Latest News

2025 Season

Finals Day — Saturday 13th September

The Colchester and District Friendly Tennis League finals were held at Wivenhoe Tennis Club on Saturday 13 September 2025, the culmination of matches between 116 participants across 10 events. The Friendly League is intended for competitors who play in leagues below division 1 of the C&D tennis league in the Colchester and District area. It runs both leagues and knock-out competitions, and the day was for the finals of the knock-out competitions to take place. Seven clubs were represented on the day: Spring Lane, Little Clacton, Kirby, Colchester Officers Club, Wivenhoe, Frinton, and West Mersea. As expected for the Friendly League, all of the matches were played in a good spirit and the many supporters for competitors were generous and good-natured in their support. Some 8 of the 10 finals were completed on the day &mdash: the remaining two were rained off and will be played on dates to be arranged by the participants.

Christine Clark, who chairs the league, presented the winners’ trophies and winners’ and runners-ups’ plaques to each finalist. She thanked Wivenhoe Tennis Club for hosting the event and the volunteers who had made the event possible by officiating matches and helping with refreshments. Special thanks were given to Sherry Hodgson who organised the knock-out competitions and the finals day.

Finally, Christine presented the league competition winners’ shields. These were East Bergholt for the Ladies’, Lexden Hill for the Men’s, and Dedham for the Mixed. The day finished at 4.00pm with heavy rain falling, leaving the Veterans Ladies’ final between Nicky Potter & Christine Metson (Spring Lane) v Christine Clark & Clare Smee (Wivenhoe) and the Married Couples’ final between Andy & Sherry Hodgson (Officers Club) v John & Lucy Carpenter (Officers Club) to be arranged by the participants.

For full scores see Individual Tournaments

Junior singles finalists Jasper Wilding (Frinton) (winner); Isabella Clarke (Spring Lane)

Ladies Singles finalists Nicky Potter (Spring Lane) (winner); Janet Sullivan (Little Clacton)

Mens singles finalists Dave Aston (The Officers' Club) Alex Temple (West Mersea) (winner);

Mens doubles finalists Contenders for the John Sambrook Cup Gareth Lee & Joe Bushell (Kirby) Neil Westbrook & Martin Picker (Little Clacton) (winners);

Ladies doubles finalists Sarah Morton & Barbara Ager (Kirby) (winners); Sherry Hodgson & Sarah Ward (The Officers' Club)

Mixed doubles finalists Martin Picker & Carol Wright (Little Clacton) Jasper Wilding & Charlie Macnamara (Frinton) (winners);

Veteran mens doubles finalists John Carpenter & Kevin Eastaugh (The Officers' Club) (winners); Keith Monk & Onder Savas (Wivenhoe)

Veteran ladies doubles finalists Nicky Potter & Christine Metson (Spring Lane); Christine Clark & Clare Smee (Wivenhoe) (TBA)

Veteran mixed doubles finalists Contenders for the Don Rampling Cup Jeremy Wedge & Natalie Cowie (Little Clacton) (winners); Martin Picker & Carol Wright (Little Clacton)

Married Couples Doubles Andrew & Sherry Hodgson (The Officers' Club) (winners); John & Lucy Carpenter (The Officers' Club) (TBA)

April 2025

The Annual General Meeting (and fixtures meeting) was held on Tuesday 1st April 2025 at The Colchester Officers' Club and the following clubs have affiliated to The Friendly Tennis League for the 2025 season and have entered the following teams:

2024 Season

Finals Day — Saturday 7th September

The Colchester and District Friendly Tennis League Finals took place at Little Clacton Tennis Club on Saturday 7^th September. The weather was ideal for tennis, bright and dry with no discernible wind. The picture below shows committee members surrounded by some of the competitors.

The ladies’ singles final was between Chloe Metson and Elena Appoggi, both of the Spring Lane club. It was played to a very high standard, yet in keeping with the spirit of the Friendly League. Although keenly contested, Chloe always seemed in control and ran out winner 6-1, 6-1. It is the third successive year that Chloe has won this title.

The men’s singles title was contested by Stanley Waterson of Spring Lane and Shane Sparrow of Dedham. The match featured strong hitting and very good serving by both, with only one double fault in the whole match. The match was close with many deuces in the second set but Stanley won 6-2, 6-2.

There were not enough entries this year to run separate boy’s and girl’s singles competitions, so there was a single junior singles competition. The final was contested by Isabella Clarke of Spring Lane and Jasper Wilding of Kirby, showing that girls can definitely hold their own against boys. In fact, the match was hard-fought in a very good spirit, with many good shots by both players. Jasper won the first set 7-5 and was becoming dominant in the second set when be broke a string in his racquet! Fortunately, he was able to borrow a spare from a bystander and eventually won the second set 6-3.

The veteran ladies’ doubles final was contested by Jane Kennedy and Pan Harvey of Lexden Hill and Emily Watford and Mimi Okazaki of Kirby and Spring Lane respectively. Although Emily and Mimi ran out winners 6-3, 6-2, the score belied the play as seven games went to multiple deuces and many of the rallies were long with both pairs making some excellent shots.

