We are proud and excited to announce that Aston Park has won the 2017 Bucks Advertiser Trophy for 'Most Improved Club' 2017.

Aston Park has been deemed the most improved club playing in the Aylesbury and District Tennis League. At the presentation dinner on Friday 16^th March, four of us went along to collect the three trophies won by our Mixed 2, our Women’s 2 and our Mixed 1 teams awarded for the winter 16/17 and the Summer 17 seasons.

To our delight and amazement at the end of the presentation ceremony, Aston Park was called up yet again to be presented with the 2017 Bucks Advertiser Trophy. The winning of this award is a testament to the tenacity and determination of ALL our team players who turn out in the most horrendous weather conditions and run their socks off to bring credit to the club. Not just the trophy winners but the results of all the teams over a two-year period, are analysed by the committee to decide the winner.

So all of you who turned out regularly, or were dragged in at the last minute to replace an injured player, can give yourselves a huge pat on the back. You contributed to this win for us. And yet again our little club punches above its weight. Well done to all of you.

Barbara and the Committee

Winter 2017- A Season of Ups and Downs

As we approach the end of a long winter characterised by an unprecedented number of cancelled matches we reflect on how well our teams have done in the Aylesbury & District League. 

We entered 3 Ladies Teams, 2 Mens’s Teams and 2 Mixed Team and thanks are due to the players who have turned out in some pretty demanding weather conditions and played their very best. And with injuries and illness we have been very reliant on goodwill with players willing to step-in at the last minute to make up numbers. We thank you very much if you fit into this category.

We have one set of Champions- our Mixed 1 team have been run-away winners of Division 4, winning over 80% of sets and with 6 of the players featuring in the top 10 players for the league as far as the statistics go. The team won all their matches after drawing the first with a Halton 3 team, boosted by fielding John Steel, who plays men’s doubles for Aston Park.

Ladies 1 have also performed exceptionally well taking 2^nd place in Division 4 and being only defeated once again by the incredibly strong ladies at Long Crendon.  We’ve been promoted with Long Crendon each year from Division 6 and have yet to find a way to give them any serious competition.  However, our reward for beating all the other teams is Division 3 next winter!

Ladies 3 and Men’s 2 have done well and have finished mid-table.  Captain, Barbara Wilkinson is very proud of her Ladies 3 pool who have had some very good results despite difficulties in finding sufficient players for a few matches.  A very good learning experience for the whole team and especially for youngsters Katharine Charlton and Francesca Charlton.

Our other teams have found things hard going this winter.  Mens’s 1 suffered a series of very close losses and will be contesting Division 4 next winter.  A few games here and there and they could have found themselves safety in mid-table- but it just wasn’t to be despite some very gutsy performances by the men.  Ladies 2 similarly couldn’t quite get enough wins to stay in Division 5.

Our Mixed 2 team also encountered very strong competition and will be demoted to Division 6 next winter.

Overall we’ve had mixed results but there have been some very strong performances, particularly from Sarah, Anne and Pamela who have been part of promoted Ladies and Mixed teams. Sue Hoey, Sue Andrew and Eileen have also made significant contributions to the promoted Ladies and Mixed teams.  On the Mens’s side Simon, Andrew Nurse, Michael and Tim lost few sets in mixed and were supported by Graham Smith and Adrian to ensure an undefeated season in Mixed 1.

There is talk of revamping the mixed teams and entering a third team next winter. This could potentially allow us to build on a player pool that should be capable of fielding two strong mixed teams.

As usual I would like to thank the team Captains for their efforts and Paul for keeping track of all the matches.  It takes a considerable amount of time and effort to Captain a team or sort out the scheduling and I don’t want these efforts to go unrecognized.

Summer matches start 30 April so here we go again!  Good luck everyone and let’s hope we don’t get any more seriously injured players.

Pamela Reid

Ladies Captain

Summer 17- Aston Park’s Most Successful Season to date 

Aston Park has just completed its most successful season to date –with 4 of its 6 Aylesbury and District Teams finishing in the top two slots in their leagues and being promoted.

Ladies 2 continue their march upwards finishing the season as Division 6 Runners-Up. Their last crunch match against Thame Ladies 3 was completed in the pouring rain with both teams’ players being very sporting about continuing despite the conditions.

Mixed 2 ended up as clear Champions of Division 7 winning over 76% of their sets.

Mixed 1 suffered only one defeat to Wing Mixed B to be Champions.  Paul West of Wing obviously took inspiration from Wimbledon to play some sublime tennis and win the first set against Pamela Reid and Simon Sluszny, allowing a 5-3 win for Wing on the night. There have been some walkover issues in this league and there is going to be a discussion of the matter at the next Aylesbury Tennis League Committee meeting.

Mens 1 ended up in 4th place in Division 3 after walkover issues lead to them being moved down from 2nd place.   With availability of the strongest men difficult to secure for every match, it remains a challenge for them to send out competitive teams but they have been improving with each season.

Ladies 1 finished a strong second in Division 4 and should be promoted to Division 3 for Summer 18.  They only suffered one defeat to run away champions, Long Crendon, who produced three new very strong players, to complement the outstanding ones previously encountered, and dropped only one set the entire summer (they won 97.9% of sets, 75% games for their 6 matches).

Mens 2 continue to hold their own in Division 6 and finished mid-table.  Recent club championship performances have indicated that our very strong juniors are now ready to challenge for regular positions in the team and we look forward to seeing how they do in the coming years.

Our Bucks Shield performances have been less strong and there is room for improvement here.  Ladies 1, after a slow start to the season, ended up in 2nd spot in a very closely contested league. There is due to be a restructure of the Ladies 2 Pair Bucks Shield league next year and it is unclear in which Divisions we will compete next year.  The Mens Bucks Shield team, who are unable to draw on the players with Halton commitments, found matches hard going and have finished bottom of Division 8.

There is a lot to look forward to with our team tennis and we are all up for the challenge of the fast approaching winter 2017/18 season.  We have rearranged our ladies team to reflect recent results and there should be different looks to both the Ladies 1 and Ladies 2 teams this winter.

Pamela Reid

Ladies Captain

27 September 2017

Updated February 2018 following changes to league positions from walkover issues.

2017 Summer results

Women's 2 Runners Up- division 6

Mixed 1 win division 5

Mixed 2 win division 7

Women's 1 2nd place division 4

Men's 1 4th place division 3

Women's BS1 2nd place

Netball on Thursdays

Starting on Thursday September 14th Wendover Netball Club will be using the court for their practice on Thursday Evening from 6.30-7.45. We hope this doesn’t prove too much of a distraction to the men’s mix-in!!! If there are matches on Thursday evening the netball practice will be cancelled.

Youth Club Tennis

The Club is happy to welcome the members of Aston Clinton Youth Club to the courts on alternate Friday evenings from 4-5.30pm. Francesca Charlton who is working towards her D of E award does a fantastic job of introducing some very enthusiastic youngsters to the game of tennis.

Loosening the nets after play

Please could all the members ensure that they loosen the nets after playing. If this is not done they tighten after being wet and can severely damage the new courts. I am aware that the new summer members may not have been advised that this is necessary but believe me it is. I’ve seen the damage that can be caused by failing to take this simple precaution and it’s horrendous.

Back to netball!

If you would like to get back to netball contact Molly on 07545 033 986.

Coach Name: Molly Wilkinson
Coach Contact Number: 07545033986
Coach Email: weststandmolly@aol.com

Courtesy of Taylor Wimpey who donated £500.00 towards the cost of installing a moveable net for court three, the netball clubs now have a much easier time getting the court ready for their practice sessions.