Our club organizes social activities that allow our members to get to know each other through tennis, the sport they love and practice. See below for details on each club activity.
Monday round robin
A great way to meet people is to come out to our friendly round robin, which is held on Mondays from 7 to 9 p.m. Register with the attendant, and get ready to play three sets with different players. If you show up early, there may be groups forming up or already playing. You are encouraged to ask if you can join a group that needs players. Take note of those who play at a similar level to yours, and ask them for a game.
Ladder play
A tennis ladder is a system for ranking a group of players. It is also a great way to meet new players and have a lot of fun. In a tennis ladder, players are arranged like rungs of a ladder. Players challenge one another to a match. As a player wins or loses, the player moves up or down in position on the ladder. The goal of the tennis ladder is to be at the top.
Regardless of your level, you may prefer to play competitive singles matches. If this is the case with you, then you must join our tennis ladder, which is hosted by the Global Tennis Network. This is a two-step process. First, you need to register with the Global Tennis Network, and then to join the Craig Henry Tennis Club ladder.
Team tennis
This is our famous House League, both competitive and social tennis at their best. There will be 4 teams of 4 players, with each playing the other team in a round-robin format for the club title. Each team includes 4 players of different levels of play, ranked 1 through 4. The Team Tennis organizers make sure that the teams are balanced and of, roughly, equal skill. But we all know that, in crucial moments, passion, focus and doubles chemistry come through. So skill is a factor, but not always a deciding one. Things can get unpredictable at Team Tennis. Senior and female players are encouraged to join. There may be a trial session if more than 16 players register. Speaking of registration, you can sign up for Team Tennis on the early-bird registration weekend, or at the clubhouse thereafter.
NCTA participation
NCTA stands for the National Capital Tennis Association. The NCTA Summer Mixed Leagues are the places for highly-competitive interclub matches. The participating clubs register 6-player teams, playing men’s doubles, ladies — doubles and mixed doubles each week, alternating between home and away games. This is an invitation-only activity, as the team captain (a volunteer club member who put a lot of time and energy into organizing our team) has the freedom of choosing the players for our team. If you think that you have been overlooked, please contact us.
Cardio tennis
We are still working on the details of the cardio tennis program at our club. In the meantime, some info about Cardio Tennis…
Cardio Tennis is a high energy fitness activity that combines the best features of tennis with cardiovascular exercise, delivering the ultimate, full body, calorie burning aerobic workout.
It is a very social and fun class for players of all ability levels taught by a tennis pro or fitness professional. If you’ve never played tennis before it is a great way to be introduced to the sport and if you are an experienced high level tennis player it is the best way to train for tennis.
A true cardio tennis workout is typically 6-8 players per court, using the agility ladder, Cardio balls (red and orange tennis balls), music and heart rate monitors.
House clinics
This season we’re trying to introduce group clinics to help you improve your game. We’re working with our pros on a couple of programs. These are activities that require prior registration and an extra fee. Come back soon for details. We intend, however, to announce progress on the clinics in the club newsletter.
Early-bird tennis
This is the best-kept secret of our club. This is self-organized round robin doubles play, which starts around 8 a.m., every day. So, just show up and play. Preference may be given to seniors and ladies when the number of participants is overwhelmingly high.