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2023 Cedric Mason Cup RSY v KLTC Teen Tennis Challenge

2023-10-15T23:43:14Z

Yesterday, Sunday 15th October, some of the finest junior tennis talent from Royal South Yarra ventured to Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club to battle it out for the Cedric Mason Cup in the Annual Teen Tennis Challenge against Kooyong.

The players enjoyed a delicious BBQ during a small rain break where they got to rest and refuel before heading back to the courts.

At the conclusion of the event, the man himself, Cedric Mason, offered encouragement and support to competitors from both sides. Unfortunately Royal South Yarra didn't return home with the winning trophy.

Thank you to all players and spectators - it truly was a special day. We look forward to bringing home the Cedric Mason Trophy when we meet at the next challenge back at RSY next year!

Rally for Youth

2023-10-11T22:56:24Z

RALLY A CREW, CHALLENGE YOURSELF AND DO SOMETHING FUN TO SUPPORT KIDS IN NEED

Rally For Youth is the social tennis challenge of the year.
Over 12 hours on Saturday 2nd December 2023, teams of 4 will compete in a 3-hour marathon match of
Team Doubles to raise funds for Lighthouse Foundation. All ages event.

The first 300 people to Register receive an exclusive Rally for Youth visor (valued at $30 each). Register now for your chance to play at RSYTC. Don’t miss out! (While stocks last.)

Ready, set, sweat at Royal South Yarra Lawn Tennis Club (RSYLTC) to
help end youth homelessness, together.

For more information or to register, please visit www.rallyforyouth.org.au

RSY 2023 Sports Dinner

2023-10-13T00:14:25Z

RSY 2023 Sports Dinner

On Saturday 9 September, RSY celebrated its members outstanding sporting achievements at our annual Sports Dinner. With great numbers in attendance (north of 120) the night was truly one to remember!

Members and guests started the night in the Western Terrace Marquee and Norman Brookes Room for beverages and canapés from 7:00pm – 8:00pm whilst appreciating the musical strumming talents of some of Melbourne’s finest along with entertainment from a fire stick juggler!

Following canapés, guests were ushered into the Como Room (via the red circus tent and lightshow entrance) for mains and dessert (a beautiful tennis ball featuring mousse, almond crème, chocolate grenache and passionfruit sorbet) and the awards presentations with Club Captain, Richard Ralph, the Master of Ceremonies. The RSY Sports Dinner provides recognition for and is a celebration of all competitive sport at RSY.

Our 2023 award winners were:
Dick Doyle Trophy (Squash player of the year) – James Kavourakis
The Judy Dalton Award (Mid-Week Ladies players of the year) – Sallyanne Sawers & Vanessa Johnston
Junior Perpetual Trophy (U 16 Junior tennis player of the year) – Anya Lo
The Night Tennis Trophy (Night Competition player of the year) – Sally Fiddes
The Ethel Le Neveu Trophy (Ladies’ pennant player of the year) – Anya Lo
Warren Kennedy Memorial Cup (Gentlemen’s pennant player of the year) – Ed Bickford
Following the presentations, members and guests danced the night away in the Como Room, thoroughly entertained by a brilliant two-piece band!

A large number of members then caught the complimentary bus to Maeve Fox in Richmond to continue the festivities!

On behalf of the members and staff at RSY, congratulations to all nominees and award winners.

We look forward to seeing you again in 2024!

2023 Squash Club Championships

2023-10-19T00:55:54Z

A huge congratulations to James Kavourakis who defeated Jose Herrera in the 2023 Men’s Open Squash Club Championship Final. This is James 10th singles title at Royal South Yarra Lawn Tennis Club. Eliza Lennon took out the women's open and Braden Clarke won the handicap event.

Presentations followed the finals, taking place in front of a packed audience in the President’s Bar with complimentary canapes and happy hour drinks a hit.

We look forward to seeing all 2023 players and new ‘squashies’, particularly in the Handicap event in 2024.

RSY v RSGC Tennis Challenge

2019-12-05T04:11:47Z

RSY v RSGC Tennis Challenge

On Saturday 23 November, RSY were aiming to defeat Royal Sydney Golf Club (RSGC) for the 17th time in the annual RSY v RSGC Tennis Challenge, taking place at RSYLTC on the opening grass court weekend for the 2019/20 season. The tennis challenge first commenced in 1993, making 2019 the 27th year of the annual event. The record to this point reads RSY on 16 wins and RSGC with 7. There has been three occasions where the event was not played due to inclement weather. Royal Sydney defeated RSY at RSGC in 2017 & 2018. We were desperate to bring home the Net Post Trophy in 2019 and fielded a team talented enough to hopefully win it back for us.

