Dates for the Diary 📆

• Clubhouse Spring Clean Saturday 29th March at 10am to tidy, clean the clubhouse and the shed. More the merrier, bring along some snacks or buy from serve N snack for sustenance.

• American tournaments

  • Sunday 13th April, 10am (also Peter’s birthday!)

  • Sunday 6th July, 10am

  • Sunday 26th October, 10am

  • Sunday 28th December, 10am

• Open Day - Sunday 6th July, 10am

• Finals Day (and BBQ) - Saturday 13th September

American Tournament - Sunday 13th April 🏆

Not long to go until our first American tournament of the year. All people and standards are welcome. Draw at 10am prompt.

End of Season Captain’s Reports 🗞️

Mixed A

MCS mixed A finished 4th out of 7 teams in Division 3 West with 30 points. Ledbury topped the league with 54 points, Worcester C were 2nd with 42, and HWXA were 3rd with 32 points. 6 players played in the team this season: Emil, Miles M, James Burton, Leila, Helen and Ali. Emil finished 3rd in the league standings, losing only 1 match, and Leila finished 4th, losing only 2 matches - so special congratulations to Emil and Leila.

Mens A

The men’s A team played in division 3, which has a very high standard, and did well to stay up this season. The stars were our youth division, namely Ben and Luke Meredith and Emil Meager. Eight players played in the squad led by Steve; congratulations to them all.

Mens B

An excellent season for the Men’s B ended with a 10-0 win away to Woolhope which meant that we finished as Champions of West Division 7. We only lost 1 match all season, which was away to Goodrich in January. 11 men played this season with all 11 having a winning record. We started with away wins at Kempsey and Ledbury, followed by a 10-point win at home to Boughton. Defeat at Goodrich followed, but then we finished strong with 3 wins in the last week, at home to Hallow and Kempsey and finally away at Woolhope. So overall, an excellent season played in great spirit- this means that the Men’s B were promoted in both the Summer and Winter campaigns. Thanks to all who played.

Ladies A

Leila, Lara, Ali and Helen came second in Division 3 West with 42 points. Teens Leila and Lara were undefeated and top the player statistics. Sadly for us, they are now off to shiny new beginnings but we have really enjoyed the buzz they created with so many spectators turning out to watch in the cold.

Ladies B

Ladies B got off to a good start this season with some good wins in our home matches but having lost two players to injury and the Antipodes we ended up in 6th place out of 8 , so we will hopefully keep our place in Div 6. As ever, win or lose in many of our matches was determined by a championship tie-breaks which seem to be our achilles heel. Many thanks to a committed and faithful team.

Membership Renewal 💸

Club membership is due for renewal by April 1st.

We will send a reminder e-mail with a link so it is easy to renew your membership. Once you have renewed, you will receive the new court and clubhouse codes. As Peter explained in his recent letter, we have had to increase the fees by 10% to keep the club financially sound and to start preparing for the cost of resurfacing the courts in the future. Any good fundraising ideas would be appreciated so we are ready for the cost in the future.

Floodlights - The fee for the use of the floodlights, rumoured not to have increased since their installation, unlike the price of electricity, has increased from £3 to £4 for an hour. Please put the money in the token box. Thank you.

Singles Ladder 🪜

The singles ladder has been fiercely contested, mostly on Monday nights, with games lasting 25 minutes before the bell rings and the next players take to the courts. We wrapped up the season with a party, some coming dressed as famous tennis players (can you guess who?), fizz and an Indian takeaway in the clubhouse. The winner of the trophy was... (drum roll)...Martin! James came second and Connor third. Congratulations! There will soon be a summer singles ladder. If you’d like to join in the fun, please let Helen or Tom know.

MCS Quiz - Friday 17th Jan 🧐 

A fun evening of quiz, food and raffle was held in January . Thank you Vince for setting the quiz and for everyone who came we raised approximately £500 so a good start to the year.

Popular Shop 🛍️

The popular shop is proving popular and so far has raised a £100 since reopening. Please keep on bringing and buying. Your unwanted loot is someone else’s dream purchase. All in aid of club funds.

