About the LRTA
The Ladies Real Tennis Association (LRTA) seeks to encourage the ladies’ game at all levels. In addition to running the tournaments for the top players, including the World Championships when they are held in Britain, it runs tournaments for players of all levels. It also has a number of annual matches against individual clubs and associations, which are known for being very social occasions as well as being full of enjoyable and competitive tennis.
The LRTA plays a vital role in the progress of ladies’ real tennis in the United Kingdom by its activities and by having representation on the Board and on the Tennis Committee of the Tennis and Rackets Association (the UK Governing Body). In addition, the LRTA is an affiliate member of the T&RA.
The LRTA provides:
• representation on T & RA Sub-Committees such as Handicaps & Rankings
• liaison with International Clubs on issues relating to ladies’ tennis. As a part of this role, we arrange and co-ordinate the Ladies’ World
Championship Tournaments when held in the United Kingdom
• encouragement to junior members by offering bursaries to promising young women players, group junior coaching, assistance with
match fees for under 30 year olds and by organising mixed age and ability tournaments for young players. The LRTA also provides
support to the Dedanists' Foundation Open Access Youth Development Progamme and ensures initiatives by both organisations are
mutually coordinated and supportive.
• specific rules governing LRTA tournaments
The LRTA plays a vital role in the progress of ladies’ real tennis in the United Kingdom by its activities and by having representation on the Board and on the Tennis Committee of the Tennis and Rackets Association (the UK Governing Body). In addition, the LRTA is an affiliate member of the T&RA.
The LRTA provides:
• representation on T & RA Sub-Committees such as Handicaps & Rankings
• liaison with International Clubs on issues relating to ladies’ tennis. As a part of this role, we arrange and co-ordinate the Ladies’ World
Championship Tournaments when held in the United Kingdom
• encouragement to junior members by offering bursaries to promising young women players, group junior coaching, assistance with
match fees for under 30 year olds and by organising mixed age and ability tournaments for young players. The LRTA also provides
support to the Dedanists' Foundation Open Access Youth Development Progamme and ensures initiatives by both organisations are
mutually coordinated and supportive.
• specific rules governing LRTA tournaments
A Brief History of the LRTA and Ladies Tennis in the UK
The idea of a Ladies' Real Tennis Association was conceived during a conversation outside a rain sodden marquee at the Moreton Morrell Tennis Club in May 1981. Alan Lovell, Chairman of the T&RA Tennis Committee, turned to Lesley Ronaldson, British Ladies Champion, and said: "Have you thought of starting a Ladies' Association? You would have the blessing of the T&RA."
Lesley, Ladies Champion in 1979-81 and 1987, needed no further encouragement. A draft Constitution, based on that of the Professionals, was presented for discussion at a meeting on 31st October 1981 at Moreton Morrell during the British Ladies Singles Handicap Tournament. That
Constitution was adopted unanimously. The LRTA was on its way.
Nominations for the officers were requested for the next meeting, during the first British Ladies Doubles Tournament at Hampton Court on 16th
January,1982. Lesley Ronaldson was elected Chairman, Viv Dawes Honorary Secretary and Alex Warren Piper (now Garside) Honorary Treasurer; and at the invitation of the T&RA for an LRTA member to sit on the Tennis Sub Committee Sheila Macintosh was elected.
The number of lady players continued to grow steadily, and the first lady Professionals appeared on the scene in the 1980s: Lesley Ronaldson in England and Helen Mursell in Australia. In 1998 the T&RA decided to invite the LRTA Chairman to be a Member of the Council by right and in 2009 the Council also co-opted Sarah McGivern to the Council.
Although it does not have its own court, the LRTA regards Seacourt as its ‘home’. The British Open has been held there for most of its existence and an Honours Board for the Open and other LRTA memorabilia is displayed there. The Open began life in 1978, before the formation of the LRTA, when Viv Dawes’ husband Peter, along with Paul Danby, suggested the first British Ladies’ Open be held at Seacourt. Continuing the close connections, the dinner to celebrate the LRTA’s 30th birthday was held there during the 2011 British Open, when a new tournament was established, a handicap doubles tournament played at the same time as the British Open, to enable the ‘not so good’ players to compete alongside, though not necessarily against, the top players.