The weekend actually commenced on Friday 22 November with a strong contingent of RSY’s and Royal Sydney’s members electing to have a team warm-up hit in the afternoon, followed by beverages and complimentary canapes in the President’s Bar to get the competitive juices flowing. Then all headed home (relatively) early to rest up for the tennis challenge the following day.

On Saturday 23 November all players were treated to a nutritious and extravagant breakfast in the newly improved Courtyard Bistro with the welcome speech delivered by RSY’s COO, Jarrad Wright. The weather gods smiled upon us on Saturday with pleasant playing conditions appreciated by the players. Play was underway on grass courts 3-10 and porous courts 1-4 from 11:30am, with two doubles rounds played prior to lunch. RSY held a solid 41 game lead at the half way point after 24 matches (each set was an 8-game pro-set) were completed.

Players then enjoyed a delicious ‘Hawker Style’ lunch and beverages on RSY’s Croquet Lawn with giant games such as Jenga and Connect Four taking place on grass court one.

The final two rounds were mixed doubles. The tennis was highly competitive again but thankfully RSY won back the trophy at the conclusion of round four, winning 314 games to RSGC’s 264.

Dinner was a three-course formal affair. The speeches were much more relaxed. Perennial RSY team captain, Rob Hinton entertained the members with a very long and amusing winners speech. RSGC’s captain, Mike Dixon targeted RSY’s captain, Rob Hinton which was well received by the attendees with videos and images of Rob and other RSY members featuring prominently in Mike’s PowerPoint presentation. The major highlight of dinner (besides receiving the Net-Post Trophy off Lucy Regan who’s the Chair of Tennis at Royal Sydney), was the incredible dessert masterfully prepared by RSY’s Executive Chef, Jake Ward and his team.

All players from both team’s should be congratulated on their outstanding efforts both on and off court. It was a fantastic day/night and we look forward to travelling to RSGC in 2020 to defend the Net-Post Trophy.

2019 Adult & Child Tennis Day

2019-12-05T04:10:57Z

2019 Adult & Child Tennis Day

On Sunday 10 November, RSY porous courts were packed with 46 participants who took part in the annual Adult & Child Tennis Day, with spectacular rallies and the odd drop shot on display!

The weather was ideal, and friendships were formed as new junior members were welcomed to the Club in their first official tennis event at RSY!

Following the thrilling match-play, participants headed up to the clubhouse to enjoy a well-earned gourmet bbq and beverages in the comfort of the Como Room. Prizes were awarded to the teams with the highest amount of winning games per court; these were:

Court 8: Peter & Stan Tabain
Court 9: Sophie & Simon Davies
Court 10: Miles & Robin Forster
Court 11: Albie & Tom Hutchins
Court 12: Arthur & Cassie Andrews and Mara Tausan & Zoe Browning
Court 13: Freddie & Tim Hunt

A huge thank you to all players and spectators – it truly was a lovely afternoon; we hope you enjoyed the day as much as we enjoyed running it.

We look forward to seeing you all again next year!

2019 Table Tennis Club Championships

2019-12-05T03:01:06Z

2019 Table Tennis Club Championships

Congratulations to all 75 competitors for their entertaining performances on Friday 11 October and to all spectators, family members, support crews and table tennis enthusiasts for their good cheer and participation. The 2019 Table Tennis Club Champs were incredibly competitive once again with many young guns providing more than a few nervous moments to the more ‘experienced’ players. The family friendly atmosphere was once again a delight to experience in 2019.

We look forward to seeing you all again next year.

Results:

Men's Singles
Ed Bickford d Andy Spargo

Women's Singles
Louise Field d Sylvie Hutchins

Men's Doubles
Ed Bickford & Andy Spargo d James Freeman & Andre Del Papa

Women's Doubles
Louise Field & Lucy Campbell d Phoebe & Cassie Andrews

Mixed Doubles
Kate & Lachlan Kemp d Oliver & Cassie Andrews

James Freeman
Table Tennis Convenor

Billiards & Snooker Club Championships 2019

2019-12-05T01:59:42Z

Billiards & Snooker Club Championships 2019

Once again, the year has been capped off with the conclusion of the Billiards & Snooker Club Championships.

The Championships concluded with a new name on the Honour Board along with the Eric Wells Memorial Trophy. Open snooker has been dominated by Tom Cameron, who was the current club champion over the past 5 years. Hugh Gengoult-Smith won the first frame comfortably with Tom surging ahead in the second to level the match at one all. Hugh was out of the blocks early in the decider and managed to hang on after some nervous moments. Congratulations Hugh!

