On Friday evening we held our annual senior club awards dinner at the Leighinmohr House Hotel.
It was a terrific evening had by all, with 45 of our club members in attendance.
The hotel provided us with a terrific room, and was accompanied by superb food.
Our BLTC Family had a wonderful time, socialising with friends, interacting with members they hadn’t seen in some time, while celebrating the wonderful achievements of our players over the last 12 months.
We didn’t only enjoy the distribution of awards, we took park in a tennis specific quiz, which caused some drama of its own. It brought out the best (and in some cases the worst) in our competitive spirit. Well done to Michael Allen’s team in winning this.
Director of Coaching Barry Clarke, did his now yearly funny certificate distribution to members. Certificates given out included- Tube of the Year, Hibernator of the Year, BLTC Trash Talker, Maria Sharapova grunter of the year and many more. The room was certainly roaring with some of these.
The club also presented Mary Goodwin with a special gift for all her continued work she does within the club. Mary is amazing and without her voluntary contribution to the club we wouldn’t be where we are today. Thanks also to Jim Smith for writing a little poem in Mary’s honour, it was a beautiful touch.
Club Chairman Nick Cummings presented the remaining Serving Aces Project winners with their prizes, which they won throughout our various events we held this year. Some of the prizes included a signed Sue Barker autobiography, lovely gift vouchers for restaurants and Wimbledon memorabilia. Well done to all the winners.
We must thank club member Myron Evan’s who came along and took pictures of the entire evening! Thank you for taking your time to do this.
Ballymena Lawn Tennis Club Club Champions 2023
Mens Singles – Pol McAleese
Ladies Singles – Sarah Goodrich
Mens Doubles Championships – Peter McCrum and Pol McAleese
Ladies Doubles Champions – Sharon Moore and Paula McMillan
Mixed Doubles Champs – Pol McAleese and Judith Weir
Mens Evergreen Singles Sponsored by Eurospar Cullybackey – Alan Kennedy
Ladies Evergreen Singles Sponsored by Wilkinson Aesthetics – Sarah Goodrich
Mens Evergreen Doubles sponsored by Sanjha Indian Restaurant – Alan Kennedy and Peter Dickey
Ladies Evergreen Doubles sponsored by Jayne Harkness Photography – Sarah Goodrich and Valerie Alexander
Mixed Evergreen Doubles sponsored by Tommy Crooks – Paula McMillan and Csaba Mezei
Special Recognition Awards
BLTC Team Shield (Best League Performance in the Belfast and District Leagues) Sponsored by the Clarke Family- John, Heather and Barry- Knockout Cup - Men’s Intermediate Team - Barry Clarke (C) Pol McAleese, Alan Kennedy, Csaba Mezei, Nick Cumming
The League Endeavour Cup (Best contribution to the club external leagues) Sponsored by Ahoghill Post Office (Henderson Spar) Alan Kennedy
The George McDowell Cup (Most Improved Senior Player) Sponsored by George McDowell - Sarah Goodrich
The Burgess Cup (Long Term Service to Ballymena Lawn Tennis Club/Outstanding Achievement) Sponsored by Wilson Burgess - Ian McClean
Fergus Barklie Cup (Newcomer of the year Award) Sponsored by Fergus Barklie – Stephanie Shaw and Charlotte Wright
Well done to all our award winners!
