T CRICKET I HOCKEY I TENNIS I SQUASH I FITNESS I 2019 B H U E 18 54 L W C I M N O B L E D Annual Review THE WIMBLEDON CLUB CRICKET TENNIS MEN’S 2s HAVE DONE IT AGAIN LADIES CONQUER EUROPE CROWNED CHAMPIONS THIRD YEAR RUNNING HOCKEY GOES BEYOND SQUASH THE SCHOOL GATES... JUNIOR PROGRAMME A NATIONAL BEACON Junior#GAMEFACE sectionON T B H U E 18 54 L W C I M N O B L E D 10 C NTENTS Annual review 2019 COVER STORY 4 JUNIOR SECTION on the rise 24 CLUB LIFE 6 CLUB NEWS 7 CHARITY WE SUPPORT Macmillan Merton 8 CLUB SOCIAL all things social in pictures SPORT SECTIONS 10 TWC CRICKET 14 by Jonathan Speller 17 TWC HOCKEY by Simon Organ 24 TWC TENNIS by Ross Sheppard 28 TWC SQUASH by Stacey Ross 32 ASK Q! restaurant, pilates, short sports, 28 classes, sustainability and more 36 FAREWELLS 37 MERTON VISION 38 ABSENT FRIENDS 39 Q&A with Caroline Carton 17 & Jenny Lloyd WWW.TWCSPORT.CO.UK 3 COVER STORY: OUR JUNIORS HOCKEY work with selection to the Regional SQUASH Performance Centre and not long after JESS GILBERT NAGS (ENG u16) selection a fantastic BAILEY & SAM HEDDON accomplishment. Last season he also & CHARLES obtained the title of senior men’s top and valuable role in a child’s development. BOWEN-RAYNER goal scorer for 2018/19 season an Sam is a true case in point. Originally absolute coup at the age of 15. a fairly quiet boy, it wasn’t always Jess started playing at WHC at the age Charles is now 16 and playing in the obvious if he was enjoying squash. of 11 and has gone from strength to mens 2nd team whilst training with the 1st Today he is an outgoing, very amiable strength ever since. She currently plays team, who he hopes to make his debut Siblings Bailey personality. He also happens to be an in our top girls’ U16 for one day alongside his international & Sam’s first incredibly fast athlete and, it transpires, team, as well as the role models and previous coaches. experience of not a bad dancer either! Ladies 3rd XI. Her squash was at Bailey has been on her own journey. performances for CRICKET a camp at TWC in 2016, where they She is a coaching success story. As a the ladies’ side have knew none of the other juniors. beginner she understandably was a little seen her invited to After that somewhat brave first step, low on squash-confidence. That was not Ladies 2s training GRACE LATIMER they quickly joined as members. Now to last. Through being totally committed for the remainder & ARNO CAWTHRA the two are committed players who to each session she attends and intently of the season! regularly attend weekly sessions. Both listening to the coach’s advice every An exceptional The Wimbledon Cricket club is a very have shown enormous improvement week, her squash has benefitted from talent, she is involved with an U17 popular club for aspiring juniors and and it is a delight to see their obvious a dramatic change. She has progressed England Hockey Performance Centre membership places are in high demand. enjoyment and how this positively to our development squad. A confident in Weybridge. Her skills, athleticism and The boys section has waiting lists across affects others in the group. and formidable player – most definitely understanding of the game make her all the age groups and the recently Bailey and Sam are part of a clear she is one to watch for the future. an exciting prospect and we are excited formed girls section continues to grow, development pathway at TWC. It begins Bailey and Sam have been selected to see what the future holds for her. with membership in excess of 150. with the booster squad for juniors with as squash’s coaching ambassadors, We are honoured to have Jess The standard of cricket on display little squash experience, who may be not just because of their on-court playing for us at WHC – and not just at Church Road and our neighbouring coming to the sport slightly later than commitment or successful personal because of her hockey ability! She is kind, pitches is something we are very proud others and finishes with the academy, developments. There have been many friendly, supportive and encouraging, of. Our juniors play in all of the Surrey which is for a small number of players. occasions when the coaches have and displays all the values we believe County Age Group teams and we can The performance squad forms the middle. spotted them both with smaller children are essential for a top player to have. also boast about our match participation Sam has shown true resilience and and new players, offering help and Charles started