Blackburn District Night Tennis Association

 South Hawthorn enters night teams in the BDNTA.

The competition has teams from the Eastern suburbs with it’s geographical centre at Blackburn Tennis Club.

There is a 14 week plus finals, Spring season, running from August to November and a 14 week plus finals, Autumn season, running from February until June. There are no matches played during school holidays.

There are 4 player teams ( 3 sets of doubles for each player ) playing on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday nights.

There are 3 player teams, playing singles/doubles matches on Thursday nights.

 For information about night tennis at South Hawthorn please contact Jeff Greening at jeffgreening1@gmail.com

NIGHT NEWS

18/6/15  The Autumn night ended last week with South Hawthorn winning 2 Pennants.

5 teams made the finals for the Autumn season of night tennis.

The Very Very Sneakies finished 4th and made the semi final against East Burwood but went out to the top team in Monday night section 1.

In section 7 Tuesday nights we had two teams in the finals, the “Norm’s Boys” finished 3rd and lost their semi final to 2nd placed Knox.

The “Arthritics” finished 4th but won their semi against top placed Canterbury, then went out to Knox and won a close match to take out the Flag.

Well done to Ben Thrift, Glenn Keifer, Andrew Moorcraft, Glenn Williams, Greg McMahon and Olav Uttienbosch. They finished 3 sets all but 3 games in front.

We also had 2 teams in the finals in section 3 on Thursday night. Both the “Cavaliers” and the “Gads” won their semis against old rival Heatherdale teams.

They then faced off in the Grand Final. They had mixed results in their derbys before but on the night the Gads were too strong and won 4 sets to nil.

Well done to Paul Katz, Trevor Crittle, John O’Neill, John Best, skipper Brett Somerville and Bruce Thompson. It was back to back premierships for the Gads and up to section 2 next season.

9/12/14    Tuesday night section 8 “Norm’s Boys” win the pennant

After several seasons making the semi finals and losing their first match, Graeme Castle’s Norm’s Boys, came from behind in their semi final to qualify for the Grand Final, then went into the last two sets all square with Knox but won 6-0, 6-1 to win convincingly. Craig Holten, Pat Coutie, Jack Wright, John Best, Glen Nash, Steve Martin and skipper Graeme Castles made up the successful Pennant winners.

9/12/14    Thursday night section 3 “Gads” win the pennant

After languishing on the bottom of the ladder with 6 rounds to go, the Gads made a miraculous recovery to make the finals and win against an Heatherdale team they had never beaten. Brett Somerville’s “Gads” didn’t lose a set, to take out the final with some of their best tennis for the season.  Congratulations to Brett, Paul Katz, Trevor Crittle, John O’Neill, John Best, Bruce Thompson and Doug Sowden who played great tennis during the season and the long sessions of after match wine tasting no doubt helped with the team bonding that eventuated in the Grand Final win.

9/12/14  Tuesday night section 4 “Tigers” cap off season with Grand Final win.

Congratulations to the Tuesday night “Tigers” who despite their name, were very consistent during the season. finishing on top of the ladder and certainly didn’t disappoint in the Finals winning their semi against Blackburn 4 sets to 2, then won the Grand Final against Glenburn by the same margin.                            Richmond supporters can only dream of their Tigers being that consistent!                                                                                                                                                   Well done to Jeremy Brown Greeves, Alex Handrinos, Josh Tebb, Adrian McGlasken, David Lyons

16/6/14    Section 4 Dragons take Grand Final

Congratulations to our Wednesday night section 4 team the Dragons who won their final convincingly after rain delays made them wait an extra week before playing their match.

In their third Grand Final in 3 seasons, the Dragons broke through to beat Box Hill 4 sets to 2.

With 4 different team members playing at the #1 position during the season, it was a very even team. Willie Kosasih, Geoff Rixon, Louie Liu, Eric Cao, Joey Yang and Richard Yang, used all their experience to take out the pennant.

Congratulations to the Dragons and we wish them good luck in Section 3 next season.

Section 5 Entourage win Thursday night Pennant

Congratulations to the Thursday night Entourage who won their match with Box Hill easily 5 sets to 1.

