April Shout Outs
Congratulations to Denise Parnell on her appointment as Championships Referee Designate. Denise becomes Championships Referee in 2024, having been an Assistant Referee since 2006, and will be the first female Official to hold the role. A fantastic achievement for Denise!
LTA Tennis Awards
Congratulations to all of the following Licensed Officials receiving a Shout Out for receiving a Regional Official of the Year Award in this year's LTA Tennis Awards process:
Selena Coburn - Official of the Year, Central & East Region
Kris Dymond - Official of the Year, South & South West Region
Emily McGuinness - Official of the Year, London & South East Region
David Paterson - Official of the Year, North Region
Kelly Rask - Official of the Year, Midlands Region
Best of luck to all in the next stage of this year's LTA Tennis Awards
April Shout Outs
Martin Etheridge receives this Shout Out: "Thanks to Martin for coming to supervise at the FIPRISE international padel event, even bringing his nephew, a spanish speaker, which facilitated getting the overseas players on court."
David Walrond and John Cliff their this recognition: "A massive thank you to David for refereeing the Darren Toop Open 2023. A now long-running tournament run in memory of Darren, who was a tennis coach who sadly passed away 27 years ago. The tournament is fantastically supported by volunteers and Darren's family, which David played a significant part in organising. However, the feedback obtained during a very challenging week weather-wise was brilliant, and this was down to David's proactive management in poor weather. I know David was supported by John who was often the only official at the reserve venue, such was the weather. Both volunteered significant extra hours, and the tournament would not have been feasible or as successful without them. A massive thank you to you both."
Faris Ahmad, Jane Clark, Celia Edwards, Christopher Martin, Chris Melhuish, Gary Phillpott and Claire Vincent share this Shout Out: "Thank you for your support and hard work at LTA National Tour 9u- Grade-2 South-Rotation-3. I would not be able to deliver the tournament smoothly and finish on time without your professionalism"
Simon Haddleton receives this recognition: "Massive thanks to Simon for helping out a new Organiser with her first tournament. His help was invaluable in getting them up and running and assisting in running a fantastic event. His patience in getting the draw, seedings and some other IT questions was massively helpful. Thanks Simon"
Sallie Allen and Carolyn Crocker share this Shout Out: "Massive shout out to Sallie and Carolyn who, having passed their referee course, jumped straight in a Grade 5 competition in April. The feedback has been fantastic, and their next event is already filling up. They even provided some home-made cakes on the day for player and parents. Well done to the both of them for doing such a great job in the first ever event!"
Peter Moseley receives this recognition: "Big shout out to Peter who passed his referee course in 2022 and is already on the road to success. Peter delivered his first weeklong Grade 4 mentored my Terri Scooper in April. Although the weather didn’t help, and he described it as a ‘testing first event’ the feedback has been great. Pete had to dodge the showers, change the draws, and adapt the whole event due to the rain. Not an easy task even for the experienced referee. But he completed all the draws and is looking forward to the next event. Well done Peter!"
Simon Corbishley (pictured with his team at East Glos) receives this Shout Out: "Great effort from Simon and the team officiating at the Cheltenham Open grade 3 tournament over Easter. The event ran for eight days and had good entries in every age group from Under 8's to Open events. Well done!!"
Gavin Vickery (photographed on medal giving duty) receives this recognition: "We attended a girls 10U G4 at St Serfs in Edinburgh yesterday. Gavin was fantastic. The event was well run and managed throughout. Gavin made it fun and engaging for the girls and is a huge advocate of fair play and keeping it not pressured for the players so they can play their best tennis. Gavin was also great at managing us parents! Hugely grateful for a super event!"
Marian Vinall receives this Shout Out: "Every tournament is always so well organised, fun for the children and she always makes sure the rules are followed and does her best to stop cheating."
