REAL TENNIS
The Dedanists’ Society
Report on the Special General Meeting, Annual Tournament & Dinner
held on 10th May 2023 at Queen’s
For a report & photographs please visit the Fixtures & Match Reports Tab
Overseas Success for a member of our Cadet Squad
Caspian Rugg (age 14) from the Bristol club, is a member of the Dedanists Society Cadet Squad. Last weekend he went over to Fontainebleau to play in the French Junior Championships. Caspian had an incredible tournament and ended up winning the lower age group to become the French U15 Champion. He was also runner-up in the U19’s!
BIEN JOUE Caspian!
More success for young Max Warner
The rise and rise of 12 year old Max Warner continued at Wellington over the weekend of 18th - 19th March.
Max, who is a member of the Dedanists Society Cadet Squad, played some great tennis to win the National Category E Tournament against some stiff all-adult competition.
He followed up a junior hockey tournament on Sunday morning by then dashing to Wellington to beat Ben Geytenbeek (Cambridge) 6/1 6/5 in the semi-final and Richard Ramjane (Prested) 6/3 6/5 in the final.
Well Done Max!
2nd February 2023
Your committee has been assiduously involved in succession planning for some of the key roles in the Society starting with the chairman and the fixtures secretary.
CHAIRMAN
Josh founded the Society 20 years ago and has been chairman ever since. He is generally acknowledged to have been an excellent leader. Time moves on and the next generation are needed to lead the Society forward.
Your committee has therefore taken the following two key decisions:-
1. Josh will step down as Chairman. He will become President of the Society. This is a new position and will require a change to our rules and regulations.
2. After an exhaustive search amongst the membership, the committee has unanimously decided that Simon Roundell will be its preferred candidate for Chairman.
Both of these decisions require the formal agreement of members. A Special General Meeting (SGM) of members is therefore called for 7 pm on Wednesday 10th May 2023 at Queen’s Club.
Other members may put themselves forward for election as the new chairman. They will need to submit an application to me, as honorary secretary of the Society, at least 21 days before the date of the SGM. Their application will need to be supported by a proposer and two seconders, all of whom must be members of the Society.
Formal notice of the SGM will cover all these matters. It will be issued in due course and good time.
Please note that the Society’s annual handicap doubles tournament ( for the Lowenthal Trophy ) and dinner also take place at Queen’s on Wed May 10. We hope that this will encourage attendance at the SGM.
FIXTURES SECRETARY
Chris Marguerie has taken on the honorary role of Fixtures Secretary Designate. Guy Egerton-Smith continues as our Fixtures Secretary. Chris will work in support of Guy and take over in due course.
Best regards,
Carl Snitcher
Hon. Secretary, the Dedanists’ Society.
Please click on this button for the Annual Real Tennis Tournament (Handicap Doubles) & the Dinner on the 10th May 2023
Max Trueman wins the Tuxedo Gold Racquet!
Max Trueman, just 18 years old has won the prestigious Tuxedo Gold Racquets tournament in Tuxedo Park, New York. The tournament is open to all top level amateur players. Max is a member of our hugely successful Academy Performance Group. This win follows on from Max winning the Seacourt Silver Racquet just 10 days ago and fine performances from fellow Academy players Will Flynn and Bertie Vallat in the Amateur Championships last week at Queens Club.
Well done to all!
A Tremendous Week at the Amateurs
L to R: Jamie Giddins, Ed Kay, Robert Shenkman & Will Flynn
Rob Shenkman is part of the Academy High-Performance Squad No.1. From a very strong field in the British Amateur, Rob Shenkman emerged as the overall winner of the singles. The first time a winner of the British Amateur Singles has emerged from the Manchester Club since 1951. Rob's handicap has now moved to plus 2! A plus handicap is a target that many top players strive for but very few amateurs or professionals achieve. Rob, in handicap terms, is now rated 11th in the World.
Rob won a very long five-set doubles on Friday night that finished well after 11 pm and then on Saturday morning played Jamie Giddins in the final of the singles winning in three straight sets
L to R: Rob Shenkman, Howard Angus & Jamie Giddins
Academy Performance Squad member Will Flynn had a tremendous week at the recent British Amateur Open at Queens Club. In the singles, Will had a famous victory in the quarter-finals defeating the number two seed Ed Kay (1 handicap!), followed by a thrilling semi-final losing only narrowly 6/4 in the 5th set to Jamie Giddins (4 handicap).