After several finals campaigns they broke through for their first pennant. After finishing second on the ladder they are looking forward to going Back to Back in section 4.

Josh “drama” Tebb playing at #1 dominated his young opponent, while David Lyons was too steady for the Box Hill #2. In a stand out performance, Allan Pratt rose to the occasion and hardly missed a shot all night. At #4 Skipper Jason Bell Davey capped off a great season with the Grand Final win.

Graeme Castles and Melissa Wundersitz were also regular members of the entourage through the season.

24/12/13    Breakers finish off season with Grand Final win

Congratulations to our Thursday night singes doubles section 2 team who won their delayed Grand Final recently. Washed out 2 weeks in a row, the Breakers made the long journey out to Knox and came back with the Pennant.

Taking all 6 sets, Finau Fa, Trystan Martin, Rod Bernabe produced a great finish to the season for team members, Craig Holton, Antony Green and Ed Smithers.

8/12/13    Spring Night Season comes to an end with a win to the Arthritics

Congratulations to our Tuesday night section 8 team, the Arthritics who overcame a strong North Balwyn team to win the penant.

Andrew Rouse’s team of Glenn Keifer, Greg Mc Mahon, Glenn Williams beat the South Hawthorn “Norm’s Boys” to make the final and were all tied up going into the last two sets of the final. Peaking at just the right time they won both sets 6-2, to take the flag. Olav Uittenbosch, played the semi but sat out the final and Andrew Moorcraft played several matches during the season.

In other finals, the Very Very Sneakies lost their semi in section 1 Monday nights. The section 1 Women’s Monday night “Saints” lost their Semi Final and the section 2 Women’s “Smashers” also lost a close Semi Final.

The Tuesday Section 5 Tigers made a valiant attempt before falling just short in the Grand Final, after finishing 4th in the regular season.

On Thursday section 2 the Breakers took on Knox, we are still waiting on the results.

All in all a good season for the club, Thanks to our night convenor Graeme Castles for all his work in running the competition for South Hawthorn.

1/7/13    Autumn Night Season comes to an end with a win to the Cavaliers

Congratulations to our Thursday Section 3 Cavaliers who were our only Pennant winners for the season. Jeff Greening’s team finished second on the ladder and took on arch nemisis Heatherdale in the final. In a rematch of last season’s semi final the Cavs gave Heatherdale no chance, making few mistakes and playing some of their best tennis for the season. Nick Stragolinos was as usual, rock solid at number one, breaking down his opponents bit by bit through the night. Never seeming to make an error, he frustrated his opponent and forced numerous errors as the opposition tried to get past him. At number two Lester ( Ellis ) Lai, had one of his best games for the year. If he missed a volley, I didn’t see it, and he put constant pressure on his opponents hitting many winners from all parts of the court. At number three Peter Littlewood was very solid as usual, crossing at the net and keeping the opposition off balance. At number four the skipper Jeff Greening completed a terrific season seeing him ranked #2 in the entire section 3.

His competitive nature and speed, especially at the net, had him winning his first 2 sets 6-1, 6-3. With all 4 team members playing well, they wrapped up the final in 4 sets and didn’t need to play the last 2 sets. Congratulations to the fifth Cavalier Andre De Boer, who was a big part of the team during the season.

Meanwhile on courts 3 & 4 the South Hawthorn Breakers were having a huge battle with Blackburn in the final of the section 2 singles doubles. Club Champion Finau Fa, Rod Bernebe and Craig Chester fought right to the end with Finau and Rod winning the final doubles set and Craig winning the tie breaker in the final singles match, only to find they had lost the night by just one game. With terrific tennis and great spirit displayed, both teams were winners, however Blackburn did go home with the trophies. Congratulations to all the Breakers, Craig Chester, Mark Tillman, Rod Bernabe, Antony Green, Finau Fa and Ed Smithers.

On Monday night, Ross Rathborne’s Very Very Sneakies, weren’t quite sneaky enough, going down in the Grand Final to a very talented team from Hawthorn. The Section 1 team of Ross Rathborne, David Hays, Mick Clearihan, Andrew Murchie, Tony El Helou and John Best came up just short in a very competitive section.

