The Event
Weybridge LTC has a rich history of bringing members together to play some socially competitive tennis in an organised way.
For some years there has been the American Tournament, organised magnificently by Geoff Mullins. In 2021, this was replaced by the Riverside Tournament, which continues the social aspect of the American Tournament, with a different tennis format.
The inaugural Riverside Tournament was played on Bank Holiday Monday 30 August 2021, and was held in memory of Susan Pettinger.
The next Riverside Tournament is on
Bank Holiday Monday 29 August 2022
12:30 to 5:30pm
Watch for emails promoting the event
The Teams
The Riverside Tournament involves 4 teams, and allows 24 members to be involved.
Each team has its own colour. In the inaugural tournament, the colours were borrowed from our history and were Red, White and Blue (American) plus Green (from the grass courts of Wimbledon).
Each team in the Riverside Tournament has 6 players, and a captain (who may or may not be a player).
Team names will include the team colour, and will be chosen by the captain and team members.
The Tennis
In the Riverside Tournament, each member plays 5 sets of doubles, each with a different team-mate.
Sets comprise exactly 8 games, so each player gets to serve twice.
- Don’t stop if a team gets to 6
- Keep going until all 8 games have been completed
- The final score can be 4-all, or 5-3, or 6-2, or 7-1 or even 8-0
- There is no tie-break
Games involve a short-deuce, so they don’t take too long.
- A short-deuce means that a maximum of 3 points are played once deuce at 40-all is first reached
- That’s right, if the game goes to deuce a second time, then a golden point will decide the winner of the game
- The receiving team is to select the forehand or backhand court for the sudden-death golden point
- Before serving this point, make sure all players on court are aware that a golden point is being played
The Competition
There will be 7 rounds of tennis in the Riverside Tournament.
Each player plays a match in 5 rounds, and has 2 byes.
During your bye rounds you can socialise, cheer on your team mates or rest for your upcoming matches. Whatever suits you.
Each set is for exactly 8 games. The winning team earns 2 competition points, whilst the losing team gets 0 points. A set ending in a tie at 4-all will result in both teams earning 1 competition point each.
Team scores are tallied through the day and will be available for all to see.
At the end of all 7 rounds the winning team will be the one with the most competition points.
In the event of a tie, the winner will be the team with the most games won.
If it’s still a tie, then there will be a play-off involving a championship tiebreak. Where possible, this will involve the respective captains and a team-mate. However, the specifics will be determined on the day by the organisers and remaining captains.
The Players
The inaugural Riverside Tournament is open to Full Members and Young Adult Members.
- Long-standing members and newcomers
- Women and men
- Leading players and the rest of us
- Left-handers and right-handers
- Older members and younger members
The Captains
Each team has a captain, who can be a playing-captain or a non-playing captain.
Captains are involved in helping to organise the event.
They ensure players are distributed evenly between teams.
They setup their team WhatsApp group.
They appoint their team social co-ordinator.
Prior to the day, the captain makes sure their team is focused, ready to play, are wearing their team colours, have chosen their team name, and have paid their tournament fee.
On the day, they lead, inspire and encourage their team to thrive in the socially competitive spirit of the day.
Should a tournament play-off be required, playing-captains will be involved.
The Social Co-ordinators
Each team has a social co-ordinator, who can either be a player or not.
Social co-ordinators are great at organising.
They organise their team-mates to self-cater, set-up before the event and clear-up afterwards.
They ensure their players each contribute food and refreshments to share with the team.
(They don’t do it for them)
They help the team plan the menu, and know who is bringing what.
The social co-ordinator focuses on social aspects, so the captain can focus on the tennis.