Alison Battista receives this recognition for organising and refereeing the Westside Classic: "A really good family feel tournament. Multiple age groups across days encouraging generational and family mix of tennis. Support for all the children - rewards (sweets) regardless of outcome. Calm, considered and highly efficient team and organisers. Very popular with parents and children. Great vibe. Approachable but totally in control of the tournament. I wish there were more tournaments like this. Great to have so many doubles competitions going on alongside the singles. Alison is an incredible tournament Referee."
Chris Hull and Sam Kingdon-Marston share this Shout Out: "This is the second tournament we’ve been to at Active Academy and Sam and Chris have them so well organised so that the children aren’t kept waiting around too much and also they supervise the scoring really well so that the children can learn from their matches instead of it all being about the competition. It’s great to see them having discussions with the kids and explaining certain line calls etc, so that the children can start to make better judgements on these themselves. They are also very welcoming and have a nice way with the children. Thank you!"
Tony Pillinger receives this recognition: "All of his tournaments are super well organised, on time and well managed"
Donna Budd receives this Shout Out: "Very well organised tournament in Jersey. Donna was approachable and attentive. By keeping a close eye on the matches to ensure fair play as well as being prompt in starting matches, meant the kids enjoyed the whole tournament experience. Thank you!!"
Jon Gregory receives this recognition: "We attended a recent 9U tournament of Jon’s in Pewsey and it was fantastic. A really friendly atmosphere. Very relaxed for the children, great support from the court supervisors and lots of matchplay. The group warm up and game at the end made such a difference to the atmosphere. Well done Jon and team!"
Qualifications
Well done to Andy Lucey, Alex Richards and Kerry Williams who have qualified as Referees. We hope you enjoy the new role and wish you all the best with your refereeing.
Well done to Jacob Baxter who has qualified as a Chair Umpire. Wishing you all the best with your chair umpiring and we hope you enjoy it.
Well done to Anne Foulkes who has qualified as a Court Supervisor. We hope you enjoy the new role and wish you all the best with your court supervising.
Thank you to Referee course Tutors Celia Edwards, Rick Gardner, Peter Grimsdale and Ray Lovell for their hard work delivering courses and sharing their experience.
Welcome
The following Officials have all become licensed after qualifying as a Referee: Okan Altinok, Luke Barker, Rachel Buwalda, William Craddock, James Gibbins, Christoforus Leonidiou, Lauren Paris-Jones, Dylan Pillinger, Mark Thomas
Polina Ivanushkina, Nischint Jaisswal and Paul Ramsden are newly licensed after qualifying as Court Supervisors
Daniel Kwok is newly licensed after qualifying as a Chair Umpire and Line Umpire
April Shout Outs
Multu Yucebas receives this Shout Out: "Mutlu was very professional and helpful at my first tournament I was involved in. He gave me a great tips, feedbacks and was very helpful. I want to thank him for making my beginning of Line umpire journey as smooth and less stressful as possible"
Jacob Baxter receives this recognition: "Jacob chaired his first match at Whitecraigs - and did a terrific job. Cool as a cucumber cocktail. He looked like a seasoned veteran. Wimbledon here we come!" (Jacob is photographed with Bill Coles and Johnny Gordon and with the whole Umpire team and Referee Simon Coom)
Phil Evans and Darren Michaels share this Shout Out: "Phil and Darren (Phil was chief umpire bar the first day of the event when Darren was acting chief) were both understanding and accommodating of me when I was fasting whilst working the 1st ITF Nottingham 25k Event in April, which meant I enjoyed my two days at the event just as much as events outside of Ramadan."
Cheng Li receives this Shout Out: "Cheng was super nice and supportive for my first event. He gave me tips and advice as a line umpire and provided lots of suggestions."
Iain Millington receives this recognition: "As Chair Umpire Iain was my first officiating partner and, knowing it was my first ever match as an Official, he gave me a lot of confidence by giving feedback on good calls. Great control throughout the match and finally gave me some extra tips and advices off-court."
Gill Smith receives this Shout Out: "Gill was really friendly and helpful in helping prep me for my first ever match as an Official."
