MEN and women from Warwick Boat Club are preparing to pit their wits against the cream of Europe’s amateurs after qualifying for the 2018 European Senior Tennis Club Championships.
The tournament will begin at Spain’s world-famous La Manga Club on Sunday and finish on Saturday, September 22.
Warwick Boat Club are no strangers to La Manga Club’s clay courts with a number of different teams having qualified for the event over the last decade.
Facing the ladies’ trio of captain Jackie Robinson, Nenoy Scalinger and Susie Rowe will be sides from Byfleet Lawn Tennis Club in Surrey and The West Hants Club in Bournemouth, as well as opponents from Norway and Spain.
Meanwhile, clubmates Gavin Henderson (captain), Jamie Drummond, Hugh Jacques, Paul Martin and Steve Davies will be seeking glory of their own against opponents from Spain, Latvia and three clubs from the Netherlands.
Organised by Tennis Europe – who signed a new three-year contract for La Manga Club to host the event until 2020 earlier this year – the event will feature men and women from its 50 tennis federations competing at the resort’s extensive 28-court academy for titles in ten different age categories.
Founded in 1983, the championships are open to men and women over the age of 35 from national champion clubs and the runners-up from the previous year in an international team competition across various age categories, as well as teams nominated by Tennis Europe member nations.
Previous winners have included entrants from the UK, Germany, Portugal, Holland, France, England, Austria, Hungary, Italy, Belgium, Spain and Czech Republic and the competition is set to be as fierce as ever this year.
Each country can be represented by a maximum of three clubs in every sector at La Manga Club, with teams comprising between four to seven players for men’s categories and two to five for women.
The 2018 version of the clay court event will again feature a strong British challenge, with Surrey, Kent, West London, Leicestershire, Cardiff, Greater Manchester, Cambridgeshire, Warwickshire, Staffordshire, Hertfordshire and Dorset all represented.