All teams and the club are grateful to Graeme Castles who completed yet another year as night convenor. There is no doubt the smooth running of the competition and the large number of teams fielded by the club are made possible by Graeme’s ongoing commitment to the club.

5/6/13   Night Final news

Congratulations to our night teams that have made the finals for the Autumn season.

On Monday night, Ross Rathborne’s Very Very Sneakies won their semi final against Melbourne Uni in a final set tie break.   The team of Ross, David Hayes Andrew Murchie, John Best, Mick Clearihan and Tony El Helou, now play Hawthorn for the pennant.  On Wednesday night the section 5 Dragons play off against Donvale at home after finishing top of the ladder. While on Thursday, the section 3 Cavaliers play their semi final against Box Hill at home.

6/12/12    Smashers win Night Grand Final

Congratulations to Kathy Cameron’s Monday night Smashers team who won their Grand Final in Ladies Section 3. They won the Grand Final 4 sets to 2 over their Canterbury opponents. Well done to Kathy and her team of Lynne McIlwraith, Merran Siddons, Anne Goodrich, Mary Anne Grylakis, Fiona Sexton Anna Johnston and Sue Doring. Looks like they will need a big table at Florentino for their celebrations!

26/11/12    Night Comp season Finals begin

The Spring season of night tennis has now reached the Finals stage.

Jason Bell Davey from the Thursday section 5 “Entourage” has sent us this report from their semi final.

We had a busy night at the club on Thursday with 3 teams making the first round of finals, with our Section 5 team making it through to the Grand Final in what proved to be a very tight and exciting match. Playing North Balwyn the first sets started off with a 6/3 win to Jason Bell-Davey and Dave Lyons and 6/3 loss to Josh Tebb and Alan Pratt, leaving everyone feeling a little unsure of how the night would play out. On to the next 2 sets with Josh and Dave teaming up to produce a 6/4 win. However not all went as smoothly on the adjoining court with Jason and Alan suffering a demoralising 6-0 defeat and the whole team feeling a little nervous about the last 2 sets and as it turned out, with good reason. North Balwyn went in with a little more confidence knowing they had the upper hand on games and could probably take out the night with a victory in just one of the last 2 sets. We on the other hand realised the work ahead knowing we had to win both sets to keep our chances alive. With everyone trying to keep track of what was going on the other court whilst putting everything into their own matches it was a tough fought couple of sets. Everyone was holding serve and the nerves were starting to show. By the time the scores reached 5-5 on BOTH courts everyone was really starting to feel the pressure. And thats were Sth Hawthorn Entourage shone. Both courts got the upper hand right from the get go taking out the first 3 points and the mini break. From there our spirits lifted, as did our game and when it counted most we came up with the goods. Dave and Alan took out their tie breaker 7-1 to win the set 6-5 followed by another 7-1 win to Josh and Jason in the 2nd tie breaker to steal match with a win on sets alone. In the end the score line read Sth Hawthorn – 4 sets, 27 games to Nth Balwyn – 2 sets, 29 games

Sth Hawthorn play Nunawading Illusion the Thursday at Nunawading. Lets wish the boys good luck!

19/6/12    Night Comp season wraps up

The Autumn season of night comp has been completed after rain delays and Public Holidays pushed the Grand Finals back several weeks.

Night Convenor, Graeme Castles reports that the club had 7 of its 12 teams make it to the Finals, with 3 making it through to the Grand Final and all 3 winning the Pennant.

Congratulations to the Thursday night section 4 “Caveliers”, who finished top of the ladder in the home and away season and won both finals matches convincingly. Well done to Jeff Greening ( Captain ), Nick Stragolinos, Peter Littlewood, Lester Lai and Andre De Boer.

On Wednesday night the section 7 “Smashers” won their Semi Final easily, but had a tougher time aginst the top team Nunawading in the Grand Final winning the pennant by just one game.

Congratulations to Merran Siddons, Mary Anne Grylakis, Fiona Sexton, Anne Goodrich, Kathy Cameron and Sue Doring, on a great season.

Finally the Monday night section 1, Very Very Sneakies, after struggling for many seasons to stay in section 1, got rid of some dead wood and took out the section 1 pennant for the first time. After losing their #1 player to injury just before the semis, they just made it through to the Grand Final where they beat Melbourne Uni in a hard fought final.