Warwick Loton narrowly defeated Hugh Gengoult-Smith in the snooker handicap, with a steady performance after giving away a healthy lead from his handicap and a strong start from Hugh.

Warwick Loton also won the billiards handicap event over archrival Tom Cameron. This event proved to be one of the longest finals played, due to a very strategic game by both players. Warwick’s plan of gaining a lead from the beginning and being conservative during the second half of the game paid off.

We congratulate Hugh, Warwick and Tom and thank all participants for their contribution to the championships, especially for adhering to our tight draw in a timely manner.

Shane Burke
Convenor

2019 Foundation Croquet Tournament

2019-12-05T01:43:21Z

2019 Foundation Croquet Tournament

The 2019 RSY Croquet Tournament was once again supported by the RSYLTC Foundation with great success. North of fifty competitors of all ages battled it out on a beautiful, albeit windy spring day. Fierce rounds and tactical nous were on display between much camaraderie and laughter.

The style of the tournament is Golf Croquet which is the main form of competitive croquet played in Australia where teams of two play each other with the goal to pass through more hoops out of a total of seven than your opposing team. Whilst croquet has its roots in classical antiquity, the first recorded rules came out of England in 1856 with organised competition starting in Victoria only a few years later in 1866.

The illustrious RSY Croquet Tournament dates back to 1992 and this year’s winners will join the great RSY sportsmen and sportswomen of the past. Congratulations to this year's winners: Andrew and Laura Adams.

The day was extremely well received by all members with excellent food and beverage offerings (Pimms and Aperol Spritz in particular) provided by the Club. As always, next year will be played in October and promises to be an event which really is not to be missed.

RSY Coaches Tip - Backhand Slice

2019-12-05T01:35:37Z

RSY Coaches Tip - Backhand Slice

We're thrilled to release the lastest coaches tip - the backhand slice!

The video can be viewed here and we hope this helps members with their game.

Other tips can be found on our YouTube channel which can be visited by clicking here.

2019 RSY v KLTC Social Tennis Challenge

2019-12-05T01:32:43Z

2019 RSY v KLTC Social Tennis Challenge

On Sunday 5 May, KLTC hosted RSY in the annual RSY v KLTC social tennis challenge.

RSY lost the challenge in 2018 and were eager to win back the Koots Cup. Both teams had a nice mix of experience and youth, playing both doubles and mixed. Although the conditions were very pleasant, perhaps somewhat tactically, Kooyong’s grass courts were deemed unplayable with the challenge therefore taking place on porous.

RSY’s team, which was 24 players strong, were unfortunately defeated 88 games to Kooyong’s 138.

Kooyong’s social committee commented on RSY’s players, not only competing so well but being such a lovely group of people. All had a fantastic time on and off the court, the canapés and beverages following the tennis were certainly well-earned, taking place in the Norman Brookes Room at KLTC.

Jenny Silvers, as KLTC’s team captain, gladly accepted the Koots Cup.

We look forward to seeing all again in 2020 and winning back the trophy with the challenge taking place at RSY.

Judy Dalton Honoured During Australian Open

2019-12-05T01:24:04Z

Judy Dalton Honoured During Australian Open

As the dust settles on an amazing Australian Open, there have been many highlights during what is the biggest time of the year for the sport.

During the first week of the tournament, the Tennis Victoria Volunteers’ Breakfast was held at the MCG. The event saw the presentation of not only the prestigious Community Champion Awards but also the acknowledgement of Tennis Victoria’s 20th Life Member.

Judy Dalton was awarded Life Membership in front of more than 400 guests due to her incredible career both and off the court.

Dalton’s playing career was thrust into the spotlight when she and eight other top female players joined the ‘Virginia Slims tour’ in 1971 (the ‘Original 9’ included: Billie Jean King, Rosie Casals, Nancy Richey, Judy Dalton, Kerry Melville Reid, Julie Heldman, Peaches Bartkowicz, Kristy Pigeon and Valerie Ziegenfuss). She was a pioneer for gender equality and as a result the women’s tennis governing body, the WTA, was able to be formed.

Her playing highlights included reaching a career high ranking of No.7 in the world in 1968, the same year she made the Wimbledon singles final. The Fed Cup was extremely important to her, tasting success in 1965 and 1970. Since retiring, Dalton continues to be a prominent figure in promoting the game and serves as president of the Fed Cup Foundation.

Following receiving the Life Membership of Tennis Victoria, Dalton then was made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for her exceptional contribution to tennis and gender equality.

Congratulations to Judy Dalton.

(Article by Tennis Victoria)