Sports News
Ryde Rowing Club:
There was mixed fortunes for the Ryde Rowing Clubs Crews who represented the Hants & Dorset Amateur Rowing Association at the South Coast Championship at Plymouth in September. The Clubs Coastal Junior Crew duly completed a very successful season adding the South Coast Championship title to the Hants and Dorset Championship they had already won – but the Men's Senior Crew, the defending Champions finished a disappointing 4th in their Championship race. In the Open events – for non-championship crews - the Club had a third in the Men's Senior Fours and a 4th in the Ladies Senior Fours event.
A team of twelve members of their Junior Squad also competed in September at the Itchen Junior Regatta returning to the Island with one win, six second places and two thirds. The win came in the mixed J12 Coxed Quad with the Clubs second crew finishing 3rd. There were second places in the Boys J12 "A" and "B" Doubles, the J14 Girls Double; the Boys J12 Single and the J13 Girls double and a 3rd place in the Boys J12 single.
A crew from Ryde Rowing Club have also completed a Charity cross Channel Row - believed to be the first time a crew from Ryde has achieved this feat. Maintaining their strong tradition of charitable fund raising this the Club are raising funds for the Naomi House Children's Hospice - who provide care and support through good days, difficult days and last days to children, young people and their families from the counties of Berkshire, Dorset, Hampshire, Surrey, West Sussex, Wiltshire and the Isle of Wight. The crew of - Chris Walker, Matt Bull, Lee Bennett and Ashley Maitland and Cox Penny Glazzard from Southampton Coalporters A. R. C - a very experienced Coxswain and senior oarswomen who would have been capable of taking over from one of the crew if the need had arisen - made their plans around a week long window of opportunity from Saturday, 27th September to Sunday, 5th October. The crew travelled to Dover on Friday, 26th October in preparation for the attempt - with thanks to Club sponsors Wightlink who provided provided free transport to get the boat off the Island. Further support was provided by Dover Rowing Club who have a wealth of experience in cross channel rowing and the crew was accompanied by a qualified pilot which also acted as the safety boat. The crew were unable to attempt the crossing on the first available day but were able to go on the Sunday, 28th September, when the Pilot and Safety Boat skipper declared that he thought it was safe to make an attempt on the crossing. Following safety checks and briefings the crew finally took to the water and started the crossing at 8.22am and duly completed the the row in a very respectable three hours and 26 minutes arriving in Sangatte, just South of Calais at 11.48.
They hope to have raised at least £2,000 for the Naomi House Children's Hospice and it is not to late to make a contribution via the "just giving" web site which can be found at: http://www.justgiving.com/crosschannelrow
Ryde Mead Tennis:
Ryde Mead Tennis Club have been awarded £2970 from National Lottery Funders ‘Awards For All’. The tennis club, which is located in Church Lane, Ryde, successfully made an application in the Summer and received the good news in early September. The funding has been allocated to help the club purchase new equipment for junior tennis, the club now plans to run school holiday tennis coaching and will also be running indoor tennis at Ryde Sports Centre from October. The funding will enable the club to provide more tennis coaching to a wider range of juniors and adults, it will also help the club to run more tournaments and competitions. The funding is especially important as it will allow children as young as five years old to play tennis indoors throughout the winter!
Ryde Mead Tennis Club held it’s 2nd Mini-Tennis Tournament of the year on a perfect Autumn day, children from across the Island competed in three different age groups; Mini-Red (5-8), Mini-Orange (8-9) and Mini-Green (9-10).
The Mini-Red event was dominated by Ryde Mead’s players, after all the group matches had been played the Semi-Final’s were contested by Dexter Collins, Morgan Hendey, Lacey Matthews and Jevon Dry. After close semi-finals Lacey played Morgan in an enthralling match, Lacey coming out victorious. The Mini-Orange event saw excellent tennis throughout, with Joe Newnham, Max Hill, Ewan Hallett and Jake Scrimshaw battle it out in the Semi-Finals, the slightly more inexperienced pair of Ewan and Joe were defeated in their respective Semi-Finals but both showed extremely good promise. Jake played Max after a very long day’s tennis but both boys managed to still produce some excellent tennis with Jake coming out the winner after two sets.
The Mini-Green competition saw fewer entries. Jim Churches and Aedan Coode battled out yet another final, with Jim prevailing, however not without a late fight back from Aedan which almost forced a third set.
The tennis was excellent throughout the day and the attitude of every player was exceptional, with some exciting potential on display also.
For any more information on tennis coaching please contact Lee Matthews on: 616040