Presidents Spring Blog 2026

PRESIDENT’S BLOG

SPRING 2026

Thank you for being part of our Club, your enthusiasm and support are what make this Club so special.

The staff, committees and volunteers work so hard to improve our facilities and this year has seen the drive to raise funding for the new surface of the astro hockey pitch. Once again, Bern Thorne has been instrumental in launching a Crowdfunder backed by Sport England, with a target of £30,000. The total raised so far is just 12% of this and I would ask you to urge members in your sections to support this. Craig Trenholm, Ollie Mills, Freya Ainsworth and Max Dutton have also played their part in the advertising and fundraising board and have put a considerable amount of work into the presentations and planning. We all benefit from working together as one club, and similar projects have seen the raising of funds for the new Cricket Nets, Fitness Pavilion and Tennis court resurface.

If we look at the sports in the early part of the year, Squash has been a pleasure to watch. There is such a high standard of performance being played. The All Sports Stars also had the benefit of free Racketball coaching for four weeks provided by coach Andrew Evans and squash section volunteers.

Hockey will be celebrating their season’s successes at their End of Season Dinner, which is always a lively event, especially this year with so much to be proud of.

A mention for Harrison McCabe who is a fine young sportsman and was selected to represent England U15s, competing in the 6 nations tournament in the Netherlands. He captained the side against Belgium and was awarded Player of the Match vs Netherlands. In addition, Tom Canning, Harry Founds and Harry Gratton could also be competing in the TA (Talent Academy) National Cup in July.

Harrison McCabe

Continuing with hockey, our goalkeeper, Sophia Sayce, represented the U14 girls in the National Indoor Championships, completing against top clubs across the country. The team won silver in the final and Sophia won Mentors’ Player of the Tournament. What an achievement.

In the Junior Tennis Section we have brothers, Jack and Ben Robinson, who smashed the finals of U11s Div 2 Cheshire League v Bramhall Lane. Their opposition took just 2 games from them in the 2 singles matches and doubles match. An outstanding performance.

Jack and Ben Robinson

These are all great performances which are achieved with hard work and determination. We have many great success stories at all levels at Neston and I welcome everyone to drop me a line highlighting children, young people and adults to bring to my attention. Thank you.

I would like to welcome Lydia and Ben as Co-Chairs of the Tennis Section. I wish them success in bringing new ideas and greater communication to the Section. They have already introduced a new coaching session, The Monday Club, from 11am – 1pm, free to members. So if you’d like a break from your desk, register your interest on the link on the WhatsApp Tennis chat. There will be – fast sets, rotating courts, winners up and losers down. All ability welcome and a great way to exercise, improve your tennis and make new friends.

The first cricket match is on 18th April and the guys have been netting in preparation for the season. A warm welcome back to our South African overseas player Matty Maritz, and newcomer John Sanders from Australia. We look forward to seeing some great cricket this Summer. Steve and Tom have prepared first class wickets, so no excuses from the players !!! The Ladies team have more players than ever this year with Captain, Vicky Scullion, arriving back from a season in Western Australia. We will be interested to see what the Aussies have taught her!

Thursday Group (Our Senior Members) have launched their Spring programme. This follows three fascinating talks from two authors (one a Criminal Barrister who kept us all enthralled with stories of murder!!) and an incredible talk by our own Prof Rob Marrs on the history of St Kilda in the Outer Hebrides. Going forward there are more talks, trips. sports afternoons, an origami workshop and afternoon teas. Everyone is welcome and so please mention to anyone you think would enjoy and benefit from an afternoon of friendship and fun.

Table tennis at the Club is going from strength to strength under the direction of Becky and Mark Simpson. They practice and play league matches during the evening in the week in the Tearoom.

The Fitness Class programme has been enhanced and is now offering a wealth of classes, from Pregnancy yoga to Senior’s yoga, Tai Chi, Body Conditioning (mixed cardio and resistance) and Pilates. Classes are daytime and evenings. There is something for everyone and a great fun way to improve fitness for Summer. The GymPod has arrived and is fully set up for use. Go onto the website for details.

Finally, All Sports Stars begins on Friday 17th April. We are expecting even bigger numbers this year. In preparation the outside bar has been repositioned at the front cricket pitch and food in the evening will be provided. Please be aware of the carpark being full and young children walking along the drive. Keep your speed down to 5 mph. All Sports Stars is a massive success of the club, welcoming children from 3 upwards to participate in free coaching of all four main sports throughout the year We are already seeing this project bear fruit in the number of teenagers in adult teams, and hopefully these numbers should continue to increase. We strive to make these children feel part of the club, feel a sense of belonging, enjoy their sport and hope that they will make friendships which will last a lifetime, as many of us have done.

There is so much going on at Neston, with something for everyone. Lots of thought goes into introducing new themes and ideas and I once again would like to thank the wonderful staff under the leadership of Craig, the Management Team, the Council members, coaches and the MANY volunteers who put large quantities of hours of their own time to make this Club such a massive success.

Deb Mason-Smith

President – The Neston Club