Game, set and match... Grantown referee nets top Scottish tennis honour
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A Grantown woman has netted the title of Scottish tennis official of the year at the sports’ prestigious annual awards.
Lucy Davies was named official of the year at the Tennis Scotland Awards for 2023 on Friday evening.
The honour is awarded to the highest achieving the person who has given the most to Scottish officiating in that year.
Lucy told the Strathy: “’I was delighted to receive the award, it is a great honour and means so much to me.
“I got the award because in 2022 I gained my silver badge in tennis refereeing. This is an international qualification and silver is the second highest level you can attain.
“The referee is the person in charge of the tournament as a whole.
“My work during the year included refereeing my first professional event in Loughborough. I was also part of the refereeing team at Wimbledon.”
Tennis Scotland celebrated the achievements and contributions of individuals, clubs, programmes, and competitions in 2022 at the Stirling Court Hotel.
The esteemed Lifetime Achievement award, recognising an individual who has made an exceptional contribution to the tennis community over an extended period, went to Ken Revie.
Revie was a competitive player at club, county and international levels over many years including a Scottish number one men’s ranking for ten years.
But he has also contributed to the sport off the court through his leadership skills and serving as the Governance Board Director for Tennis Scotland for six years.
During this period, and supported by colleagues, significant modernisation took place.
Abercorn Lawn Tennis Club has earned the prestigious club of the year title for a range of developments including actively encouraging more females to participate in tennis, reflected in their 83 per cent growth in female memberships over the last three years.
Alessia Palmieri was named development coach of the year for her commitment and dedication to developing tennis and also specifically enhancing the afterschool and weekend programme for children of all ages and abilities at Fossoway Tennis Club.
Prestwick Academy Girls’ Team was awarded Team of the Year after their success in every round of the Schools Competition, qualifying for the National Finals in Nottingham and finishing as runners up in the Scottish School’s First Division.
Thanks to their efforts, the team achieved the best results of any other sports team within the school over the last few decades.
For the second year running, the University of St Andrews has been recognised as University of the Year.
In 2022, the quality of the environment in which the club operates allowed them to reach record achievements, including two promotions and no demotions, a Scottish Student Sport champion title and two players reaching BUCS individuals finals.
This is in addition to significant facility developments and investments.
Charlie Robertson and Jacob Fearnley were awarded Junior Player of the Year and Senior Player of the Year respectively. Charlie climbed the ITF World Rankings to finish the year in the top 150 (now 67) after winning four ITF events.
Meanwhile, Jacob had a stellar year contributing to a historical year for Texas Christian University in the US wining various titles which included being ranked number one in doubles and achieving a high of number eight in the ITA Collegiate Rankings in the US.
Finally, after winning an incredible five doubles titles in 2022 including a $80k event in France and reaching a career-high of 118 in February, Ali Collins secured International Player of the Year and is steadily climbing up the world rankings.
Blane Dodds, Tennis Scotland Chief Executive, said: “I would like to extend my congratulations to every winner at this year’s Tennis Scotland Awards, and thank all who do so much for Scottish tennis and who celebrated the Awards with us in person at the Stirling Court Hotel.
“As the Scottish governing body, we are grateful for the individuals and organisations that have played their part in growing and developing tennis across Scotland over the last year.
"With record numbers of members within our club network and record entries at many competitions, there is real momentum in Scottish tennis, and we look forward to further developments in 2023.
"Best wishes to all our winners who go ahead to the LTA British Awards this year.”
Tennis Scotland Awards 2023 winners in full:
Volunteer of the Year: Teresa Tait;
Rising Star: Euan Donegan;
Development Coach of the Year: Alessia Palmieri;
Performance Coach of the Year: Joe Gill;
Communities and Park: Promoting Inclusion Through Sport;
University of the Year: University of St Andrews;
School of the Year: Dollar Academy;
Tennis for All: Accessible Tennis CIC;
Official of the Year: Lucy Davies;
Competition of the Year: East Lothian Open;
Team of the Year: Prestwick Academy Girls’ Team;
Club of the Year: Abercorn LTC;
Senior Veteran Player of the Year: Sarah McFadyen;
Junior Player of the Year: Charlie Robertson;
Senior Player of the Year: Jacob Fearnley;
International Player of the Year: Ali Collins; and
Lifetime Achievement Award: Ken Revie.
