Mon 4th December 2017

Walking  - not cycling!

The date & format of the cycle ride on 27th November has been radically changed!  We will now have a walk round Old Alresford, followed by lunch at The Globe.  The date will be one week later on Mon 4th December.

October 16th 2017 winners!

Following various last minute changes of personnel this KIT was contested by:

John, Tim, Don, Keith + Jan, Gill, Kate & Angela

The final ended up being John & Kate v Tim & Gill - with Tim and Gill winning 6-1

Winners - Tim & Gill

In other news, the cycle ride on Mon 9th October went well - culminating in lunch for 6 at The Sun in Bentworth.

The next cycle ride has been planned for Monday 27th November

New induction test for the Vets' squad?

As Sue seeks to build on the success of our recent summer season, rumour has it that she is seriously considering this as an induction test for any members wanting to join the existing Vets' squad!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/winter-olympics/41256544

Celebration meal for the vets' squad

The British weather meant that we had to cancel the tennis this morning but we still went ahead with our celebratory lunch. 

John & Jan kindly offered to host it at their house rather than have it in the clubhouse.  The setting and food was stunning – thanks to everyone for what they contributed.

John and Jan had even made a KIT cake  - getting the icing made up from a photo of the trophy – it looked wonderful and tasted delicious!

Prize winners!

John:- for coming top of the player’s statistics for the whole of the vets’ league – though Jan was second (on a 100% winning record!)

Don:- for having the tidiest car used for an away match – sadly he was away in sunny Minorca today and wasn’t there to receive his prize!

John:- for needing to wear the most limb support while playing tennis!

Sue:- for being the captain of the nicest Vets' team ever!

And here is the trophy & certificate we were awarded!

So lucky we already had a reserve date already booked in for the actual KIT tennis – Mon 25th September. 
PS: from 25th - not so lucky after all, as rain cancelled our tennis again today. Time to move on to the winter season I think!!  

Cycle ride on Mon 4th September

The nine of us did a 20 mile circuit today, with people joining at various places on the circuit.
John Hubbard, Trevor, Hilary and Ken were the lucky ones who got to start from Alton so we got the steep hill up through the forest to Four Marks over with first - and most importantly, before lunch!  
Steve, Angela and Hugh joined us at the top of the hill and John & Jan further along just before we headed down to Farringdon.  We then headed to East Worldham and on through Wyck to have an excellent lunch at the Hen & Chicken.
We didn't get round to taking a photo this time!

2 KITs in September for the members of the Vets' squad!

To celebrate the Vets' team coming top of the league this summer (and thereby gaining promotion!) we will have a special KIT and celebratory lunch on Mon 11th September from 9:30- 2ish).  There will also be another KIT on Mon 25th September from 9:30 - though this time without the food & drink afterwards! 

Mon 11th Sept at 9:30: 

John, Tim, Ken + Jan, Sue H, Hilary, Alison and Gaynor.  This is a 5 ladies and 3 men group so one of the ladies will need to play as a man for the pairings. Food requests will follow nearer the time, but Sue has promised to bring alcohol!

+

Mon 25th Sept at 9:30:

John, Don, Tim, Ken + Jan, Sue H, Gaynor and Alison.

Cycle rides

The ride on 7th August was from Alton to Odiham.  It went really well - despite the damp conditions!  John, Jan, Hilary, Ken, Steve & Angela enjoyed a good lunch at The Water Witch before heading back home.

The ride on Mon 4th September might well head up to Four Marks and then back through Farringdon, East Worldham, Wyck - with possibly lunch at the Hen & Chicken. Details to be decided nearer the time.  So far the group for that is; John, Jan, Steve, Angela, Hilary, Ken, John Hubbard, Trevor and Hugh.

July 17th 2017 winners

All the games in this KIT were hotly contested - in very hot weather!
Thanks to Tony Cox from Medstead club who joined us to make up our 8 - the others being John & Jan Hayman, Tim G, Ken, Gill, Hilary and Gaynor.  The final ended up being between John & Hilary and Ken & Jan, with Ken & Jan winning 6-3.

Winners - Ken & Jan

There will be no KIT in August.  The next one will be on Sept 11th and it will be hopefully involve all of the Summer Vets' squad with a celebratory meal afterwards for what we hope will have been a very successful season.

In the meantime though we will have 2 cycle rides - one on Monday 7th August and one on Monday 4th September.  The routes have still to be decided but they will both definitely include a pub lunch!

In other news!

