Net gain for Elgin Tennis Club
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ELGIN Tennis Club has had a lot to celebrate this year.
Four of its teams topped their divisions in the Highland Tennis League.
The Mixed A team, captained by Dave McPherson, secured the title in the first division.
Angela McWilliam will captain the Mixed C team in division two next season after their own title success.
The Ladies’ C team, captained by Sarah MacDonald, also secured top position in their league after a close finish and will play in division three next season.
The men’s B team, skippered by Angus Gallagher, also achieved promotion to division two.
Club coach Doug Soutar said: "It has been a wonderful season. This is the first time in recent history that this has happened."
He puts the success down to a boost in club membership, meaning there have been more players to choose from.
The club entered a total of nine teams in the leagues.
In recent years, membership had dropped close to 100 and sometimes into double figures.
However, said Soutar: "We have increased membership quite a bit and, over the last year, had 185 members. That gives us a much bigger pool to choose from."
Many of those new members have been parents taking up the sport after their youngsters started attending junior coaching at the club.
He is confident a new men’s C team can be formed to join the two gents, three ladies and four mixed teams that already exist.
The league is played over 10 weeks starting at the end of April and covers an area north to Tain, west to Kingussie, east to Elgin and south to Keith, taking in all the tennis clubs in this area.
"It will be very tough to maintain the same standard of success next year," admitted Soutar.