Congratulations to Captain Ross Rathborne, Mick Clearihan, Andrew Murchie, David Hays and Tony El Helou.

17/12/11

Successful season for Night Comp

The Summer season of night comp has now finished and South Hawthorn had some great results.

We had 11 teams playing and 9 reached the finals with 3 teams winning Grand Final Pennants.

Monday    The Saints made the semis and the Very Very Sneakies were runners up.

Tuesday    Beroccas made the semis, the Tigers and Norm’s Boys won the Grand FInal

Wednesday    The Crocodiles made the semis

Thursday    The Gads and the Entourage made the semis and the Breakers won the Grand Final.

Thanks again to Graeme Castles who has been running the Night Competition for many seasons now and manages to juggle courts and teams and players in a very difficult task.

12/5/11      New rules for composition of night comp teams

New rules for the composition of competition teams were announced at last nights committee meeting. From now on competition teams playing for South Hawthorn must be comprised solely of club members. Non members may be used as emergencies a maximum of 3 times per season and may not take part in finals matches. When playing as emergencies, non members must pay visitors fees at all home matches. We have lots of interest from members to play competition tennis, so we intend to give them precedence in filling places in our competition teams.

14/2/11      New reduced visitors fee for night comp

The committee has decided to reduce the visitors fee for night comp players to $3. This amount is in addition to the usual $7 fee for doubles and $8 for singles doubles. We remind teams that we prefer all players to be members, but when non-members play, they must pay the visitors fee in addition to the BDNTA fee.

10/2/11       Winter season kicks off

The BDNTA Winter season kicked off this week with 12 South Hawthorn teams taking part. Thanks to Graeme Castles for his work as Night Convenor, especially for his efforts to find teams for new players. It is a difficult task, but Graeme has managed to find spots for quite a few members over the last few seasons.

17/1/11    Winter season draws now available

The draws are up for our 12 night teams in BDNTA Winter season. We will have 3 South Hawthorn Derby’s in 2011, with the Tigers playing the Beroccas in section 4 Tuesdays, the Norms Boys facing off against the Arthritics in section 7 also on Tuesdays, while the contest between the Thursday night Gads and the Cavaliers will be fierce both on the court and on the BBQ. Good luck to all our teams for 2011. For draws and venues go to the web site www.bdnta.com

18/12/10   Doubles coaching tips

Don’t tell any other night tennis clubs, but here is a good tip for doubles tennis that you might consider for next season.

YouTube Video

12/12/10   Breakers win Grand Final

The Thursday night singles doubles section 2 Breakers had a very close final against East Camberwell and came out with the pennant. Rod Bernabe, Anthony Green and Mark Tillman played some great tennis to win the Semi Final and Grand Final and hopefully earn a spot back in section 1 where they belong. Missing Craig Chester (the fourth member of their team) for the finals didn’t matter to the very even combination. It was a very tight contest with the final scores 3 sets all 28 games to 23.

8/12/10    Beroccas win Grand Final

The Tuesday night section 5 Beroccas won the Grand Final against the Knox City Crocs, 4 sets to 2, on Tuesday night.                The Beroccas won the first 2 sets, 6-2, 6-3 setting up a strong position going into the second sets. Rod Dunhill played some great tennis intimidating his oponnents, while David Wundersitz won some clutch points to close out the first set. Meanwhile John O’Neill and Tim Olynyk were ahead from the start and helped give their team a solid 2 sets to 0 lead.                                           Rod and John won the next set easily 6 games to 2, meaning the team needed just 1 more set to give them the win.

2/12/10     Gads upset top team to take pennant.

The Thursday night section 5 “Gads” upset the top team Heatherdale “Hawks”, to win the Grand Final tonight at Heatherdale Tennis Club (for the trivia buffs Heatherdale was Pat Cash’s home club and he is on the honour board as club champion).  After winning their Semi Final against Knox by just one game, the Gads went into the Grand Final as underdogs. With Brett Somerville away and Chris Kemp back at work, John Petrie and John Best came back into the team to join Andrew Rogers and Clive Thorn, for the final. Having lost three times to Heatherdale during the home and away season, the Gads managed to turn the tables and win impressively 6 sets to love, 36 games to 20.  Not sure how to explain the reason for the win, but it will be well discussed at the team dinner next Thursday!!! Congratulations to Brett Somerville (Captain), John Petrie, John Best, Andrew Rogers, Clive Thorn, Chris Kemp and Steve Garofalou.

