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Radlett Squash Club puts on around 5 graded tournaments a year, some mixed and some for girls only. All standards are welcome from county players down to those who are entering a friendly tournament for the first time, and players are put into one of four or five grades according to age and playing experience. As well as local Herts players, juniors from Norfolk, Cambridgeshire, Beds, Bucks and Middlesex have taken part in recent events. After the squash there is tea afterwards with a raffle and over the last 9 years the 44 graded tournaments have raised £3645 for various charities; at present the money raised goes to the Peace Hospice in Watford where sadly Ron Worrell (who had been Herts Junior Secretary for many years) passed away recently.
The most recent event attracted 31 entries and was a Girls’ Graded on December 4th, congratulations to the following winners:
Senior A..Sarah Brown (Radlett), 2nd Helen Gibson (Harpenden)
Senior B..Aashni Chohan (Radlett), 2nd Sarah Scofield (Gosling)
Senior C..Ella Batten (Radlett), 2nd Rebecca Parrish (B Stortford)
Junior A..Charlotte Weener (Radlett), 2nd Lucy Clayden (Radlett)
Junior B..Sophie O’Keefe (Edge Grove), 2nd Heera Shah (Edge Grove)
Junior C..Chloe Liebmann (Radlett), 2nd Cordy O’Sullivan (Radlett)

For sale through the club office at £25
WHAT ZOOS CAN DO: The Leading Zoological Gardens of Europe 2010-2020
Anthony Sheridan (Softback – published 2011)
Longstanding club member Anthony Sheridan is donating 30% of sale price to RLTSC.
All profits from the sale of this book are being donated to “Stiftung Artenschutz”, a German insitu conservation charity supported by over 20 German and Austrian zoos in this survey, for a new project in Vietnam for conservation of Gibbons.

“Never before have good zoological gardens been so important, in a world of increasing damage to and destruction of biodiversity, both as visitor attractions and as education and conservation centres. This book contains unique information and analyses 80 leading zoological gardens in 21 European countries. This is a must-have book for all those interested in zoos – enthusiasts, sceptics, visitors, sponsors, zoo owners, politicians, wildlife conservationists and all those working in and for zoos!” – THE INDEPENDENT ZOO ENTHUSIASTS SOCIETY

On Friday 1st April I finally received the award for winning this event

We won the final in the Autumn at the Gosling finals day.

I would like thank Lucy Booth, Imogen Wise and Sophie Lee for
playing in the matches with me during the tournament

Katy Spalter

You may or may not be aware that, last summer, RLTSC was selected by the Charity Commission to be assessed under the public benefit rules which apply to charities. The commission had made previous assessments of private schools, arts charities, and care homes, and wanted to make similar assessments of charities involved with sports and leisure. RLTSC was one of 4 sports & leisure charities chosen nationally.
The trustees have provided the commission with all the information required, and the final report was published on Monday 28th February. The report is now in the public domain and a press release was also issued to relevant news organisations.

The report concluded that “The RLTSC is a charity, being established for a recognised purpose and being capable of being for the public benefit. However, the trustees are not currently administering the charity for public benefit.”

The report continued “The trustees must now produce a plan to show how the organisation will ensure that there is sufficient opportunity to benefit in a material way for those who cannot afford the fees, including people in poverty.”

This in effect means that the trustees of RLTSC now have 3 months to confirm to the Charity Commission that we are intending to produce a plan to address these matters, and then a further 9 months to produce and agree the plan with the commission.

I would like to confirm that it is the trustees’ intention to produce a plan, and to work with the Charity Commission to provide the opportunities to benefit for people who cannot afford the fees of RLTSC.
In all other areas of the report, RLTSC satisfied the requirements of the commission, and we are optimistic that we will be able to satisfy the public benefit requirements as well. I have already had some preliminary discussions with the commission about possible ideas and the trustees will be looking in detail at all the possible options after the AGM on 30th March.

I hope this explanation of the current situation with the Charity Commission is clear, and that members will understand that the trustees will endeavour to act in the best interests of the club at all times.
A full copy of the report can be viewed here Charity Commission Report

Home game with Harpenden last week, our opening fixture at their place was a wake up call 3 months ago when we got a proper hammering 5-0. These are still considered to be the strongest team in the league, even if the league poistions don’t reflect that.

Fielding a very strong side we started off with Ian “The Vet” who has been studying hard for the next set of vets exams and obviously hadn’t had time to shave which clearly slowed him down with the additional wind resistance. Fatigue quickly set in and even after a furious start to the match where his opponent was left stranded in all parts of the court, the face fungus quickly got too much and Ian tired quickly. 3-1 loss

0-1

Next up was Luke who has struggled to find the form that we all know he has and the speed and flair was needed to be shown against a very strong no 3. Needing a confidence boosting performance, Luke powered through to a 3-0 win which we hope will give him the boost in the future matches – well done Luke, good to have you back!

1-1

Gary was up next playing at 2 against their usual no 1, Gary took control of the court against a player with speed and time to burn but a massive effort saw a very hard fought 3-1 win

2-1

Tony up against Pete, again, saw the usual exersion of effort, last moment pick ups and a furious pace (and probably a bit of complaining at the ref) but a narrow 3-2 loss resulted. Not bad for Steve Austin who has yet to have the last bit of re-building completed (in fact not sure some of it has even started yet!), great effort even though playing through the pain barrier each week

2-2

Last up in the deciding fixture saw Steve Lloyd finally playing as their no 1 against Duleep, who I understand has not previously beaten Steve. Duleep boasted, volleyed and dropped his way to a most impressive 3-1 win to complete a fantastic 3-2 victory. Well done all

Still just above the bottom 2 places in the table, the points spread between us and third spot remains a mere 4 points, so all still to play for. The coming weeks see us on the road mostly, so at least we don’t have the pressures of hosting and marking, just need to concentrate on the games so hopeing for great things

Start the New Year by running off the excesses of the festive period or just join us in the bar for drinks and snacks. Fun adult tournaments for tennis and squash, if you’d like to take part in the squash tournament (entry fee £6) please email Derek Thorpe. Please bring your family and friends; guest fees will be waived for the day. Email the office if you are considering joining us.

This seasons Herts Closed is being held at Nuffield Health, St Albans Friday the 14th to Sunday the 16th of January

More information available here

Download the entry form

Radlett’s Joshua Ben won the 8U boys orange Regional invitational tournament on Saturday 23rd October

Congratulations to the following Radlett players who competed in the Radlett Open Tournament 2010.

Joshua Ben winner of the 8U Boys event for the second year.
Kade Neveling 4th place in the 8U Boys event.
Lucy Booth semi-finalist in the 12U Girls event.
Zack Evenden winner of the Mens Open event.
Ben Davis runner-up of the Mens Open event.

Our LTA Grade 3 Tournament has seen 270 players (some nationally and world ranked) enjoy the facilities at Radlett this week. On Saturday 21st August along with the 8U one day event the finals of the 12U, 14U, 16U, 18U and Open events will be taking place . There are potentialy Radlett players in the final of the Mens Open, scheduled for midday. Feel free to come along to enjoy some fantastic tennis, the kitchen will be serving hot and cold refreshments all day and the bar will be open.