In the Doubles, Will went one better to reach the final. Playing with Robert Shenkman they defeated the number two seeds, Jamie Douglas and Peter Wright in the semi-final to go through to the final against number one seeds, Ed Kay and Jamie Giddins. It wasn't to be for Will, but he is the fastest-improving single-figure player in the UK, and I am sure his day will come very soon!
Other notable performances by members of the Dedanists' Society Academy program came from Henry Henman, who took a set of Peter Wright and Bertie Vallet, who reached the quarter-finals of the singles, taking a set off the number one seed Jamie Douglas. The Academy Performance Squad has gone from strength to strength this year. In early February, Max Trueman, won the Seacourt Silver Racquet Tournament, defeating Petworth professional Louis Gordon in the final, where Max was actually giving a small handicap to his professional opponent!
The British U21/U24’s Open Championships.
Held at MURTC on December 15th – 18th 2022
The Dedanists Society once again supported the T&RA by providing travel expenses and accommodation to those players who lived a long way from the Middlesex court. Players from the Academy Performance Squad dominated the tournament, with Will Flynn winning both the U21 and U24 singles. Will completed his clean sweep by winning the U24 doubles with fellow academy performance squad member, Max Trueman.
Click here for the full report from Middlesex Head Professional Will Burns.
The Dedanists' Society- 18th AGM
held at 6pm on the 19th October 2022 at the Queens Club
Please click on the relevant button to read the information
AGM
Agenda
AGM
Minutes
Annual Report
&
Accounts
The World Junior Real Tennis Championships
Sponsored by The Dedanists' Society
The WORLD JUNIOR CHAMPION -
MAX TRUEMAN
Receiving his trophy and tournament racquet from Paul Weaver, tournament organiser and Dedanist
The bi-annual running of The World Junior Real Tennis Championships took place at Seacourt over 3 days on the 22nd - 24th August.
Once again The Dedanists' Society was proud to be the main sponsor of this prestigious event.
The top 16 juniors in the world (U19) played in the tournament which included two players from Hobart, Tasmania.
The tennis was exceptional from day one and just got better and better. The standard of play in the first semi-final between Max Trueman (Seacourt) and Ollie Pridmore (Hobart) was really quite extraordinary. The final was once again excellent tennis as you would expect from players 13/15 handicap, with Max Trueman taking the title after coming back from 5-1 down in the second set against Bertie Vallat (Queen's). Both finalists are members of The Academy High-Performance group.
Photos and full results are below:-
Bertie Vallat (finalist) with Max Trueman (Champion)
Josh Farrall, Max Trueman & Paul Weaver
Some of the top 16 Junior Real Tennis players in the World!
Please click on the pdf button to see the full results from The World Junior Real Tennis Championships 2022
The Dedanists Pro-Am
July 2022
We held the 16th annual Dedanists Handicap Doubles Pro-Am on 7th July 2022 at Queen’s. It was a great success and raised funds to be shared by the Dedanists’ Society and the Dedanists’ Foundation. The Society runs the British Real Tennis Academy for the best young players in the country. The Foundation funds clubs to recruit new young players and schools into the game
Sixteen amateur players, mainly Dedanists, paid £490 each to play and donate. With handicaps ranging from 24 to 60, they were representative of the amateur game as a whole. They each played three round-robin matches against amateurs of similar handicap for a place in the semi-finals - and played with four or more different professionals in the process.
We are especially grateful to the pros for playing in this tournament. Their very presence persuades amateurs to enter and donate. They moderate their play to bring out the best in amateur partners and opponents. They entertain us with the quality of their play and banter. They encourage us with gems of good advice.
The players were as follow:
Professionals Amateurs
Bray, Chris Licudi, Stewart McVittie, John
Fahey, Claire McMurrugh, Mark Saunders, John
Fahey, Rob Moore, Richard Mills, David
Jones, Dan Bebb, Jamie Readman, Luke
Mackenzie, Neil Lowenthal, Andrew Egerton-Smith, Guy
Smith, Josh Moore, Francis Cripps, Simon
Williams, Lewis Paterson, Ronald Leeper, James
Wood, Nick Wilks, Willie Stogdon, Giles
Markers
Howard Angus & Ged Parsons
Stewart Licudi, Ronald Paterson, Johnny Saunders and Giles Stogdon won through to the semi-finals. Howard Angus reported that the standard of tennis in this year’s tournament was higher than ever before. Stewart Licudi beat Giles Stogdon in the final. David Mills awarded the trophy and prizes with his own blend of sharp wit and racy humour.
Thank you to Josh, Carl and David for organising such a splendid day.
The 16th annual Dedanists Handicap Doubles Pro-Am was a great success this year.