The Father and Son team the “McLovins” had a fantastic season and just went down in the Grand Final tonight, against Currawong by 2 games.

Made up of 4 families, the Strangwards, Steve and Daniel, the Murchies, Andrew and Tom, the Goads, Philip and Hugh and the Groobys, Mark and Andrew, the Mclovins came from well down the ladder to prove they are as good as any team in the section and well capable of playing section 1 tennis. Could this make them the best night team at South Hawthorn??? The McLovins started in section 5 and have made their way through section 4, 3 and now 2 with very impressive results each season.

The “Breakers” won their delayed Semi Final tonight and will play off for the Singles/Doubles section 2 Grand Final next Thursday.

The “Beroccas” will play next Tuesday at South Hawthorn against the Knox Crocs, in the Section 5 Grand Final.

19/11/10   Finals near for Summer season

With the home and away matches complete for Wednesday and Thursday nights and one more round for Monday and Tuesday teams, we have several teams in contention for Finals.

In section 5 on Tuesday nights the Beroccas are on top of the ladder and will be a great chance to win the flag. David Wundersitz, Rod Dunhill, Gerald Kelly, Tim Olynyk, John O’neil and Michael Bolger have all played for the Berocca’s this season.

On Thursday nights the Singles Doubles section 2 “Breakers” are also on top of the ladder and should finish off the season with the flag. Craig Chester, Rod Bernabe, Mark Tillman and Anthony Green are looking forward to being back where they belong, in section 1, next season.

Meanwhile in Section 4 the “Caveliers” are in fourth place and in section 5 the “Gads” finished the season in 2nd place

13/7/10

New season’s draws for night comp

The draws are up for the new season of night comp starting in August.

Note there has been a price rise for comp, for doubles sections the player fee is $7 per player, while for singles doubles teams the fee is $8 per player.

30/5/10

Fathers and Sons go for back to back pennants

The Thursday night “McLovins” have made it to the Grand Final for the second year running and will go for back to back pennants this Thursday night. The team of Andrew and Tom Murchie, Hugh and Philip Goad, Steve and Daniel Strangward and John and Felix Best had a terrific season after coming up from section 4 and just missed out on top spot. They will take on Koonung Park in the Grand Final and will need to play well to beat them, after one win and one loss to Koonung in the regular season. While our Monday night teams have yet to finish the home and away season, the ” McLovins” might be our best/only chance for a premiership this season. No pressure guys!!!!

21/5/10

Tigers through to semis on Tuesday night.

The Tigers have finished the home and away season in third place and will face North Box Hill at North Box Hill next Tuesday night in the Semi Final for section 4.  The Beroccas were unable to improve their position and finished in 7th place.

26/4/10

Log jam on Tuesday night.  Could this be the closest race to the finals on a Tuesday night? With just 4 rounds to go, the pennant is up for grabs in section 4. Our Tigers ( Jason Dann, Alex Handrinos, Craig Holton, Ross Lindsay and David Maughan ) are well placed, but there will be no easy matches on the way to the finals and if they don’t make it themselves, the “Beroccas” will surely shape the final four.

3/2/10

New season under way  The Winter season of night competition kicked off on Monday night. A new system of results entry will be used this season, with all scores entered on line. Each team will have their own scorebook in the top drawer of the kitchen and should fill in the scores at the end of the match, give a copy to the opposition and return the book to the drawer. All scores will be entered by Graeme Castles and John Best and you will be able to check results and ladders on the BDNTA web site.

8/1/10

New Night Season fixtures are now available. You can see the fixtures at www.bdnta.com

There have been significant changes to the night comp this season. Team Captains should have recieved information by e-mail with their draws and information about the changes. All the same information is also available at the web site. Please make sure you read all the information and you are confident that you understand the changes. All results must now be entered on line. No results will be accepted on the old cards. It is the duty of the home team to enter results, as well as fill in record booklets that will be available at the club. Failure to do so will result in the loss of match points!