Those first Committee Members, particularly Alex Garside, Viv Dawes and Sheila Macintosh in their various roles on the Committee, have provided invaluable stability over the years. Their continued hard work, experience and loyalty will be forever remembered due to their continuous and tireless work during the first 30 years of the Association; and added to them is that of past Chairman Sarah McGivern whose professionalism and extensive knowledge ensured the continuity of the high standards that evolved from those small beginnings outside a rain sodden marquee.
Lesley, Ladies Champion in 1979-81 and 1987, needed no further encouragement. A draft Constitution, based on that of the Professionals, was presented for discussion at a meeting on 31st October 1981 at Moreton Morrell during the British Ladies Singles Handicap Tournament. That
Constitution was adopted unanimously. The LRTA was on its way.
Nominations for the officers were requested for the next meeting, during the first British Ladies Doubles Tournament at Hampton Court on 16th
January,1982. Lesley Ronaldson was elected Chairman, Viv Dawes Honorary Secretary and Alex Warren Piper (now Garside) Honorary Treasurer; and at the invitation of the T&RA for an LRTA member to sit on the Tennis Sub Committee Sheila Macintosh was elected.
The number of lady players continued to grow steadily, and the first lady Professionals appeared on the scene in the 1980s: Lesley Ronaldson in England and Helen Mursell in Australia. In 1998 the T&RA decided to invite the LRTA Chairman to be a Member of the Council by right and in 2009 the Council also co-opted Sarah McGivern to the Council.
Although it does not have its own court, the LRTA regards Seacourt as its ‘home’. The British Open has been held there for most of its existence and an Honours Board for the Open and other LRTA memorabilia is displayed there. The Open began life in 1978, before the formation of the LRTA, when Viv Dawes’ husband Peter, along with Paul Danby, suggested the first British Ladies’ Open be held at Seacourt. Continuing the close connections, the dinner to celebrate the LRTA’s 30th birthday was held there during the 2011 British Open, when a new tournament was established, a handicap doubles tournament played at the same time as the British Open, to enable the ‘not so good’ players to compete alongside, though not necessarily against, the top players.
Those first Committee Members, particularly Alex Garside, Viv Dawes and Sheila Macintosh in their various roles on the Committee, have provided invaluable stability over the years. Their continued hard work, experience and loyalty will be forever remembered due to their continuous and tireless work during the first 30 years of the Association; and added to them is that of past Chairman Sarah McGivern whose professionalism and extensive knowledge ensured the continuity of the high standards that evolved from those small beginnings outside a rain sodden marquee.
The Development of the LRTA and the Ladies Game
Ladies’ tennis has come a long way since the early days in the 1960s when just a handful of women knew the game and most of those would be playing at Queen’s, Seacourt or Hampton Court. The first British Open in 1978 was won by Anna Moore, a lawn-tennis player who had been playing real tennis with men at Seacourt since the club was formed in 1965. Entrants for the Open numbered ten – six from Seacourt and four others. Especially in recent years, with Charlotte Cornwallis and Claire Vigrass, the ladies game has progressed, like the men’s, to a harder, faster way of playing.
Another change has been in the area of Professionals, the idea of a lady professional is no longer unusual, indeed, in 2006 Susan Castley (Aus) whilst working in the UK was the first lady to be awarded the Henry Johns Cup by the Tennis and Rackets Association for the best all round performance by a young tennis professional.
Lesley Ronaldson, our first chairman, led the LRTA diligently and with great enthusiasm for its first ten years. In this period it became responsible for running the British Open singles and doubles and the Ladies Handicap tournaments, set up the Ladies Masters and, in conjunction with the Tennis and Rackets Association, set up and took on the running of the Billy Ross-Skinner British Invitation Mixed Doubles tournament. For much of this time, Lesley, whose game was based on classic shot play and a superb serve, continued to play tennis at the highest level, including winning the World Championship doubles and the British Open singles in 1987, as well as becoming the first lady professional in Britain.
Sheila Macintosh, a former Captain of the Great Britain ladies’ squash team, took over the chairmanship in 1991, quietly asserting her authority as the LRTA expanded both in terms of membership and the number of regular tournaments and matches. She encouraged Lucy Davies to set up the ever popular Mothers and Daughters’ tournament and the Tennis & Golf Day and initiated the LRTA International Invitation, a tournament held every 2 years alternating with the World Championships to give the top 8 available players from around the world the opportunity to compete against those they might not otherwise play.