The veteran mixed doubles final was contested by Loess Overbury-Tapper of the Officers’ Club and Alex Temple of Lexden Hill against Val Coy and Terry Hoddy of Wivenhoe. This was another close match with fantastic rallies and Alex in particular serving really well. Val and Terry are a well-established pair and played together really well, yet Loess and Alex eventually won 6-3, 6-3.

In the men’s doubles final, Matthew Capon and Jack Sheeren of West Mersea played against Clive Brooks and Simon Moore of Lexden Rackets. This match featured hard hitting and excellent shot-making. After a slight dip in the second set when Clive and Simon seemed to be becoming dominant, Matt and Jack came back to clinch the second set and win the match 6-2, 7-5.

The veteran men’s doubles final was played between John Carpenter and Kevin Eastaugh against Andrew Hodgson and Oliver Saunders, all of the Officers’ Club. John and Kevin were 5-3 up and seemingly on the way to the first set when Andy and Oliver staged a comeback to take the set to a tie-break. However, John and Kevin got their second wind in the tie-break and ended up winning the set 7-6. They were more dominant in the second set, eventually being victorious 6-2.

Having been victorious in the veteran ladies doubles earlier in the day, Emily Watford and Mimi Okazaki took on Elena Appoggi and Kate Wilson of Spring Lane in the ladies doubles final. This was played in the traditional Friendly League spirit with some nice, competitive rallies but Emily and Mimi proved too strong and won 6-3, 6-2.

The mixed doubles final was between Janet Davies and Alex Temple of Lexden Hill and Elaine Johnson and Jack Sheeran of West Mersea. It took a championship tie-break to separate the two pairs in a very close and highly-contested match. Elaine and Jack won out in the end 6-7, 6-4, 10-7.

Finally, the married couples final was between Andy and Sherry Hodgson of the Officers’ Club and Sarah and Geoff Creese of West Mersea. This was another very close-fought match and a bit of a marathon with one set going to each pair, meaning another championship tie-break was needed to decide the outcome. Andy and Sherry eventually won this 10-3.

The trophies for these competitions and the leagues which had taken place over the whole summer were awarded by Christine Clark (chair) and Bob Salmon (treasurer). The Friendly League committee thanked Little Clacton for use of their excellent facilities and warm welcome. Christine thanked Sherry Hodgson for organising the individual tournaments, Steve Oldacre for overseeing the leagues, and Bob Salmon for the procuring the trophies. We are grateful to everyone who helped out on the day, especially the score-keepers and those who manned the kitchen to keep the refreshments flowing.

For full scores see Individual Tournaments

Junior singles finalists Isabella Clarke (Spring Lane) Jasper Wilding (Kirby) (winner);

Ladies Singles finalists Elena Appoggi (Spring Lane); Chloe Metson (Spring Lane)(winner)

Mens singles finalists Stanley Waterson (Spring Lane) (winner); Shane Sparrow (Dedham)

Mens doubles finalists Contenders for the John Sambrook Cup Matthew Capon & Jack Sheeran (West Mersea) (winners); Clive Brooks & Simon Moore (Lexden Rackets)

Ladies doubles finalists Emily Watford & Mimi Okazaki (Kirby/Spring Lane) (winners); Kate Wilson & Elena Appoggi (Spring Lane)

Mixed doubles finalists Jack Sheeran & Elaine Johnson(West Mersea) (winners); Janet Davis & Alex Temple (Lexden Hill)

Veteran mens doubles finalists Oliver Saunders & Andrew Hodgson (The Officers' Club); John Carpenter & Kevin Eastaugh (The Officers' Club) (winners)

Veteran ladies doubles finalists Jane Kennedy & Pam Harvey (Lexden Hill); Mimi Okazaki & Emily Watford (Spring Lane/Kirby) (winners)

i

Veteran mixed doubles finalists Contenders for the Don Rampling Cup Terry Hoddy & Val Coy (Wivenhoe); Loess Overbury-Tapper (The Officers' Club) & Alex Temple (Lexden Hill) (winners)

Married Couples Doubles Andrew & Sherry Hodgson (The Officers' Club) (winners); Sarah & Geoff Creese (West Mersea)

AGM — Thursday 4^th April

The Annual General Meeting was held on Thursday 4th April and the following clubs have affiliated to The Friendly Tennis League for the 2024 season and have entered the following teams:

March 2024

The Annual General Meeting (and fixtures meeting) will be held on Thursday 4th April 2024 at The Colchester Officers' Club, St John's Green, Colchester, Essex CO2 7EZ starting at 7.30pm. The bar will be open if you wish to purchase refreshments.

If your club is planning on entering teams into the Colchester and District Friendly League this year, or players into the individual tournament, this is a great opportunity to find out about the other teams involved and arrange your fixtures for the year. Generally each club sends one representative but all team captains or representatives are welcome.

News from previous years

• 2023
• 2022
• 2021
• 2020
• 2019
• 2018
• 2017
• 2016
• 2015
• 2014
• 2013
• 2012
• 2011
• 2010
• 2009
• 2008
• 2007
• 2006
• 2005
• 2004
• 2003

Web-site designed and maintained by Christine Clark