Don’t forget that if team members ( playing home matches for South Hawthorn ) are not current members of South Hawthorn, then they must pay a visitors fee of $8 as well as the night fee of $6, $14 in all. Names will be checked when the scores are entered, to make sure that all fees have been paid.

No exceptions and there will be consequences for failing to do so.

Also an early reminder that the club house must be left tidy with all dishes washed and rubbish put away at the end of the night.

This season the committee will be taking action if this responsibility is not taken seriously.

This is the first warning for the season, there will be no further warnings.

Please contact Graeme Castles if you do not understand what needs to be done, or if you require further clarification. castlesgb@gmail.com

30/11/09

Sneakies finish off perfect season. Undefeated over 14 weeks of home and away, semi final and Grand Final, the “Very Very Sneakies” completed the Grand Slam tonight taking out the Grand Final in Section 2. Playing old rivals Canterbury, the Sneakies won 4 sets to 2 in an extremely tight match at Hawthorn Tennis Club.

The match was close from the start with our 1 &2, Ross Rathborne and Glen Nash fighting hard in their match, with one game on Glen’s serve going for at least 15 deuce points.

3 & 4, David Maughan and John Best took their set 6-2. Then in the cruicial middle sets, the Sneakies won both sets so they only needed to win 1 of the last sets to win the night.

Other team members Graeme Longmuir, Michael Clearihan and David McMillan cheered on, as the Sneakies managed to complete the victory and take the Pennant for Summer 2009. Write it in the history books.

Captain Ross Rathborne said after the match, “I think they underestimated our Sneakiness”.

26/11/09

McLovins win the penant. Our Thursday night Father and Son team, the “McLovins”, had a convincing victory over Grace Park tonight. Steve Strangward, Andrew Murchie, Felix Best and Hugh Goad proved too strong on the “one day in November” winning by 5 sets to 1. The selection committee went for a mix of Fathers and Sons, with 1 from each family. Philip Goad, John Best, Tom Murchie and Daniel Strangward, standing out for the Grand Final. After finishing second on the ladder, we took on the top team and came out victors.

Where do a father and son team celebrate a win in the Grand Final? Yes it was off to the Scottish take-away for the boys, as a reward for a hard fought victory. It’s up to section 3 for the McLovins and new challenges for the Winter Season.

25/11/09

Tigers burn bright. The Tigers have made it through to the Grand Final in section 5 on Tuesday night ( brings a tear to a Richmond supporters eyes ). They will take on the Knox City Crocs next Tuesday at Blackburn South.

23/11/09

Sneakies sneak through. Skipper Ross Rathborne, Glenn Nash, Graeme Longmuir and Michael Clearihan had a convincing victory over Melbourne Uni at South Hawthorn tonight. Despite a slight age difference, experience won through in a 5 sets to 1 victory over the students. In front of a very impressive crowd, including all team members and several better halves, even a guest appearance from an ex team member and an ex President, the team handled the pressure and played quality tennis to take the final. Destiny awaits the Sneakies next week in the Grand Final.

20/11/09

We have now come to the end of the home and away matches for the summer season of night competition.

Our Father/Son team the “McLovins” had a solid win on Thursday night in the semi fiinal against North Box Hill.

Steve and Daniel Strangward, Philip and Hugh Goad, Andrew and Tom Murchie and John and Felix Best, had a great season, finishing in second place on the ladder. With exams looming, the older sons had to step aside and Steve Strangward, Andrew Murchie and John and Felix Best took on a very strong North Box Hill and came away with a 4 sets to 2 win and a spot in next weeks Grand Final against Grace Park.

On Monday nights in Section 2, the Very Very Sneakies finished on the top of the ladder and will play their semi final at home next Monday against Melbourne Uni.

On Tuesdays in section 4 the Beroccas made a late season charge finishing 4th and play away at Nunawading in their semi final next week.    Meanwhile in section 5, the Tigers finished on the top of the ladder and play City of Camberwell Dad’s Army at home.

Ladders are available at www.bdnta.com