We’re currently half-way through the season of Sydney Tennis’ Autumn Badge competition, with Strathfield Sports Club fielding five teams in the metropolitan tennis competition. Our teams have had some mixed fortunes in the early rounds but are all set for a strong showing ahead of the finals.

Leading the way are our Men’s 2.1 team, who top their division and have only gone down once in the six matches they’ve played. The team are definitely not short on players, with members Louie Zamora, Charles Hempel, Nick Maras, Mark Padd, Ethan Tulliani, Kyri Kyriakides, Alex Chen, Michael Villamuel, Imad Indari and Rob Grant all making appearances throughout the season.

Also doing well are our Strathfield 2 team consisting of Daryl Hart, Shaun Max, Robert Bows, Ming Fong, Steve Marlor, Dhirendra Soral, Rod James and Dane Jones. They have won 3.5 of the five match days they’ve contested but will need to pick up some more points if they are to make the finals of what’s shaping up as a tightly fought division.

Elsewhere our other three teams are all performing admirably in divisions arguably above their usual level of competition.  A highlight will definitely be this weekend when our Strathfield 4 & 5 teams battle each other in the Men’s 2.8 division.

While the make-up of the teams is yet to be finalised the possibility of our President Nick Birbira squaring up against the power game of David Rutherford is sure to intrigue all our tennis members. The action will take place on our grass courts from 12pm this Saturday, so make sure you check it out if you’re interested.

For the uninitiated, Badge is a tennis competition that pits together teams from various clubs in our local area. There are Men’s and Women’s competitions that cater for varying levels of ability across multiple divisions. Teams consist of four players on match days, who compete in singles and doubles ties to decide an overall winner on the day. Weather permitting, matches are scheduled to be played on grass, with play commencing at midday on Saturdays.

Speaking about the competition our Facility Co-ordinator Steve Crass said he was really pleased with how our Club has performed in the opening rounds.

“There has been an increased level in participation and all teams have demonstrated great teamwork and spirit throughout the opening rounds of the competition. It’s looking like tennis at Strathfield is only getting stronger and we look forward to fielding even more teams next time around,” he said.

Badge tennis is an opportunity only afforded to our tennis members. If you are a current member who would like to get involved speak to our Facility Co-ordinator Steve Crass. Alternatively if you are a prospective member who would like to play some competition tennis speak to any of our staff about signing up. Information about membership can be found on its individual tab and you can currently take advantage of our great pro-rata rates.

Good luck to all players who will be representing Strathfield Sports Club this weekend. We’re sure as always you’ll do SSC proud!