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Rain Cannot Dampen The Day - £1266 raised for Ray
The first of these annual charity events was held on Sunday 21st May 2006.
With a sense of timing to which we Brits have become accustomed, the advance guard drops of the forecast rain began to fall at almost the same time as the first players arrived to take part in the inaugural tournament in memory of Ray Hurst and in support of CLIC Sargent.
56 players including 20 juniors braved the elements and fought out some titanic battles.
At the Tennis Club it was the juniors that braved the elements to warm up but eventually their more senior partners were coaxed from the shelter of the ark that was the clubhouse and marquee (and from the warming effects of the tea and coffee on offer) and battle in the round robin groups commenced.
Contact with the outlying courts via a mobile phone suspended mysteriously from the roof of the marquee (a question of signal strength apparently) revealed that progress was being made along similar lines in the face of the increasing strength of the drizzle.
Drizzle rapidly handed the baton over to rain and players were given the option of playing through or waiting for a break in the clouds. Some with glasses opted for the latter option (or donned caps with larger peaks) but, in the main, play continued, even through a couple of real downpours. “We’re wet already so we might as well keep going,” was a regular cry.
Our resident weatherman, Ernst, kept the optimism at a high level by assuring everyone that it would clear up eventually. “There has never been a rain shower that has not stopped.” he confided. Meanwhile, at the referee’s, table proceedings were heard to be described as “going swimmingly!”
To accompany the play there were the sounds and smells of the Barbecue as chef Phil set up his shelter and fired up his equipment.
Beth from At-The-Net tennis clothing (www.atthenet.co.uk) had to be rescued from Elvendon Road where she had come to rest following a puncture. Luckily the car hire company took over and she was able to set her rails up above the puddles. Equally Catrina from Phoenix Cards covered her table with her wares. Both attracted more interest than they might have expected given the conditions.
Inside the clubhouse the ‘café’ did a roaring trade – teas, coffees, cakes (both by the slice and whole) were on offer and the non playing audience, held captive by the elements, was easy prey for Linda B and Val K the most persuasive raffle ticket sellers you will ever meet.
Outside progress against the current was being made most successfully by several ‘Teams Wilson’ (in various guises) and two ‘Teams Hurst’, (one including a Robson and one including three Hursts who alternated personnel, nominating two from their three for each match).
Team Windsor-Lewis, Team Baldwin, Team Brownlee, Team Crowley and Team Maclachlan (nice one Aunty Jax) were also progressing well.
Other senior junior combinations rising to the surface were Ollie R & Jack F and Peter H and James D.
Of the all-senior combinations the new partnership of John H and Rita O and the slightly longer standing relationship of Paul J and Caroline H were also keeping their heads above water.
As the burgers and sausages were being set upon by the four groups at the club so the inhabitants of the three outlying islands of Beer, Brownlee and Crowley slowly began to make their way into harbour.
Also dropping anchor was Juliette from the Henley Standard. She interviewed several people including Sam and Bernice, made copious notes and took a number of photographs in a whistle stop visit. (See below)
After analysing the results sheets the seven group winners to make the quarter finals (six of them with a perfect score of fifteen out of fifteen) were joined by John and Rita as the highest scoring second placed pair. They were the best of the four pairs that had amassed thirteen out of fifteen points.
Post lunch the deluge continued but undaunted the combatants took to the courts once more for the quarter finals. As a concession to the weather it was decided to play ten point tie breaks to decide these four matches as well as the two semi finals.
At this stage the ball kids from the Oratory Prep made their appearance, their numbers reduced by the frightful weather. Under Annabel’s expert tutelage they performed their duties calmly and efficiently, smartly decked out in their CLIC Sargent t-shirts and topped by baseball caps also bearing the CLIC logo and kindly supplied by GTC member James B of Aspire Activewear (www.aspire-activewear.co.uk).
Emerging from the spray and into the final came James W, ably supported by Annabel. They had beaten Ian B and Callum B 10-7 in their semi final.
Also through to the last two were Ben W, partnered by Dean P, who had beaten Charlotte and Richard W 11-9 in their semi final.
As luck would have it a break in the clouds greeted the final and the format reverted to that of the round robin matches - first to five games with a tie break at four all if necessary.
In front of an appreciative crowd James and Annabel settled to the change the better. James coped admirably with Dean’s weight of shot - remaining undaunted even when, at one stage, he took one in the eye as a ball rebounded off the edge of his own racket. Remaining positive he continued to look for attacking opportunities.
Ben brought a calm to proceedings serving almost faultlessly and lobbing intelligently as he and Dean tried to recover from a 1-4 deficit.
They could not turn the tide and it was not to be. James (with Annabel steering a reliable course between playing with one son and against another) ultimately emerged victorious as blue sky finally began to win its battle with the blanket of grey.
Once the raffle draw had been completed Bernice and Sam presented the Pox On It trophy to its first winners.
Numerous thanks were expressed to all those who had made the day possible and Charlotte W presented Bernice with a floral token of thanks.
Once all the various tubs of cash had been counted and the bills paid the tournament had raised just over £1200 for CLIC Sargent. This was a fantastic effort given the conditions and a target that will be tough to beat next year.
For me three remarks summed up the day.
The award for understatement of the day goes to whoever it was sheltering in the crowd in the marquee during one of the more concentrated downpours who was heard to say: “It was a good idea to put up the marquee.”
Liz M confirmed the ‘once we were wet it didn’t matter’ thought by observing that: “the children are so enthusiastic and love to play that the rain may have spoilt the day but it certainly didn’t ruin it.”
The last word goes to John C. Having spent the morning getting drenched like everyone else (and having suffered the extra handicap of playing in glasses) he gained the sanctuary of the marquee at lunch time. Whilst drying off and cleaning his glasses he remarked to no one in particular that: “There aren’t many people that I’d play tennis in the pouring rain for, but Ray is certainly one of them.”
Ray had that effect on people.
Mark T
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