Social Activities
We have an annual quiz, weekly Ballroom Dancing Classes and many more events.
Come and join us! The social membership fee is £15 p.a.
Christmas Party 10th December 2011
Particular thanks go to Roz and Ruth from our Social Committee and all our (three) Barker girls, who managed to create another magical Christmas event in our Clubhouse on Saturday 10th December.
Roz and Ruth
treated us to delicious canapes and mulled wine, and Judy, with her usual charming smile and efficiency, kept everything well under control behind the bar When things became a bit hectic as the 65 guests all decided to order their drinks at once, Caroline was helping at the bar as well.
We were also treated to a dance demonstration by our Ballroom pros Robert and Sophia, and two of their star pupils, who are currently being prepared to enter dance competitions. It even seemed to me, that the female dancers' glitzy outfits made some of our male club members seriously consider joining our Tuesday ballroom dancing group, as there is a high chance that Christmas 2012, the dancing routines might well be provided by ourselves 
We certainly had a 'ball' and we look forward to throw a few more parties during the year!
See the full set of photos in the Photo Gallery
Alex Rooney
December 2011
Bowling at the Rotunda in Kingston
On Saturday 29th Oct a group of fifteen people arranged to meet for bowling at the rotunda in Kingston.
Some of us had never been bowling before and some seemed very experienced.
We split into two teams and competed against each other. Team 1 consisted of Leal Ignatius, Charlie Prince, Romana Prince, Pam Kingston Smith , Tori,John and Caroline Barker and Sally Paterson.
Team 2 was Alex and Clement Rooney, Charlie P Jnr , June , Elena, Catherine and Peter Franklin and despite them being one player short they managed to win by 1123-1028.
After we finished our bowling we all went upstairs to the Pizzaexpress in the Rotunda and had a lovely meal. It was a most enjoyable evening.
Racketball Evening 13th October 2011
Last week the Club hosted a very successful 'Introduction to Racketball Evening'. Our squash coach Roshan did a short demonstration and then our members played each other, up to 9 points.
The lady winner of the evening was Sally Patterson and the gentleman Josh Desouza. Many Congratulations!The overall rating was very positive and many of the participants said they would be interested to play Racketball on a more regular basis. For the time being, this will be stricly monitored by the Club's office, in order not to compete for court use with our Squash members. We might decide on a Racketball membership category, but would like to assess the demand first of all.
After the tournament we enjoyed a delicious dinner in the Clubhouse, prepared by regular Club caterer Phil Crowther, where Squash and Tennis members had at last an opportunity to chat and socialise with each other!
If you are interested in playing Racketball, please contact Alex in the Club's office for more details.
Going to the Dogs
Last Friday we ‘went to the dogs’, but at least we ‘did not go to hell in a handcart’. 
On Friday 23rd September seventeen of us turned up at Wimbledon for an evening of Greyhound Racing, but little did some of us know, that this was not quite your ‘black tie’ event, but a people’s place, where noise and the smell of fried onions and chicken in the basket invade the nostrils.
When you first look through the picture windows, and watch these animals being led down the ‘garden’ path in the floodlight along the track, by people dressed in white laboratory coats, who look more like butchers than dog handlers, then you know you are in a different place.
When later on, the hare zooms round, fooling these hounds yet again, so they chase without the satisfaction of ever actually catching this automated bunny, and people behind the windows scream their lungs out ‘GO ON!! GO ON NUMBER 7!! GO ON!!!’ (hang on, ther’s only six dogs in a race!) then you know it’s not the normal ‘Sheen Scene’.
We placed our bets on most of the races, but on the whole our luck was out. However, Caroline Jordan was the brave one for in no time at all she had gleaned insider information from the trackside bookies and actually won twice in a row!! She was obviously in the ‘zone of truth’, which seemed to be the natural order of things. And also Martyn followed in her footsteps and faired quite well.
All in all, it was a great night out, and we enjoyed the thrill! …. But watch this space, this was just a pipe opener: ‘ HORSE RACING NEXT!!!’
See all the photos in the Picture Gallery
Alex Rooney
26th September 2011
Trip to the Polo - 10th July 2011
Today a group of us went to West Sussex to watch the Argentine Ambassadors Cup at Cowdray Park Polo Club. It was quite an experience, as most of us had never been to a polo event before.
