Blog

The Official Opening of the New Court Surface and Floodlights

The 26th of April was a day all the club have been looking forward to – the Official Opening of our new courts and floodlights and a chance to share them with the local community. Some might say this has been a long time coming as floodlights were first mentioned in the club minutes as far back as 1990, some 35 years prior!

We were delighted to welcome Sandi Procter, the President of the LTA to do the honour of cutting the ribbon on the day. It was fantastic to hear her insight on the steps that have been made to increase participation in tennis and what we can all do to improve it further. True to her word, she also took time to get involved with the junior coaching; something that we’re sure the children thoroughly enjoyed.  

On top of 2 junior coaching sessions, James Stevens continued his marathon coaching day by delivering an adults Pair and Play doubles coaching session followed by a Cardio Tennis session to make sure the refreshments were fully burned off by all taking part!  

It was lovely for the key members of Cambridgeshire LTA to take time out of their weekend to come and see the product of their generous loan that enabled the club to complete the project. In addition to the loan, we are very grateful to the Thalia WB Community Fund. Without their generous grant, the new surface and floodlights would not have been possible. We also had Ben Obese-Jecty, the local MP, along to see what a fantastic facility we have. One that we are eager to share, not just with those living in the Hemingfords but with everyone in the local area.  

Photos can be found on the Gallery page.

Official Opening of the new courts on Saturday 26th April

Come along to our free opening event to celebrate the upgraded court surface and newly installed floodlights!

We're excited to be welcoming the LTA President, Sandi Procter, along to cut the ribbon to declare the courts officially open at 1:30pm.

  • Open Junior sessions starting from 1pm

  • Food and Drink

  • Doubles Session

  • Cardio Tennis Taster Session

All activities are free and equipment provided.

We look forward to having fun at our fantastic venue with the local community!

International Women’s Day 2025

Saturday the 8th March marked International Women's Day and, to celebrate, the club put on some free doubles coaching with James our Head Coach. We were delighted to have 19 women (members and non-members) along to the club to be taken through a Pair and Play session followed by some free hitting and games afterwards. There were a lot of smiles and laughter, helped by the fact the sun came along to join us too! Incredible to also have three generations of one family amongst us on the courts - well done Lucy, Sarah-Jane and Lynda! This year’s International Women’s Day campaign theme was to "Accelerate Action” towards gender equality for women and girls in sport. It was wonderful to celebrate the representation we have within the club and we look forward to welcoming even more women to join in our friendly and fun environment! 

Adult Coaching and Cardio Tennis

As part of our plans to enhance the club's offerings, we are excited to introduce regular adult coaching sessions on Monday evenings, led by our Head Coach, James Stevens. These sessions are open to both members and non-members.

For more information on Adult Coaching go to our Adult Coaching page.

For more information on Cardio Tennis go to our Cardio Tennis page.

The new look of Hemingfords Tennis Club

We are nearing the completion of the biggest project in the club’s history. Following the completion of the floodlights in December, we now also have our lovely new surface! 

Sunday afternoon club sessions start on the 9th February at 2:00. Tuesday morning sessions start on the 4th February at 10:00. Thursday evening sessions start on the 6th March at 6:00 but are very dependant on the weather, please keep an eye on our FaceBook page for an update.

You will notice when you’re next at the club, that the grassed area next to the clubhouse is a bit of a mess. We are doing our best to sort this as soon as possible. In the meantime, please can you ensure that if you do go into that area, that you keep your shoes as clean as possible and don’t take mud on to our lovely new surface.

Finally, a big THANK YOU to all of the committee past and present involved in making this happen over the last 5 years, especially to Dean and Chris for their endless hours of work! A massive accomplishment to be proud of! 

New Surface and Floodlights

As you may be aware, over the last couple of years we have been working on a project to replace our existing surface with a modern version of the same type of surface, as well as installing floodlights.

