NEWS RELEASE
ORILLIA TENNIS CLUB
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The club championships of the Orillia Tennis Club came to an overhead smash ending as we wrapped up the 2023 tennis season.
The mixed doubles championships were held Saturday, Sept. 23 at the West Orillia Sports Complex. There are two tournaments run for each of the doubles formats so that all levels of players from beginners to intermediate and experienced can play in friendly competition.
The real goal is to come together as a club and to showcase to the community some of the best live tennis in the region. The winners of these events have their names engraved on the club trophies (displayed at the West Orillia Sports Complex) and bragging rights for the year. Check out the club’s full display of awards next time you are in the complex and maybe next year your name will appear on one of them.
The mixed doubles annually is the largest draw for members of the club. Both tournaments include a variety of players and skill levels and include some of the best competition the club features. Both the 3.5 tournament and the open tournament saw teams playing some great tennis.
It was a beautiful autumn day to close out the Orillia Tennis Club 2023 season. The first tournament was available to all players ranked 3.5 and under. A record number of 11 teams showed up vying for the title. The club runs a number of weekly mixed doubles programs, so most of the participants are familiar with their opponents’ game. As a result, many of the matches were extremely close even in the round-robin play.
As many matches were very close, Jeff and Kate Switzer narrowly beat out Shannon Kearns and John Jackson for the championship title. In the consolation round, Debbie and Nathan Hele and Kate and Kevin Smith had a formidable match, with Debbie and Nathan taking the consolation title. A big shout-out to Lyn French, who not only ran the tournament but also submitted a report and pictures.
The mixed doubles open was a round-robin event. The format allowed for more than the typical minimum two games per team — everyone got lots of playing with the tournament lasting to 5 p.m. Owing to the size of the tournament and length of play, the overall wins and losses would determine the winners of the event.
Highly competitive teams squared off. In one of the feature matches, unfortunately, Dave, the partner of our women’s singles champion, Heather, hurt his ankle and he couldn’t play their last match against Dion and Hannah. In another significant match, Eric and Heather K. faced off against the annual mixed double open finalists, Jeff and Susan. What a match that was.
When the final tallies were recorded, the mother-and-son combination of Heather Koehli and singles and men’s doubles champion Eric Koehli placed first, with Dion and Hannah placing second, and Jeff and Susan coming in third. At the end of the day it was a fun day with fabulous weather and great tennis — a perfect way to wrap up a record-setting season of tennis for the Orillia Tennis Club.
The final event of the 2023 Orillia tennis season is this Saturday, Sept. 30 at noon as we host our annual general meeting. All paid members are invited to join the executive in a review of the past season and to discuss and to set plans for the future of the club.
If you have been following our various stories this season, perhaps you will consider joining the club next year. The membership drive is typically in the early spring. It’s a great sport for all ages to enjoy and if you need to learn the sport, dust off the rust from past play or improve upon your game, we have a team of coaches and programming ready to assist. Consider the Orillia Tennis Club for you, your children and the whole family in 2024. See you next season.
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