In 1998, she handed over to Sarah McGivern, ably qualified professionally to steer the LRTA in an increasingly technological world. Sarah had, during Sheila’s Chairmanship, worked to enable the LRTA to become financially independent of the Tennis and Rackets Association by finding its own sponsors and has continued to strongly support this position, enabling prize money to be paid to lady professionals in ladies tournaments. These were years in which the LRTA improved its communications, establishing its own website, producing a more attractive Newsletter and by extensive use of email. The LRTA is very grateful to Caroline and Jeremy Gilmore for all their work over many years in these technical areas, including the website, Newsletters and tournament programmes and photographs. One of the main events early in Sarah’s period of chairmanship was the 1999 World Championships, held at RTC, Hampton Court. The following year the LRTA began its bursary scheme, which provides a number of free lessons to young players with a view to nurturing their talent. An Under 25 (years) tournament and a Handicap Mixed Doubles tournament were also introduced to the annual calendar. Sarah instigated more formal procedures for the running of LRTA tournaments and spent many months liaising with overseas national associations to agree necessary changes to Ladies World Championship rules. A dinner to celebrate the 21st Anniversary of the formation of the LRTA was held in the Black Room at the Oratory during the Handicap Tournaments in 2002.
Sarah was Chairman until 2004 and again from 2007-9. During this second time as Chairman, agreement was reached to ensure that ladies are not penalised financially if they choose to be members of both the LRTA and the Tennis and Rackets Association, thus encouraging more ladies to support the Tennis and Rackets Association. Leamington opened its doors to ladies and Sarah introduced and organised an annual ladies handicap doubles tournament there. Serious work on preserving LRTA archive material was also carried out and many thanks are due to Lucy Hutchinson and Sheila Macintosh for the many hours they put in to this work..
Lucy Davies was chairman from 2004 to 2007, during which period the World Championships were again held in Britain, this time in Manchester in 2007. During this time, the LRTA celebrated its 25th Anniversary. Lucy has, for many years, organised the Mothers & Daughters tournament and the Tennis & Golf day as well as assisting running other tournaments and matches on occasions.
In 2009, after her second period of office, Sarah McGivern exchanged roles with Alex Garside (nee Warren-Piper), so she remained on the committee as Hon. Treasurer.
With Alex the LRTA once again has one of the top players as chairman. One of her main focuses is junior development. The establishment of a junior tournament for girls under the age of 21 is consistent with this focus as well as the organisation of junior coaching clinics around the clubs. The encouragement of youngsters to play is paramount to the future of ladies’ tennis, ensuring continuity and improvement in the profile of ladies’ tennis.
In the UK, lady players are now eligible for selection for their club teams and to compete in the National League, the Pol Roger Trophy, the Field Trophy and the Brodie Cup, the Bridgeman Cup, the Seacourt Silver Racquet and the Henry Leaf Cup. Annual category tournaments are open to men and women, and matches with mixed teams are common, giving those lady players with equal handicaps the chance to play against men of similar standards in everything but strength. In 2011 the Tennis and Rackets Association decided that it could, should it so wish, invite ladies with suitable handicaps to enter its tournaments. If more ladies can achieve the level of handicap reached by Charlotte Cornwallis and Claire Fahey (nee Vigrass), the ladies will be on court with the men more in the future.
It is encouraging to note that there has been a healthy increase in the number of promising lady juniors entering both LRTA and Tennis and Rackets Association tournaments, which bodes well for the future.
Another change has been in the area of Professionals, the idea of a lady professional is no longer unusual, indeed, in 2006 Susan Castley (Aus) whilst working in the UK was the first lady to be awarded the Henry Johns Cup by the Tennis and Rackets Association for the best all round performance by a young tennis professional.
