Sidmouth Tennis Club enjoys a fabulous makeover

If you have recently wandered past the grounds of Sidmouth Cricket, Tennis and Croquet Club, it could hardly escape your notice that the whole club has gone through a bit of a metamorphosis.
The smell of new paint aside, and apart from an increase in membership, there has been an increase in sponsorship banners, which flag the side nets and the cricket section have been training and playing in brand new kits.
As part of this rebranding, the tennis section has also undergone quite a transformation. Supported by our main sponsor of CHETWOOD WM and assisted by A1 Print & Stitch of Honiton, the teams now have a professional new kit of black or white, while all adult members have access to a range of leisure/ play wear, in a variety of colours, with the club's logo, new branding and sponsorship logos.
Last to play competitively in our old hoodies was the Mixed B team, who took on Seaton D in blustery conditions at The Fortfield ground.
Captain Sharon O' Brien and her crew of Martin Dawes, Katherine Houghton-Brown and Mark Heywood had to dodge the showers to overcome a strong Seaton squad. The result a good 7-2 win for the home side, staking their claim in Division 5.
Could Mixed A, playing in Division 3, replicate this winning streak, as they christened the new kit?
In a match which lasted almost four hours and saw the players battling wind and pelting rain at times, it really was a baptism of fire for the players in their first league match of the season against a very strong Lympstone squad.
However, captain Debbie Snelgrove, struggling with injury, led her team of Greg Shipp, Jed Ionov Flint and newcomer, Sarah Van Hecke to a stunning victory, which included set tie-breaks and three championship tie-breaks on their way to a final result of 7-4 to Sidmouth. What a sweet victory and dream debut for Sarah!
All in all, a great week of tennis where the weather may have been a washout but the new kits stood up to all that was thrown at them ...as did the players!