British Junior Academy Players Triumph in the National League
James Medlow & Max Trueman became the youngest ever team to win a National League Division when they defeated the Queen's Club in the final of National League 5.
The boys, both of whom are just 17, are members of the Dedanists Society Development Squad.
They have had an incredible season with neither losing a singles match in the entire season, home or away! As a result, James Medlow received a new racket as the prize for being the League 5 most valuable player and Max Trueman was runner-up. They are not however resting on their laurels and have a joint coaching session arranged and funded by the Society at the Oratory with Rob Fahey on the 21st of May.
Results from the Final played at Seacourt on Wednesday 18th May.
James Medlow bt Charlie Defries 5/6 6/5 6/3
Max Trueman bt Freddie Dixon 6/3 5/6 6/2
L to R: James Medlow, Max Trueman & Sam Candy (FLM)
L to R: Max, James, Charlie Defries & Freddie Dixon
World Junior Championships 2022
We are delighted to announce that the Dedanists Society will be sponsoring the bi-annual World Junior Real Tennis Championships being held this year in the UK at Seacourt Tennis Club on Hayling Island.
The event will take place on August 22nd-24th 2022. The top 16 juniors (U19) in the world have been invited to take part in this prestigious event. They will play for the title of World Junior Champion. Juniors from as far away as Tasmania will be taking part in this truly international event. The top 2 seeds Max Trueman and James Medlow are both currently members of our own Academy Senior Squad and have benefitted enormously from the coaching and support we have given them.
There will be an event dinner held at the Seacourt club on Monday 22nd August (more details to follow). Obviously, this would be a great opportunity for Society members to come and watch junior real tennis being played at the highest level. The tournament organiser is Paul Weaver.
If you have any queries or require further information please email Paul at pweaver@btopenworld.com
More good news!
Academy Development Squad member, Florent Brethon, was playing in the Raquette d ’Argent de France (for those with handicaps in the range of 20-30), played today in Bordeaux. Having won the Raquette Bronze (H30-40) last year, being his first tournament, Florent did fantastically well to win the Raquette d ‘Argent on 28 November 2021, 6-2, 6-2, 6-2. Huge congratulations to him on his win and continuing progress in the game.
Toutes nos felicitations Florent!
British Junior Academy in full swing!
Click the 'British Academy' tab for all the details and see which junior players are currently in the squads
Fixtures 2021/2022
So far this 2021/2022 season we have played 10 matches through to the end of 2021. We have lost more matches than we have won! Probably nothing new on that front but please see the Match Reports on the website, which confirm the results but record that every match has been a great success and that the Dedanist £20 per player match donation is making a very good contribution towards Junior Tennis. The Peripatetic Club Tournee & the Trois Tripots Tournament were both cancelled unfortunately due to the ongoing pandemic. Looking ahead to the 2022 fixtures we have made a joint decision to cancel the Paris weekend (late January) again pandemic related. It is always a shame to cancel tournaments/matches but everyone will understand the need to be cautious in these uncertain times.
We have 3 new Match Managers in Robert Muir for the Petworth match in February, Liz Fisher for Radley Club (members) & Paul Weaver for Radley Cub (pupils) Thank you to Robert, Liz & Paul. You will note that we have included a revived match against Canford School on Sunday 22nd May 2021. We have moved the Hyde match (with their agreement to Saturday 21st May 2022 thereby a weekend of tennis with Hyde on the Saturday & Canford School on the Sunday. David Phillips has agreed to be one of 2 Match Managers for the weekend so we are now looking for an existing member to come forward to share the weekend role. Please email David david.phillips@doctors.org.uk if you are available to assist. We have one further match to revive and that is against Bristol which hopefully, in the not too distant future, can be added to our Fixtures list.
Can I remind everyone to contact the appropriate Match Manager if they wish to play in any of the upcoming remaining 2022 Fixtures - see the Fixtures 2021/2022 & Match Managers Contact Details on the website (under Fixtures & Match Reports).
One final point on the Match Manager’s role within the Society - we continue to seek members who would be prepared to take on the role as an MM. I have raised this in a recent email to all members so apologies for mentioning it again.
Guy Egerton-Smith
The Dedanists’ Society Fixtures Secretary
Fixtures
Please click on the pdf button to view the Fixtures for 2021 & 2022
Match Managers
Please click on the pdf button to view all Match Managers contact details for 2021 & 2022 fixtures
To play in a match please contact the relevant match manager.
The Dedanists' Society are pleased to support the Iip and RCC
Investing in Professionals