Driving down there, we got lost of course ending up in another estate, far beyond the Polo Club.. It had not helped that the police were behind us for ages, which made me suggest to Caroline to better keep on driving in order not to draw attention to us (my own speed penalty record was obviously speaking there). We carried on for miles so that even the Sat Nav managed to loose its way and got suspiciously silent...
Eventually Caroline was brave and decided to turn into an estate where we asked a very nice man in his four wheel drive for directions. He offered us to follow him, as he was going to the Polo too. Imagine our excitement following this handsome Argentinian Polo player heading to his match!
On arrival, we discovered of course that the Argentinian polo player was actually a Polish car park attendant, but at least we had arrived in time and were ready for lunch!
As we were guests of tennis member Caesar Campoy, who works for the Argentinian Embassy, we had the priviledge of being hosted under a private marquee and treated to Argentinian culinary specialities such as very, very tender slices of beef, sausages, canapes, as well as Argentinian wine, before we headed onto the stands to watch the actual 'matches'/'chukkas'/'games'....(please forgive my complete ignorance, as I never quite got it)...well, basically 'a set of very handsome ponies with amazing muscles'...(not ignoring the 'set of very handsome MEN with amazing muscles' too....- and that's besides Gavin, Martyn, and Kjell!)
We never quite understood the rules of the game of course (except Judy, who seemed to get it, explaining that it had similarities with football), but did eventually figure out that the men galopping alongside the 'court' were linesmen, and not 'warming up horses', as we were first made to think.
Thanks to Caesar, we certainly had a most fabulous day out and would happily repeat the experience!
Alex Rooney
View all the photos from the day in the Photo Gallery
Final Day and Summer Club BBQ Sunday 19th June
On Sunday 19th June we held our Finals day with the day starting off bright and sunny.
The mens and ladies singles finalists arrived at 10.00 and started knocking up. After a quick shower which meant coming off and warming up again the finals started.
The mens finalist were Charlie Pisker and Thomas Johnson, Charlie went on to win 6-0,6-3. The ladies finalists were Ali Barker and Wendy Scalinger after over two hours of playing Wendy just beat Ali 3-6,7-6,7-5.
Next on was the mens doubles final, this was a match between John Walker and Ollie Knutton versus Leal Ignatius and Oliver Jones. The score was 6-3,6-3 to John Walker and Ollie Knutton.
After waiting a little while for Wendy to recover from her other long match the ladies doubles started at 2.00pm. Wendy Scalinger and Penny Wyatt played Alison Goodbrand and Mikaela Parker . After an exciting final Alison and Mikaela went on to win 6-4, 6-1.
Finally the long awaited Mixed Doubles final. The finalist were Ali Barker and Thomas Johnson versus Adam and Mikaela Parker (lovely to see a married couple playing together , very rare though).
The couples gave us a very exciting end to the day which kept us guessing all the time as to who was going to win. The Parkers won the first set by 6-4. Then Ali and Tom came back and finally won the last two sets . Final score 4-6,6-2,6-1.
Everyone rushed home to have a quick change and come back in time for the evening prize giving and BBQ. The weather stayed dry and Jean Sexton the Chairman of the club presented the prizes.
Roz Barder and Ruth Fenton organised the food , with lots of amazing puddings.
Also thanks to Chris Northey and Steve Gardner for manning the BBQ.
View all the photos from the day in the photo gallery
Quiz and Curry Night
On Saturday 30th October we held a very successful Quiz at the Tennis Club.It was well attended by over 60 people.
Once again we were entertained by the very funny Eve Lowen who was our compere for the evening. The Quiz was written by Ruth Fenton and kept us occupied all evening.
The food was supplied by our tennis member Zaman Choudhury from his restaurant Spice Bazaar in London , and was very enjoyable. This was followed by puddings courtesy of Peter Merton who also run the bar.
After 12 very interesting rounds the scores were added up and the winners were Mikaela and Adam Parker, Nigel and Celia Johnson , Hugh and Janet Bostock and Dave a squash player ( who just happens to be a Science teacher ).
