Winners of Competition of the Year – Buckinghamshire
Bucks County Closed Junior Tournament 2020
And they said it couldn’t be done! After the original venue for the 2020 tournament had to pull out due to Covid-19 restrictions, we should all take our hats off and give 3 cheers to the team of Ann Dewick (Chesham Bois LT&SC) Janet and Malcolm Jamieson (Wooburn Park TC) and Anthony Heald (Administrator, Bucks Tennis and Princes Risborough TC). They took up the gauntlet and ran a highly successful event despite all the complications and, as often the case in England, bad weather!
We must also be grateful to the 4 clubs that provided the courts, Beaconsfield, Chesham Bois, Chesham 1879 and Great Missenden whose grounds provided a safe environment for competitors, parents, spectators and the tournament officials and volunteers.
All the venues had designated areas for the parents/players to wait in whilst they were at the tournament to help with social-distancing. Emails went out in advance advising parents on what they were and weren’t allowed to do, players were briefed at the start of the event and there was also a track and trace system in place. However, as you can well imagine, all this provided real logistical challenges for the organisers.
The difficulties involved were underlined by the fact that there were very few other tournaments and all of the summer county cups had been cancelled. To add another level of difficulty it had to be held over only 5 days rather the usual 7.
In the event it was an oustanding triumph and, despite the lack of doubles events, entries nearly matched 2019 with 173 enries. The competition was fantastic, providing 353 matches in 16 events over 5 days. This year the competition was able to run an U18 girls event which is rare and the U11 age groups were also included for the first time. Another real positive for the players was a rare opportuniy for the County Captains to see them in action.
And, as further evidence of the magnitude of this achievement, the tournament, having received the County British Tennis Award, has been selected by the whole Central and East Region for the Regional Award. The Competition is now included in the National Awards, which will be announced on Thursday 24th June 2021.
Peter Henry
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| Anne Dewick | Janet Jamieson | Anthony Heald |