I am pleased to say we now have a start date for the project of Monday 11th November. With the Christmas holidays in the middle of the required works it is expected that the work should be completed by Friday 17th January. Although the contractors can work through most weather conditions the vagaries of the British weather does mean that we might encounter delays from time to time so we will always keep you up to date.

The great news does mean that during this time we will not be able to play any tennis in Hemingford. However, I'm sure you agree that once complete we will have a wonderful facility to play tennis for many years to come so it will be well worth the wait.

We will be sending out regular updates on the club Facebook page, and emails about major updates. However, if you have any questions please email us at info@hemingfordstennis.org.uk and we will do our best to answer them as quickly as possible.

Junior coaching tournament

Fifteen of our junior members that attended the junior coaching this season played in two tournaments.

Both tournaments were played in very good spirits with a good level of competition.

The younger age group was won by Eduardo beating Clementine by just one point.

The older age group was played out between Will and Harriet after winning their respective groups. Will managed to win the final with some excellent tennis being played.

Thanks to James for organising with the assistance of Dean and Ben.

Mike Hale Trophy 2024

Congratulations and well done to all those that played in this afternoon’s Mike Hale Trophy. 

Thirteen gentlemen turned up but thanks to Jon for dropping out rather than punishing his knees more. 

Six pairs therefore contested the trophy and some close games were played. By two games James & Chris came out on top despite a valiant 8-1 win in the final round by Dean & Alun to come a close second.

Photos can be found in the Gallery

Primmett Cup

Sunday saw our first club tournament of 2024 - The Primett Cup. First awarded in 1968, it was lovely to see players of past victories and new club members taking part. 

The sunshine ensured a high turnout and two pools were needed to accommodate all the players. 

The clear winners in each faced each other in the final - Ayla & Jon taking on SJ & Jeremy. 

The runner-up place in each pool was highly contested with a playoff between Hilary & Chip v Babs & Chris from pool A and Linda & Dean v Tony & Natalie in pool B. 

Hilary Chip Linda and Dean respectively won their matches to be runner up in their pool. The final was a competitive game watched by a rowdy crowd but Jon & Ayla came out the eventual winners.

Photos can be found in the Gallery

Doubles League

Following a successful trial in the Autumn of last year we are pleased to launch a new doubles league open to all members starting next month (May). 

The aim of the doubles league is to encourage more players to participate in one friendly doubles match each period (initially monthly). 

 FORMAT

  • Each league will have four players of a similar standard, leagues will be mixed Ladies & Men based on ability (as best we can!)

  • The match format is three 9 game sets (i.e. 5-4, 6-3, 7-2..), swapping partners each set, so that Set 1: Player A & Player B v Player C & Player D, Set 2: A&C v B&D, Set 3: A&D v B&C.

  • Please record how many games in total each player has won and lost so that leagues can be reshuffled (one up and one down) for the following period.

ENTRY
To enter please email Vernon at vernon@hemingfordstennis.org.uk 
Please note those who played in the trial will automatically be entered unless they email Vernon to withdraw.

Floodlight planning application

Over the last couple of years we have been working on a project to install floodlights for our courts. We are pleased to say we have now submitted the planning application. To find it go to HDC Public Access system: Simple Search and search for ‘23/00622/FUL’.

To give some background, the club's plans to erect floodlights will enable tennis to be played longer and throughout the year. Encouraging sport of any kind is so important for health and well-being. For adults, it will provide an opportunity to hold coaching later in to the evenings and continue to play during winter months outside of work hours, which is very difficult without floodlights when the nights draw in. For juniors, it will also allow us to hold additional coaching as well as maintain their interest in tennis in the winter months as they have the opportunity to play after school; a big break over the winter months can make it much more difficult to go back to the sport. Fitness is so important for children, particularly when there are so many other distractions, so any additional opportunities to get them outside and playing sport is beneficial.