MCS 100 Club 💯

We are also planning to start an MCS 100 club. Most people will have seen various 100 clubs in which people subscribe to a monthly ticket for say a £1 and there is a monthly draw in which a proportion of the money is awarded as prizes. Half the money would be awarded as a prize on the first Sunday of the month using a random number generator. This would generate a bit of money for the club. There will be a notice up at the clubhouse in due course explaining how to sign up and so on. If anyone has any thoughts on this or would like to help run it, please click here to email Peter Spargo.

Safeguarding 💛

If you have any safeguarding concerns, please contact the club Welfare Officer, Anne Spargo, on 07762260048 or email.  The first aid kit is in the cupboard on the left of the clubhouse as you enter. The Defibrillator code is C1267. If you ever have to use the defibrillator, it does tell you step by step exactly what to do in case of an emergency.

MCS Policy for transporting children to matches:

• Ideal scenario which must be enacted if at all possible: One of the child’s parents should accompany the child to matches.

• If this is impossible & there is no alternative to the child playing in the match, the child can be transported to the match as long as there are 2 adults in the car and the child sits in the back. This situation must be agreed with the child’s parents in advance, and the child must also be happy with the arrangement. Please also make the club welfare officer aware so he/she can record the matter and enquire further if required.

• Please also click here to read the NSPCC guidance and be aware of the mitigating factors listed.

MCS Trans & Non-Binary Policy

MCS will be following the LTA guidelines for trans and non-binary members. This means that all social events are open to all players with the exception of the Ladies’ summer competition.

All policies can be viewed on the website.

Get to know your committee - Pat Pugh

Many of you know Pat Pugh, who was one of the founding members of MCS tennis club back in 1980. A group of ladies wanted somewhere to play tennis locally and, for more than 2 years, held monthly events to enable them to get a club up and running. After many attempts to find a site for the club, eventually, they were offered a space on Mathon Court estate and two courts were built. A local netball club also used the club, which helped to improve the club’s finances. More land was later rented for court 3. Nigel Kennedy, living in Malvern at the time and a member of the club, held a concert at the old Northwick Cinema in Worcester to raise funds for the floodlights. Pat first played tennis at the age of 11 and Roger Federer is her hero. She worked for many years at Malvern Library, where she enjoyed learning about books and meeting the public. Pat says the three words to describe her are countryside, local history and her garden. At Wimbledon in October 1998. Pat and Sonja won a Save the Children tournament locally, and to their surprise, this qualified them to play at Wimbledon, on court 18, for a most memorable occasion. Thank you, Pat for your perseverance and continued support of the club.

Need new strings? 🧵 

Mick Dixon is a Master Stringer based near Ledbury who offers a highly personalised restringing service for all levels, styles of play and injuries too. The cost is £20. Click here to view a poster about Mike’s service.

Serve ‘n’ Snack Shack 🍫

Plenty of supplies including some crisps, chocolate and soft drinks and mini-cheddars are available. Prices are on the fridge door and money goes in the honesty box in the cupboard. 

Free balls if you refer new members 🎾

We would love some new members. Let your friends and family know about the club. If an adult signs up due to your introduction then a lovely tube of Head balls will be yours. Please send Sue McAleer an email to claim your balls.

Club Kit 👕

Why not complete your tennis experience, be the envy of your club mates and also help to raise club funds by ordering some cool club kit?  Hoodies, jackets, T-shirts, polo shirts, and headbands are all available. For further information, catalogue details and a quote please contact Kim Armitage on email.

Tennis Balls 🎾

Head Tour balls can be purchased from the club for £7 for a 4-ball tube. If you need balls, please contact Peter by email or text (07752704525) who will let you know how to get hold of your balls and how to pay. Please do not take balls without agreeing with Peter in advance. 

Facebook 📱

Click here to follow MCS Tennis Club on Facebook for news, events and results updates as they happen 

Feedback 💬

If you have any feedback regarding the newsletter – what you would like to see, hear about or things we could improve please get in touch, click here to email Sue McAleer.