Brian Lazell receives this recognition: "Brian was super friendly and nice. He gave me really clear information when we swapped umpires during a match. He made sure I’m warmed up and confident and gave me extra tips and suggestions."
Chris Tortise-Crawford receives this Shout Out: "Chris was really relaxed and nice and is a great umpire. He corrected my mistake and gave me lots of tips and feedback. He made sure I was doing okay and gave loads of positive feedback on close calls."
Phil Evans receives this recognition: "Phil was Chief Empire of my first officiating event. He made sure I was comfortable and felt good everyday. He explained everything and introduced me to fellow officials."
Scott Noble receives this Shout Out: "I was excited to work with Scott who actually trained me. He is a very good umpire and gave a lot positive feedback on good calls."
Malgorzata Grzyb receives this recognition: "Malgorzata led the Umpire team at our Club Finals Day and does the most superb job coordinating her team of Chair and Line Umpires on the day and is a pleasure to work with leading up to the event , taking so much of her own time to check in and find out as much about the timing of the scheduled matches and formats in advance to prepare so well ahead of the day and on the day itself. This year ran so much later than planned, which meant a 9pm finish , and Malgorzata was still smiling at the end of such a long day which was so much appreciated. We really appreciate her and feel we are in utterly safe hands for the day ahead. Thank You Malgorzata from The Queen's Club!"
"A big thank you to everyone who worked at the Queen's Club Finals day - Hazel Causer, Samantha Conlon, Andy Emsley, Alasdair Gordon, Ivan Milatovic, Sascha Mitrovic, Eleanor Moore, Veronica Mwondela, Myooran Nathan, Gary Russell, Parul Sharma, Derek Thorpe, Natalie Wilshire and Referee Rob Jones. It was a long day, with some long and very close 3-set matches but everyone worked as a team and supported each other. A particularly big shout out to Derek, Sascha, Eleanor and Natalie for staying late to cover the last match of the day."
The Umpire team at the Pershore Learning Disability competition - Faris Ahmad, Kamil Borkowski, Cath Brimmell, Anish Chauhan, John Clack, Hannah Cocker, Helen Kay, Christopher Knight, Joel May, Denis Miles, Tom Potts, Sophie Ryan, Joseph Wain, Sally Wetten and Anna Williams - share this recognition: "John and Tom and their team of on-court Officials were brilliant, and made it very easy to referee the tournament. Thank you to them all for their hard work."
The Umpire team at Wrexham Tennis Europe (pictured) - Faris Ahmad, Cheng Li, Jayne Littlewood, Victor Prelici, Sophie Ryan, Natalie Smith, Chris Smyth - share this Shout Out: "With low numbers the team worked more or less none stop from start of play to finish time, not having lunch until after 14:00. Thank you and well done".
Barbara Lloyd, Faris Ahmad, Luis Martin, Chris Smyth, Cheng Li, Kamil Borkowski, Anne Foulkes, Stacey Hartshorn, Trevor Stent, Allan Reynolds and Jake Andrew share this recognition: "I would like to give a big shout out to all the umpire team that I worked with during my two days at the Welsh Junior Open in Wrexham. It was my first event as an official and I was very nervous, but all the team were very welcoming and supportive during both days I worked. Barbara was a fantastic Chief Umpire who made sure I felt welcomed and also gave me tips on areas to improve on as well as words of encouragement for what I was doing well on. All the team in general was very helpful and offered me tips as well as encouragement and I have to give a special shout out to Faris who I bumped into at the train station on arrival into Wrexham and introduced myself to, he was very welcoming and supportive. On my return journey back from my second day I also got some great feedback and support from Kamil."
