RLTA News
RLTA Newsletter – September 2007
Club Championships
Like they were in 2006, the club championships were again
conducted over several evenings during the September school
holidays. The popularity of last year's event prompted
even more entries this year with lots of tennis being
played.
The Club Champion for 2007 is our resident coach Jani
Kroyherr. The final was played against Justin
Schneider, his nemesis from last year, in front of an
appreciative, noisy but knowledgeable crowd. Jani won
the final 6 games to 2.
The 2nd Division singles saw a record number of entries (14)
in what was a very keenly contested event. The final
pitted Clive Manser, the former club champion of 30 years
ago against the intimidating youngster Austin Ward. In
a close final, Austin proved too big and too strong to win 6
games to 4.
The Men's Doubles crown went to Damien Gunn and Jani
Kroyherr for the second year in a row, however, they did not
have it all their own way. Down four games to one and
break points in their semi-final match against the wily and
cunning senior combination of John Dunnett and Ian Somers,
they were made to work very hard to climb out of a big hole
before progressing to the final against the up and coming
pair of John Baxter and Justin Schneider. The final
was also a hard fought affair in which Damien and Jani
prevailed eight games to five.
The 2nd Division Doubles was a relatively dim affair,
especially when someone who shall remain nameless,
inadvertently turned the court lights off. The match
brightened up when transferred to another court and the
result went to the scratch pairing of Paul Smith and Trevor
MacLean who beat James Ashdown & Clint Beavis six games to
two.
The Mixed Doubles provided the trifecta for Jani Kroyherr
who teamed with the young agile Laree Barney to defeat the
more mature combination of Les Appoloni and Michelle Bowden
eight games to five in a keenly contested final.
 The 2nd Division Mixed Doubles was a triumph for the scratch
pairing of Selina Zwolsman & Clive Manser who defeated last
years winners, Alec Muga & Lynley Taylor, eight games to
five in the final.
Club 18 & UnderJunior Championship
On Friday the 28th of September we played the 18 and under
junior club championships for the first time since 1988.
We had a solid turn out of plays having enough for a 16
player draw in the singles and a 8 player draw in the
doubles.
In the doubles we had a solid final between two very even
teams. The team leaders were Matt Simos and Damien Gunn. Mat
was partnering with Ben Goodale, a consistent performer on
the Dunlop tennis tournament circuit. Damien Gunn partnering
with up and coming squad player Gareth Cheaney or, as the
girls call him, "G-Man". With some shake and bake tennis
Damien and G-Man gelled better as a team with great
communication and team work that even impressed Jani the
tennis coach. It was a close battle that saw Damien and G
Man win 6-4.
In the singles we saw Damien and Matt play an epic match
that was one of the most exciting matches I have seen in a
long time. Damien was either struggling with his fitness or
had gone on one too many dates that week and was in
desperate need of a good night's sleep. Damien was
dominating Matt, shooting to a 4-1 lead. But this is when
the wheels fell of. To his credit, Matt lifted his
performance and made Damien work for every point. With some
dramatic points and some serious trash talk and racket
throwing done by Mr Simos the two gagsters headed to a
tiebreak. The match came down to 5-5 in the breaker with
Matt being the aggressor making Damo run around the court
like a little boy, however at 5-5 Matt had back to back easy
smashes that he missed to hand Damien the honour of getting
his name engraved on the Junior Club Champion board in the
club house.
New Club Shirts
An exciting new initiative around the club has been the
re-introduction of club shirts. The shirts are made
from a material optimised for sport wear. They are
light and comfortable to wear, are in fashionable club
colours with the matching club logo on the left chest, and
come in a range of styles (mens and womens) and sizes (from
kids sizes right through to sizes large enough to fit the
more mature full-bodied adults). Buying in bulk has
kept the prices at an affordable $32. A range of sizes
is available in the Proshop to help you choose the right
shirt for you.
Yvonne Willson modeling one of the new club shirts.
RLTA wins the Tom Ferguson Shield
For the second time in its
80-year history, the Redlands Lawn Tennis Association has
won the prestigious inter-district Tom Ferguson Shield. This
year the one-day event was hosted by the Gold Coast and was
contested by some very talented teams from Gold Coast,
Beenleigh, Beaudesert and the Redlands. While rain made life
somewhat difficult for the organisers, nothing was going to
dampen a red-hot Redlands team decked out in their new
Redlands-red uniforms. Results showed that while the
Redlands may not have had the best players in the top
divisions, they had sufficient depth of talent to carry them
through as the only undefeated team on the day.
The victorious RLTA
team in their new representative uniforms holding the Tom
Ferguson Shield
Upgrade to Court 8 completed
The Queensland Government recently provided $13,192 to the
RLTA to assist our club in upgrading our single remaining
hard court (court 8) to synthetic grass, bringing it in line
with our other seven synthetic grass courts. The work
was completed in late July.
Redland Shire Perpetual Tennis Shield
As part of Seniors Week celebrations in Redland Shire, the
more mature tennis players in our district took part in a
tennis competition at the Redlands Lawn Tennis Association’s
complex at Cleveland showgrounds.
This year, the Redland Shire Council Perpetual Shield was
won by John Dunnett and Lynn Howe and was presented to them
by the Mayor, Cr. Don Seccombe. During the presentation of
prizes, tribute was paid to the many Redland Shire
businesses that support the tournament with donations of
vouchers and products.
The RLTA co-ordinator for the event, Bruce Maclean, said
that it was unfortunate that players had to battle the
elements as well as each other, but there were few
complaints from the 30 competitors in relation to the
much-needed rains. The tennis was played in a very friendly
atmosphere and when play was finally halted, Lynn Howe with
thirteen games was the clear lady winner. However, two men,
John Dunnett and Paul Smith, were equal with thirteen games
each and the winner was decided by the toss of a coin.
Lyn Howe & John Dunnett - 2007 winners of the Redland
Shire Perpetual Shield
The Legendary Bunty Cass
At the recent Seniors Tennis competition held at the
Redlands Lawn Tennis Association, not all of the stars
received trophies from the Mayor. One such leading light
answers to the name of Bunty Cass who surely qualifies for
an “OBE” (Over Bloomin Eighty).
Bunty is one of the true characters in our senior’s
community and was one of the first entries received. At
eighty-one years of age, Bunty is testament to staying
active to stay healthy, especially as one accumulates lots
of birthdays. Her fellow players consider her an
inspiration.
Originally from South Africa, Bunty and her husband Buster
followed their daughter to Australia in 1986 and settled on
Stradbroke Island. A keen tennis player since her early
teens, Bunty continued playing throughout her life and,
while she has never taken her tennis playing too seriously,
she does enjoy winning on occasions.
When her husband Buster retired in 1992, the couple moved to
the mainland to be closer to family and Bunty made lots of
friends through her involvement at the tennis club. It was
the family and friends who were there for her when she sadly
lost Buster, her partner of 42 years, to cancer.
Nowadays, Bunty lives in a small Granny flat within her
daughter’s home at Capalaba and part of her regular stay-fit
regime is to take the family’s two poodles for their daily
walk. But come Wednesday mornings and Saturday afternoons
and you can always find Bunty lacing up the tennis shoes
ready to give those youngsters a few lessons on how to play
the game. Bunty’s zest, enthusiasm and love continue to flow
through in everything she does.
One of her many friends at the RLTA summed her up perfectly…
“She leaves you at the end of the day with the feeling that
to be a senior citizen with such an enthusiastic and
selfless attitude to life is an irreplaceable gift”.
Bunty will always be a winner!
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