Tennis News

The Summer Term has continued to be a success for the Lancing College Tennis Club. With over 100 students receiving weekly coaching, 13 teams competing in fixtures, nine county tournaments and 55 fixtures, it has certainly been a busy ten weeks!

Highlights from the competitive season include the U18 boys reaching the semi-finals of the National Glanville Cup tournament; the U16 boys and U16 girls both reaching the finals of the U16 Sussex League Tournament back in April; the U14 girls finishing runners up in the LTA Sussex Cup Tournament hosted at Bede’s; and the U15 girls winning the Sussex Shield event in May and reclaiming the majestic shield which now hangs with pride in the Head Master’s Office.

Both the U15 boys and U15 girls also finished top of their respective leagues in the LTA Year 9 & 10 Youth Schools Tournament and qualify through to the Division 2 regional finals in October. The U15 boys also remain undefeated this term having won all their block fixtures and league matches against Ardingly, Christ’s Hospital, Uckfield College, Brighton College, Steyning Grammar, Eastbourne College and Seaford College.

As well as hosting a number of annual tennis tournaments here at the College, including the U18 Sussex League Tournament, the Founder’s Day OLs tournament, House Tennis, Junior and Senior Manor Cup mixed doubles tournaments, this year we trialled an inaugural boys’ singles tournament to replace a Saturday block fixture unfortunately lost earlier in the term. This was an excellent opportunity to provide our junior and senior boys with a rare opportunity to compete in singles matches (instead of doubles) and showcase their individual skills on home turf. The tournament took on a championship knockout draw format and with over 50 boys competing, the afternoon was filled with lots of wonderful tennis, good sportsmanship, some surprise wins, and prizes awarded for the U18 and U15 boys winners, runners up and consolation draw finalists. We hope to continue this new tradition next year, hosting separate boys and girls events too. The tennis season would not be complete without having begun with our pre-season. Thank you to all the wonderful coaches and staff who have helped with Tennis this term and to all of the students who have played their role in contributing to such a positive tennis community. It is because of this that most afternoons we are thrilled to see so many students down at tennis hitting with their friends during their free time. A wonderful sight that we continue to encourage students to do. We are also looking forward to being able to host more events next year, including some of our own LTA competitions and match plays for students to compete in at weekends. Watch this space ...