The Umpire team at the Tunbridge Wells Easter tournament (pictured) - Charlie Falconer, Catherine Field, Caroline Gibson, Iona Hamilton, Steff Johnston, Opeline Kellett, Sophie Kitson, Clement Ma and Sam Perkins - share this recognition: "A terrific performance from the team in Tunbridge Wells. 18 matches on four courts with little off-court time. Quality from all from beginning to end. Appreciation from the Referee and Tournament Organisers"
Russell Grant, Steff Johnston, Christopher Knight, Cheng Li, Wei Liang-Daniels, Iain Millington, Jake Montgomery, John Mumford, Iraj Niknam, Tom Potts and Keith Regan share this Shout Out: "Keith and his team were brilliant, at the Loughborough VI tournament and made it very easy to referee the tournament, and were very much appreciated by the players"
April Shout Outs
John Bruley receives a Shout Out for coming forward to Referee at short notice.
The following Officials receive a Shout Out for coming forward to Court Supervise at short notice: Mike Davies, Celia Edwards, Ray Lovell, Christopher Martin. Mike also receives a Shout Out for offering to drive a fellow Court Supervisor to a competition so she could officiate at the event, thanks Mike!
Tim Pearce receives a Shout Out for being available to cover a Control Desk role at short notice.
The following Officials receive a Shout Out for coming forward to Umpire at short notice: Alasdair Gordon, Malgorzata Grzyb, Michael Horkan, Ivica Ignatov, Christopher Knight, Sandra Leitch, Jayne Littlewood, Clement Ma, Kossam Mhangami, Stefan Okros, Georgina Robbins, Holly Romero, Sivakumar Subramonia Pillai
The following Officials receive a Shout Out for offering Umpire availability at short notice: Faris Ahmad, Hazel Causer, Anne Foulkes, Johnny Hughes
Thank you all very much!
Officiating Abroad
The following Officials all receive a Shout Out for their Billie Jean King Cup appointments. We hope they went really well and you had a good time:
Rob Balmforth and Alison Hughes - Chair Umpires, Canada vs Belgium qualifier
Phil Evans (Review Official), James Keothavong (Chair Umpire), Kelly Rask (Chair Umpire) - Slovakia vs Italy qualifier
Kath Lovell (Chief Umpire), Alice Ene, Veronica Mwondela, Sandra Leitch, Kaye Noble, Jayne Littlewood, Emily McGuinness (Line Umpires) - France vs Great Britain qualifier (Technically not abroad!)
Chris Mann (Assistant Referee) and Chris Tortise-Crawford (Chair Umpire) - Regional Group, Turkey
Dai Parker-Sellars and Rob Wilkinson (pictured) receive a Shout Out for their Line Umpire appointments at the 2023 Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell (ATP 500), and Rob also receives a Shout Out for his Line Umpire appointment at the Mutua Madrid Open (ATP Masters 1000 / WTA 1000), we hope you both had a great time in Spain.
If you receive an officiating appointment abroad please let us know by emailing chris.drew@lta.org.uk
Congratulations and Thank you!
Well done again to all Officials receiving a Shout Out this month - thank you for all you do for British Officiating and British Tennis.
Many thanks to Faris Ahmad, Bill Coles, Joe Craven, Mike Crossley, Kris Dymond, Malgorzata Gryzb, Barbara Lloyd, Darren Morris, Parul Patel, Steven Pilcher, Alexandra Siegel, Kieran Staniford, Yilan Yan, who each submitted Shout Outs to recognise fellow Officials this month
Thank you also for those Officials who submitted photos with their Shout Outs, it's always great to see you all in action at competitions.
If a fellow Official goes the extra mile, is a fantastic support to you or just does a terrific job please consider recognising them with a Shout Out. Shout Outs can be sent in using the short online form below:
It's also great to see photos of you while you are officiating at tournaments. If you have any photos taken that you would be happy to share please contact chris.drew@lta.org.uk or you include a photo when you submit a Shout Out
Credits:
Rob Wilkinson - Barcelona photo Steven Paston - PA Images/Getty Images, photo of Denise Parnell Simon Coom - group photo of Whitecraigs Bill Coles - photo from Whitecraigs Barbara Lloyd - group photo from Wrexham Mike Crossley - group photo from Tunbridge Wells Darren Morris - team photo from East Glos Shannon Nelson - photo of Gavin Vickery