005 and has been the driving force for many successful facility projects. 12 years ago, the club had 2 run down tennis courts and no club house.  Thanks to Graham they now have 5 floodlit courts, online booking system, webcam, defibrillator, and a fully accessible club house with patio. He has led the club expertly and diligently for many years.  He is a Kent Councillor and has been a representative on the Ashford Tennis League committee for 10 years.

COUNTY COLOURS 2019

MEN’S & LADIES COLOURS Presented by Malcolm Smith, Kent Tennis Board Chairman

JUNIOR COLOURS Previously presented at the 2019 Kent County Championships

SENIORS COLOURS Previously presented at the Kent LTA AGM Sheila Badger Peter Elsden Malcolm Smith LTA MERITORIOUS SERVICE AWARD Past Awards: 2001 Jim Kiddell, North Kent LTA 2004 Isobel Pullen, Canterbury LTC 2006 Marcia Ackers, Hartley Country Club 2010 David Faraker, Kent Schools LTA 2011 Stephen Woodley, Canterbury LTC 2014 Lionel Hoskins, Herne Bay LTC 2016 Angela Darby, Beckenham Tennis & Racquets Club 2018 Pat Braam, Tunbridge Wells LTC 2019 Cynthia Smith, Kent Team Captain & Senior Ladies Organiser 2020 Denis Costelloe, Catford Wanderers & North Kent (To be awarded at an LTA event in Summer 2020)

Boys Tommy Harrison Luke Ralph Archie Turner

Girls Phoebe-Mireille Ecuyer-Dale Alaia Rubio Perez Emma Sawkings

Florence Abbott Nick Brookes Alice Gillan James Markiewicz

Nell Miller Sophia Thomas Sarah Wray

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ORDER OF PLAY

Our host this evening is John Ratcliffe

Welcome

Dinner

Presentation of Kent Tennis Highlights 2019

Presentation of Awards

Dancing to Oliver Twist

AWARDS PRESENTATION EVENING