We have consulted with neighbours, alleviating their concerns and amending the application where appropriate. This includes opting for the best floodlights on the market to ensure there is as little light pollution and overspill as possible, as well as having no use of the floodlights in the mornings, restricting spring, summer and autumn floodlight use to 22:00 and in the winter to 20:00. Full details can be found on the documents attached to the planning application.

If you would like to support the application, or pass any comments on the application, this can be done by following these instructions:
Go into the application as described above and select ‘Comments’
Click ‘Register here’ and fill in your details.
This will provide you with a login.
Once logged in, enter your comment.

Hopefully we are granted permission and we can start the next process of fundraising. The intention is to have the floodlights in place for next season. However, this very much depends on having the finances and the contractors being able to meet our deadlines. Once we get to that stage we will keep you fully informed.

Mike Hale Trophy result 2023

A lovely summers day brought out ten competitors this year. The random draw worked well with some strong pairings.

After playing a full standard set against each other pair, Howie and Fraser came out victorious.

Having retired to the bar for a well earned drink, it was then decided the competitors would try out bowling (thanks to John Mitchley for his assistance with this). Unfortunately (for the rest of us!), Howie and Fraser again came out victorious

Primett Cup result 2023

A pleasant early summers day saw six pairs compete for this year’s Primmett Cup.

In order not to tire everyone out it was decided to play shortened sets to 5 with sudden death deuce.

In the end, Kate and Matt overcame all to win this year’s Cup

League match court usage 2023

This season’s league home matches will take place on the following evenings. Two of our three courts will be used for these matches from 6:00, leaving one court available for general club play:

Friday 12th May
Tuesday 16th May
Monday 22nd May
Tuesday 23rd May
Wednesday 24th May
Tuesday 30th May
Wednesday 31st May
Tuesday 6th June
Tuesday 13th June
Wednesday 14th June
Tuesday 20th June
Wednesday 21st June
Tuesday 27th June
Monday 3rd July
Tuesday 4th July
Wednesday 5th July
Monday 10th July
Tuesday 11th July
Wednesday 12th July
Friday 14th July
Tuesday 25th July
Wednesday 26th July
Tuesday 1st August


League match court usage 2022

This season’s league home matches will take place on the following evenings. Two of our three courts will be used for these matches from 6:00, leaving one court available for general club play:

Tuesday 26th April
Tuesday 3rd May
Tuesday 10th May
Monday 16th May
Tuesday 17th May
Wednesday 18th May
Tuesday 24th May
Tuesday 31st May
Wednesday 1st June
Tuesday 7th June
Tuesday 28th June
Monday 4th July
Tuesday 5th July
Wednesday 6th July
Friday 8th July
Tuesday 12th July
Monday 18th July
Tuesday 19th July
Wednesday 20th July
Friday 22nd July
Monday 25th July
Tuesday 26th July
Wednesday 27th July
Friday 29th July
Tuesday 2nd August
Tuesday 9th August
Wednesday 10th August


League match court usage

Following the announcement that the Hunts and Peterborough League will be running their Mens League and their Ladies league from Monday (21st June), on the following evenings two of our three courts will be used for these matches from 6:00, leaving one court available for general club play:

Mon 21 June
Wed 23 June
Tue 29 June
Wed 30 June
Tue 6 July
Wed 7 July
Fri 9 July
Mon 12 July
Tue 13 July
Wed 14 July
Tue 20 July
Wed 21 July
Mon 26 July
Tue 27 July
Wed 28 July
Tue 3 Aug
Wed 4 Aug
Tue 10 Aug


From Monday 21st the gate nearest the Pavilion will have the padlock changed back to be the same key as that used for the other gate and the clubhouse. Please then use this gate to enter and exit the courts if you are not playing in a match when they are on. A tube of club balls will be left on this court to be used so as to reduce the traffic across the match courts. 

Mike Hale Trophy result

A hot day and half term meant that we only had six competitors this year. However, we played a round robin and each pair played two 1 set matches against the other pairs.

The outcome being that James and Nigel came out victorious