With great sadness Cumbria LTA reports the sudden death in January of County President and Chairman Chris Fidler of Ulverston. Chris was born in Poynton, Cheshire moving into Cumbria in 1978. From that time Chris was a stalwart of Cumbrian tennis as a player, administrator and lead volunteer.
Chris played his tennis at Ulverston in the Barrow League initially but he and Peter Helme wanted to play in the Kendal League so they founded the Wanders in the early eighties and played for them in the Kendal League. When Chris moved to Grange over Sands in 1996 he then played for North Lonsdale.and represented the County in the Veterans Over 55’s and later in the 60’s.
Chris first joined the Cumbria LTA Council in the mid 1980s and was soon serving on the Finance and General Purposes and Junior Coaching Committees as well as organising tournaments. With only a short break Chris served on the Cumbria LTA Council in significantly more influential positions. He became Chairman, for the first time, in 1989 and served as such for some five years during which he was heavily involved in developing sponsorships and in the planning stages of the creation of the Chatsworth indoor facility. He took over the chairmanship again in 2009 also serving as the Cumbria Councillor on the LTA’s governing body.
As Chairman, Chris took a proactive approach in responding to LTA initiatives and in seeking the furtherance of Cumbria tennis. In particular, his interest in and support for junior players never diminished. A recent development of note, led by Chris, was the introduction of county invitational age-group training sessions. These have been well received by young players, parents and coaches and have had a positive impact on the team spirit and results of junior county teams. His knowledge of Cumbria tennis, players and volunteers was second to none giving him the perfect platform from which to lead.
Above all Chris was a people-person adept at involving and supporting new volunteers and LTA staff alike, getting the best out of everyone. Chris was a remarkable man and will be sorely missed as friend, colleague and role model by all who love tennis.
Meet your Team who are responsible for the development of tennis clubs, centres, coaches, competitions, schools and parks across Cumbria.
Cumbria Tennis is supported by officials who meet during the year at executive and council meetings. This section contains details of officials and their roles.
Players represent Cumbria in the annual AEGON County Cup competitions. Find out more about the teams and captains repsonsible for choosing and managing each team.
Supporters of Cumbria tennis are able to enjoy membership of the Cumbria Patrons Club, which supports all aspects of tennis in the County. Please contact Pat Henderson (Cumbria LTA Secretary) on pathende@talktalk.net / 01228 711533 for further information.
Information regarding Referees in Cumbria.
v, the youth volunteering charity, is supporting the LTA to recruit young volunteers into British Tennis. This is through seeking and developing young competition organisers between the ages of 16 and 25. Cumbria are currently running the free courses so to find out more information please contact Jo Cunliffe on Jo.Cunliffe@LTA.org.uk.
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British Tennis North East & Cumbria Office Sunderland Tennis Centre Silksworth Sunderland SR3 1PD 0191 522 5005 Christine.Klee@LTA.org.uk