Newry Tennis Club

Thibaut Picard was a French business and language student who had first visited Ireland in 2010 on a three week summer placement in Kilkenny meeting his soon to be girlfriend (French of course whilst there). He loved the country so much he vowed to return and when given a list of possible places to teach he chose Northern Ireland ahead of Buenos Aires and voila Thibaut was on his way to Newry arriving in 2013. Employed as a French language teacher for three of the local secondary schools, [actually there was one grammar school St Colman’s + 2 high schools; St Mary’s and Rathfriland]. Thibaut was wanting to diversify his interests whilst in the city. He had travelled round the South of Ireland when he was younger but nothing prepared him for settling in as an ingénue to the Gap of the North! He had been a keen "joueur de tennis" prior to living here. Thibaut had been playing tennis intensively for two years and then found himself in the "Land of the Yew Trees" with time to spare and a penchant for the sport. What better way to meet locals than to join a club! And the 23 year old decided to leave a hand written note on the gate to notify the Secretary of his intent to join. I joked it was such a Twentieth Century thing to do as everything is so automated and digitised these days but hey it was so effective! So Pauline responded to the enthusiastic note therefore Newry Tennis Club had their newest member and one who would turn out to be one of its most popular. Thibaut found the club to be extremely friendly and regards this as one of our greatest traits. In our discussion the word "Community" came up a lot and what we sometimes lack in facilities and of course weather we gain with our warmth and hospitality. Thibaut went along to his first Social and quickly mixed it with the club cognoscenti. Within a very short period of time our French visitor had managed to play virtually all of the members of the club which he quipped again proved the endearing welcome from everyone. Thibaut would say it would be much more difficult to do so in a typical French club. The club fees are also low in comparison to any you would encounter in Continental Europe so Newry should be proud that we make it accessible to everyone and it is my opinion it should remain within the price range of all people so it never becomes an elitist sport. It was not long before Thibaut was an integral part of the club, liked by everyone who met him so much so that he had invitations from most people to visit them at their homes at some stage during his stay. Surely no better barometer of a community driven sports club and a man who goes from initial stranger to fond friend. Thibaut represented Newry in the Belfast and District league and informs me he won matches for the club using his special brand of tennis refined on the beautiful clay courts of North Eastern France. As for improvements to our club that could be made, well we all know ideally we should have a roof, as his local club in Viry Chatillon has three but that is unlikely here as tennis is not the priority as it is in other countries. Thibaut abounded with ideas including coaching classes for adults, improving the nets by using something as simple as sticks and using social media to enhance the interactive experience to reach more and more people. However his most significant point was about the possible twinning of his club with Dundalk and Newry. During his return trip here in the last week he has gained support from St Mary's High School and an enthusiastic response from Dundalk club. To quote the man himself "Happy to see I left good memories to those I knew in Newry, because many of them were not just tennis people but actually became good friends. When I left Newry back to France , I felt I'd left home. And for that I will always be grateful". Thibaut has transformed his positive year long experience here to show entrepreneurial spirit and develop the possibility of the clubs engaging with each other collectively. I would lend my full support to this project and welcome the fact that members from the local clubs could go on a tennis playing holiday at Thibaut's club just half an hour from the "très formidable" city of Paris. So what are we waiting for let's support one of our own, as Thibaut has become. He is an impressive, personable young man and both Viry Chatillon and Newry can only benefit from his charisma and expertise.