his hockey journey statistics. Every member has an equal determination since progressing from encouragement. This is representative relatively late at the age of 9. Soon after opportunity to represent the club in the booster to the performance group, of our ethos and goals as a club, to be joining he managed to make the step match play. and is doing exceptionally well welcoming, friendly and encouraging. story into the U10 A team and from there he Grace Latimer alongside some of the club’s top The first introduction and experience has never looked back. The next season was named captain juniors – an outstanding achievement to a new sport that a child receives can JUNIOR SECTION he was rightfully selected to the Surrey of our Girls U15 in a very short time frame. often determine whether it becomes squad even with the challenges of most team in 2019, and As a coach, you see juniors weekly, a sport for life or if we, or indeed sport, of the other boys being more physically this girls only side across a period of years. It has been lose them for good. Sam and Bailey are developed than him. was the first to play a pleasure to watch them grow up. superb role models and highly regarded ON THE RISE He honed his skills during training a match on the Sport can often play such a significant junior squash members. and the fantastic Wimbledon Camps, main square at he Wimbledon Club is a multi sports club nurturing the youth led where he worked with our resident Church Road – not TENNIS by our dedicated Sporting Directors through the age groups into England internationals every school to mention they went on to win a thriller! well rounded young adults with some possessing the talent to carry break. At 14 it was decided that with Arno Cawthra represents all the onT as professionals. his enormous talent he needed to be values we inspire to nurture in our ALEXANDRA NEDYALKOVA Through our very own long term athlete development pathways we placed outside his comfort zone. junior cricketers; & LEO STEFANOVSKI support and encourage all the youth of varying talents to maximise their Subsequently Charles was invited to humble, honest and potential. We cater for all levels of talent offering weekly training sessions, senior men’s training alongside his junior hard-working, Arno Alexandra - Sasha - as she is known tournament and or league competitions on the weekends and very sought commitments. His skill and talent but participates in all to members of the club, has been after holiday camps. also his mental toughness aspects of club life training with us since mini red. She has were put to the test from midweek a fantastic attitude and is a joy to work T CRICKET I HOCKEY I TENNIS I SQUASH I FITNESS I 2019 B H U E 18 54 L W C I M N O B L E D against the bigger adults. Annual Review training sessions, with. Over the last two years Sasha THE WIMBLEDON CLUB CRICKET TENNIS Watching him learn how make dramatic AGAIN LADIES CONQUER EUROPE has been regularly selected for national MEN’S 2s HAVE DONE IT matches and our CROWNED CHAMPIONS THIRD YEAR RUNNING HOCKEY GOES BEYOND SQUASH THE SCHOOL GATES... JUNIOR PROGRAMME A NATIONAL to adapt to the senior improvements BEACON Summer and Winter training and has enjoyed good success TWC ANNUAL REVIEW 2019 game whilst still exploiting training programs. in county and regional competitions. in his game. DESIGN & PRODUCTION: his strengths and improving He is a star for the Leo has been part of our junior Over the last CIRCUSLIVE, BASIA PACZESNA-VERCUEIL & LUCY UDEN PHOTOGRAPHY: DEBORAH ALBERT (cover story) his weaknesses has been future! Every child at the Wimbledon programme for over 5 years now. year Leo has begun competing more Thanks to all the contributors. a pleasure. He was Cricket Club matters and we are very During this period his commitment to regularly and this has further fuelled his Junior#GAMEFACE sectionON www.TWCsport.co.uk rewarded for his hard proud of our Junior Cricket section. playing more and more has seen him desire to improve his game. 4 WIMBLEDON CLUB / ANNUAL REVIEW / 2019 WWW.TWCSPORT.CO.UK 5 FUNDRAISING: WHO WE SUPPORT T B H U E 18 54 L W C I CLUB NEWS M N O B L E D WELCOME TO GRAYSONS WHO FOCUS ON HAVE BEEN WORKING WITH THE WIMBLEDON CLUB SINCE APRIL. SUSTAINABILITY *see page 32 for full story We are all aware of the global issues AS A CLUB WE SUPPORT regarding plastic pollution and its LOCAL CHARITIES devastating effects on the environment, ON AN ONGOING BASIS. especially to the oceans and wildlife.