Belated blog – British Tennis Journalist Annual Awards lunch – 9th December

You could say better late than never but there are reasons for this unprecedented delay, not just Covid but something more like writer’s block – you know the sort of thing, when you sit down to an empty screen waiting for inspiration to write something and nothing materialises. However, let’s hope that’s now in the past … which is why I so wanted to include the Awards lunch in one of my blogs.

Our last Awards lunch was a bit special, it was our first in a couple of years and despite a number of Covid rules and restrictions to deal with, those who attended at least went away having had an enjoyable if not fulfilling afternoon. As the association’s social secretary it has been my duty to organise our awards lunches for many years, which are mostly held in Centre Court’s Debenture lounge at the All England Lawn Tennis Club, aka Wimbledon only this year’s lunch was a lot more challenging but surprisingly over 150 guests from the world of tennis attended even though that meant a lot of more work navigating ways around various Covid and other restrictions.

First up was choosing a suitable menu which I left in the capable hands of our chairman Russell Fuller (BBC Radio) but what horrified us both, was the huge hike in prices compared to past years, retrospectively this should have been anticipated. Fortunately for us, the AELTC agreed to contribute towards overall costs enabling us to keep tickets prices down to BC (before Covid) The committee had also decided to go ahead with our usual charity raffle and auction even though six months earlier I was against the idea, judging from current financial crises. In many ways I am glad I was proved wrong as we raised over £4,000 for the Dan Maskell Trust charity which Susi Mercer choose in memory of her late husband and former chairman, the BBC commentator, David Mercer.

The lunch kicked off with its usual pre-lunch drinks reception, a buzzy affair where guests freely mixed and mingled with friends and colleagues some they had not seen for a long time and a definite indication of the need for the tennis fraternity to meet under one roof. A call for guests ‘take your seats’ took much longer than expected as many lingered on chatting to friends and colleagues before eventually taking seats at assigned tables.

With all guests finally seated, it was Russell’s cue to open proceedings with a welcome speech which he did brilliantly adding a few amusing anecdotes here and there. Once the first course was over with it was time for the Awards presentation. First up was Jo Salisbury to receive the BTJA 2020 award which should have been presented to him the year before but due to Covid, that lunch was cancelled. As I write, I note he has just grabbed the world number one doubles spot. As expected, Emma Raducanu was our nominee for the 2021 Award although she was unable to make the lunch due to training commitments, but did manage to record a two minute video which was relayed on TV screen dotted around the Debenture Lounge. Our third and final award for 2021, the BTJA Services to Tennis trophy, went to Louis Cayer, who gave a short but interesting speech about tennis coaching.

It was after meeting the head of Madeira tourism, Eduardo Jesus that I somehow managed to persuade him to donate a four night stay in a 5 star hotel as an auction and also fifty bottles of the famous Blandy’s Madeira wine which went down well with guests. With the help of Russell and various committee members we managed to clobber together a decent list of raffle prizes and it was Rob Curling, ATP tennis presenter who did the honours and conducted the auction with panache and an amusing dialogue which had the entire room in fits of laughter and one of the many reasons why the charity auction is now a permanent fixture at all lunches.

By all accounts another successful lunch!

Phew !