Lesley Ronaldson, our first chairman, led the LRTA diligently and with great enthusiasm for its first ten years. In this period it became responsible for running the British Open singles and doubles and the Ladies Handicap tournaments, set up the Ladies Masters and, in conjunction with the Tennis and Rackets Association, set up and took on the running of the Billy Ross-Skinner British Invitation Mixed Doubles tournament. For much of this time, Lesley, whose game was based on classic shot play and a superb serve, continued to play tennis at the highest level, including winning the World Championship doubles and the British Open singles in 1987, as well as becoming the first lady professional in Britain.
Sheila Macintosh, a former Captain of the Great Britain ladies’ squash team, took over the chairmanship in 1991, quietly asserting her authority as the LRTA expanded both in terms of membership and the number of regular tournaments and matches. She encouraged Lucy Davies to set up the ever popular Mothers and Daughters’ tournament and the Tennis & Golf Day and initiated the LRTA International Invitation, a tournament held every 2 years alternating with the World Championships to give the top 8 available players from around the world the opportunity to compete against those they might not otherwise play.
In 1998, she handed over to Sarah McGivern, ably qualified professionally to steer the LRTA in an increasingly technological world. Sarah had, during Sheila’s Chairmanship, worked to enable the LRTA to become financially independent of the Tennis and Rackets Association by finding its own sponsors and has continued to strongly support this position, enabling prize money to be paid to lady professionals in ladies tournaments. These were years in which the LRTA improved its communications, establishing its own website, producing a more attractive Newsletter and by extensive use of email. The LRTA is very grateful to Caroline and Jeremy Gilmore for all their work over many years in these technical areas, including the website, Newsletters and tournament programmes and photographs. One of the main events early in Sarah’s period of chairmanship was the 1999 World Championships, held at RTC, Hampton Court. The following year the LRTA began its bursary scheme, which provides a number of free lessons to young players with a view to nurturing their talent. An Under 25 (years) tournament and a Handicap Mixed Doubles tournament were also introduced to the annual calendar. Sarah instigated more formal procedures for the running of LRTA tournaments and spent many months liaising with overseas national associations to agree necessary changes to Ladies World Championship rules. A dinner to celebrate the 21st Anniversary of the formation of the LRTA was held in the Black Room at the Oratory during the Handicap Tournaments in 2002.
Sarah was Chairman until 2004 and again from 2007-9. During this second time as Chairman, agreement was reached to ensure that ladies are not penalised financially if they choose to be members of both the LRTA and the Tennis and Rackets Association, thus encouraging more ladies to support the Tennis and Rackets Association. Leamington opened its doors to ladies and Sarah introduced and organised an annual ladies handicap doubles tournament there. Serious work on preserving LRTA archive material was also carried out and many thanks are due to Lucy Hutchinson and Sheila Macintosh for the many hours they put in to this work..
Lucy Davies was chairman from 2004 to 2007, during which period the World Championships were again held in Britain, this time in Manchester in 2007. During this time, the LRTA celebrated its 25th Anniversary. Lucy has, for many years, organised the Mothers & Daughters tournament and the Tennis & Golf day as well as assisting running other tournaments and matches on occasions.
In 2009, after her second period of office, Sarah McGivern exchanged roles with Alex Garside (nee Warren-Piper), so she remained on the committee as Hon. Treasurer.
With Alex the LRTA once again has one of the top players as chairman. One of her main focuses is junior development. The establishment of a junior tournament for girls under the age of 21 is consistent with this focus as well as the organisation of junior coaching clinics around the clubs. The encouragement of youngsters to play is paramount to the future of ladies’ tennis, ensuring continuity and improvement in the profile of ladies’ tennis.
In the UK, lady players are now eligible for selection for their club teams and to compete in the National League, the Pol Roger Trophy, the Field Trophy and the Brodie Cup, the Bridgeman Cup, the Seacourt Silver Racquet and the Henry Leaf Cup. Annual category tournaments are open to men and women, and matches with mixed teams are common, giving those lady players with equal handicaps the chance to play against men of similar standards in everything but strength. In 2011 the Tennis and Rackets Association decided that it could, should it so wish, invite ladies with suitable handicaps to enter its tournaments. If more ladies can achieve the level of handicap reached by Charlotte Cornwallis and Claire Fahey (nee Vigrass), the ladies will be on court with the men more in the future.
It is encouraging to note that there has been a healthy increase in the number of promising lady juniors entering both LRTA and Tennis and Rackets Association tournaments, which bodes well for the future.