Meanwhile in the summer Vets' league (division 2), Alton are top at the 1/2 way point!

Cycle ride + date of next KIT

Our monthly cycle ride for June saw six of us go on a 20 mile circuit today - up to the Golden Pot and across to Long Sutton, Well, Bentley, Lower Froyle  and then to Upper Froyle and lunch in The Hen & Chicken. Lunch was great and then it was only a short cycle back to Holybourne, Alton and home.  John (Hayman) took this photo of the rest of us:

 

The next KIT will be on Mon 17th July.  It will start at 9:15, rather than the usual time of 9:30 and will involve:

John Hayman, Tony Cox, Ken and Tim + Jan, Gill, Hilary and Gaynor

June 12th 2017 winners

Today's tournament involved Tim, Ken, Don, Keith + Gaynor, Kate, Rosie and Angela.
Despite some dodgy arithmetic from Don, the final ended up being:

Keith & Angela V Tim & Kate

Tim and Kate won on a tightly contested tie break after a close contest.

The winners:- Tim & Kate

May 8th 2017 winners

The competitors today were:

 John, Keith, Ken and Tim + Gill, Kate, Jan and Rosie.

After the round robin matches, Ken and  Keith were level on both points and count back so they had to toss a coin to see who played in the final.

The final ended up being between John & Gill and Ken & Kate.  The final score doesn't reflect how close the games were, with Ken & Kate winning  6-1.

Winners - Ken & Kate

April 3rd 2017 winners + Vet's shared lunch

This KIT was planned to coincide with the end of the winter Vet's season and to say "thank you" to Sue Hubbard for being the captain and organising us all so well. Unfortunately Keith couldn't make it but Frank stepped in as a last minute replacement.  
The players on the day were:
John, Don, Frank, Ken, Jan, Gill, Hilary + Sue herself.
It was a beautiful sunny morning and it ended up with a final contested between John & Gill and Ken & Jan, which John & Gill won by 6-2..

Winners - Gill & John

Afterwards we all stayed on, in true Vet's style, for a shared lunch.  It was lovely that Alison, Tim and John Hubbard were also able to join us for the lunch.  Congratulations to Hilary, who was awarded a prize for having won the highest percentage of her matches throughout the season!
Here is a selection of photos from the lunch we had afterwards.

Next KIT + shared lunch

The next KIT will be on Mon 3rd April from 9:30 and will feature:

John Hayman, Don, Keith AO, Ken + Jan, Gill, Hilary and Sue H

All 8 participants are from Sue's Vet's squad.  The plan is to stay after the competition to enjoy a shared lunch together to celebrate the completion of our winter season and to say thank you to Sue for helping to make it such an enjoyable experience, regardless of where we will have finished in the league.

Emergency repairs

Our monthly bike ride today took us to Alresford for lunch at The Globe - the food, the company and even the weather were excellent.
En route we discovered that John is more than just a good tennis player!

The next KIT

The March KIT will happen at the end of February!

Monday 27th Feb at the slightly later time of 9:45am.

The players this time are:

John Hayman, Don, Ken & Keith + Jan, Gill, Kate & Rosie

February 7th 2017 winners

Bright sunshine this morning - too bright from one side of the court, making it difficult to see the ball sometimes!
Many thanks to the 3 newcomers  - Geoff, Steve and Jacinta (who ended up as the lady with the most points).
The final was contested between Tim & Jacinta and Ken & Angela.
The scoreline in the final  did not do justice to how close the games all were - the first 5 games all went to long deuces!
In the end though, Ken & Angela won 6-0.

Angela & Ken

February KIT

As the snow falls outside it is time to publish the date of the next KIT!

It will be on Tuesday 7th February at 9:15 - a slightly earlier start, so hopefully there won't be a frost the night before.

The players this time will be Tim G, Geoff, Steve and Ken + Gill, Alison, Jacinta and Angela.
Thanks to Geoff & Jacinta for stepping in to cover for late changes.

January 9th 2017

Happy New Year!

The weather intervened this morning to curtail the KIT.  There was only time for the round robin matches to be completed before rain stopped us playing.
John finished with the top score of all the men and Gill was the top lady.
The final would have been a contest between:

John & Hilary v Ken & Gill 

There was no time to reschedule the final before the next KIT (on Tuesday 7th Feb) so we decided to count up the individual scores.
John & Hilary had 29 points and Ken & Gill had 28 points - so John & Hilary are the winners this time.  Sorry there isn't a photo!