Well done and thank you again to the social committee which includes Roz Barder, Ruth Fenton, Zaman Choudhury and Caroline Barker.
View a full set of photos in the Photo Gallery
Our trip to the French Open May 24th /25th 2009
Account by Alex Rooney
In early spring Zaman suggested organising a trip to the French Open Tennis in Paris . As you can imagine great enthusiasm arose amongst Sheen players and many assured us they would definitely come along. However, as so often happens, things crept up and some could not take part (no names will be mentioned!!). In the final analysis, Ruth organised everything (!) with just 6 of us going on the trip. In the event, 6 was a perfect number since 12 people following Ruth around the metro would have been a real challenge.
We set off early on Sunday 24 th May, by taxi from Sheen Tennis Club to St Pancras, where we took the Eurostar to Paris . It was a beautiful sunny day and when we arrived at the Gare du Nord we went straight to leave our bags at the Hotel Albert, a couple of minutes stroll away. We headed for the Musee du Louvre to buy sandwiches and drinks which we ate on a seat, shaded from the sun by a well placed tree! Heading for the River Seine we walked through the beautiful Tuileries Gardens and past the Orangerie Museum , where, it is rumoured, Eve Lowen is the voice over artist on the museum's audio guide system. Despite the temptation of visiting the exhibition and maybe even Eve “calling” us to go in, we continued towards the Seine for a river cruise on a Bateau-Mouche. This is a wonderful way to see Paris , without too much effort on a very hot day! The highlight was perhaps Notre Dame Cathedral and the historic bridges.
Later, after sorbets and drinks in a delightful pavement café we headed back to the hotel, and changed before going out for dinner in the Latin quarter . We selected a wonderful restaurant (recommended by Ruth!) on the cobbled, narrow and picturesque Boulevard Saint-Germain where we sat outside in the warm evening air enjoying kia sancerre aperitifs before dinner. How Parisian!
Although some members of our party had originally seemed keen to get to know the night life of Paris , we infact went straight back to the hotel after dinner, ignoring the flashing neon lighted ‘night time establishments’ that seemed to surround Hotel Albert!! In reality, we were shattered and needed our beauty sleep! I don't think anyone did venture out in the night although one or two, who shall remain nameless, said they had not slept much… claiming they had spent much of the night trying to coax the unresponsive air conditioner systems in their bedrooms back to life!
In the morning when we were ready to get to tennis, all nicely dressed in our smart casual clothes, we could not help but laugh, when Zaman suddenly appeared in his track suit with his usual sun cap, as if he was coming to the Sunday mix in at Sheen. It was so strange to see him like that in the middle of Paris and… without his racket...
We followed Ruth onto the metro and had to change a few times before eventually arriving at Roland Garos, where we marched with the crowd to register our online tickets for entry onto Court 1. It is a beautiful and intimate arena. Although not like our great Wimbledon of course, the Roland Garos complex is surprisingly green and welcoming.
We were on court 1, and had great matches on that Monday. The view was fantastic and the sun burning hot. First we saw Warinka the Swiss, beat the Frenchman Devilier in a 4 hour, 5 set battle. (Nigel modestly remarked that Warinka's backhand seemed to be modeled on his own whereas his forehand reminded him of Zaman's — WHAT IS IT WITH THOSE TWO?). Then appeared Maria Sharapova (in a gorgeous outfit of course) to beat Yakidowa in a closely contested 3 set match.
At lunch we had a picnic on the grass and us girls went shopping to get some new tennis outfits of course whilst Roz quickly managed to catch up with her old friend Rafa when he came off court.
After a very full and uplifting day we left around 6pm and headed back to the hotel to get our luggage. Waiting to board Eurostar at the Gare du Nord, more sandwiches and beer were consumed and sun tans (burns) compared…Zaman showed off his own tan which naturally no-one of us could compete with. 
We arrived back at St Pancras around 10 pm quite exhausted. The 2 days felt like a week long holiday and we certainly all thoroughly enjoyed it. Zaman is already talking of “organising” another trip to a Spanish tennis resort next Ma….Who knows — maybe he will manage to get it together (are you prepared Ruth? -- And by the way Gavin, don't say again you are coming if you are pulling out again! ☺
You can't ever get lost!
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