A1 Pharmaceuticals are based in the east london borough of Havering and would consider entering if it did not clash with current team league matches .

I would suggest a 2 singles 1 doubles format to make it easy for teams to compete with up to 4 players participating 

Current A1 Pharmaceuticals teams ( 5 Winter /7 summer ) home (westcoombe park rugby club /orpington 3 Tarmac /2 Roland G clay summer only ) 

mens kent doubles league  

mens north kent double's 

mixed north Kent doubles premier div

north Kent ladies 

kent mixed  doubles 

north kent cup :

men's singles ( highest ranked junior ) , men's doubles ( non ranked)

mixed ( current champs )

2 Aegon teams 

mens 1 ( current national champs )

Men's 2 ( county div3 )

Born2WinTennis wrote:

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I had an idea about starting a London based Corporate Tennis League. I believe Paris runs a successful one and London had one called the Nomura Tennis Challenge upto roughly ten years ago, not quite sure why it ended.

Anyway would appreciate feedback on my idea, it would roughly be:

Four geographically split leagues of Internal M25 London.

Divisions of 5 companies in each league, seeded initially by player ratings.

Teams of 4/5 players, play four singles and two doubles (same as Aegon Team Tennis)

Play two home matches and two away over six months. Promotion and relegation for the next six months. 

Top two from each league meet in season finals.  

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Sounds like you should be running club tennis for the LTA !  The Herts league is you too, isn't it ? Wow, you must be a busy person . . . bravo.

Just for what it's worth, I think Gary's suggestion of two single and a doubles is probably a good way to start - more workable, takes less time, less court time to find etc.

I've played lots of events with this format.

Some stipulated a minimum of three players (to try and draw the most people in possible). Some stipulated 4 players but I don;t think this works well - not everyone is willing to give up a slug of time for a team match, sitting through the other singles etc. when all they get to play is doubles. (Of course, is doubles is really popular here you might find it's easy to get the doubles players and harder to find your singles players).

Frankly, I wouldn't stipulate how many in the actual team i.e. the thing you want to avoid at all costs is matches that don't get played because of people being unavailable. If you can only list 5 players and it has to be played with those 5 players, then that's a big risk. (I assume all the singles and doubles matches get played at the same time ? i.e. on the one evening or the one Sunday or whenever).

The rules that I played under were that you listed you team of, say, 5 players but that anyone could come in as a replacement as long as they weren't ranked higher than your top guy, or sometimes weren't ranked higher than your bottom guy, or the overall weighting of the team was the same. You choose but I think it's good to leave some flexibility.  

NB Don't know about Paris but the area I was in in France had a corporate league, although also run and organised by the Federation. I wasn;t involved in it but I know it was very popular - matches were in the evening (8 p.m I think) and either 2 singles and a doubles or 3 singles and a doubles. (Definitely not 4 and 2).

Trophies are easy to get and cheap. Shouldn't be a problem. Will you stipulate that new balls have to be used ? That can add up if the club won't provide them?

Personally, I like home and away matches. More atmosphere. Some come to watch. Involves the local club members so they might want to play next year. Local clubs take a bit of pride in providing a welcome (coffee? nibbles?).

Very best of luck and keep up updated. If you get a calendar, I'll try to come along and cheer loudly at one that's close to me.

Coup Droit wrote:

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Born2WinTennis wrote:

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I had an idea about starting a London based Corporate Tennis League. I believe Paris runs a successful one and London had one called the Nomura Tennis Challenge upto roughly ten years ago, not quite sure why it ended.

Anyway would appreciate feedback on my idea, it would roughly be:

Four geographically split leagues of Internal M25 London.

Divisions of 5 companies in each league, seeded initially by player ratings.

Teams of 4/5 players, play four singles and two doubles (same as Aegon Team Tennis)

Play two home matches and two away over six months. Promotion and relegation for the next six months. 

Top two from each league meet in season finals.  

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Sounds like you should be running club tennis for the LTA !  The Herts league is you too, isn't it ? Wow, you must be a busy person . . . bravo. yep I have a good singles league setup in Herts, and also in a few other places around the country.

Just for what it's worth, I think Gary's suggestion of two single and a doubles is probably a good way to start - more workable, takes less time, less court time to find etc. yep I like the sound of that, less barriers to entry.

I've played lots of events with this format.

Some stipulated a minimum of three players (to try and draw the most people in possible). Some stipulated 4 players but I don;t think this works well - not everyone is willing to give up a slug of time for a team match, sitting through the other singles etc. when all they get to play is doubles. (Of course, is doubles is really popular here you might find it's easy to get the doubles players and harder to find your singles players). Yeah I am keen to promote singles so would have to emphasise singles but happy for doubles too.

Frankly, I wouldn't stipulate how many in the actual team i.e. the thing you want to avoid at all costs is matches that don't get played because of people being unavailable. If you can only list 5 players and it has to be played with those 5 players, then that's a big risk. (I assume all the singles and doubles matches get played at the same time ? i.e. on the one evening or the one Sunday or whenever). agreed

The rules that I played under were that you listed you team of, say, 5 players but that anyone could come in as a replacement as long as they weren't ranked higher than your top guy, or sometimes weren't ranked higher than your bottom guy, or the overall weighting of the team was the same. You choose but I think it's good to leave some flexibility.  the only other thing I thought of would be that the players would have to prove somehow they were full time employees of that company, to avoid ringers.

NB Don't know about Paris but the area I was in in France had a corporate league, although also run and organised by the Federation. I wasn;t involved in it but I know it was very popular - matches were in the evening (8 p.m I think) and either 2 singles and a doubles or 3 singles and a doubles. (Definitely not 4 and 2). Yes 4 and 2 would be a bit too much on a week night, although I know some counties do play Aegon Team Tennis on week nights, but these counties probably have less long working hours and commuting cultures than London.

Trophies are easy to get and cheap. Shouldn't be a problem. Will you stipulate that new balls have to be used ? That can add up if the club won't provide them? Yes I think it would need to be new balls per match, only £10 from Sports Direct for 3 x tubes.

Personally, I like home and away matches. More atmosphere. Some come to watch. Involves the local club members so they might want to play next year. Local clubs take a bit of pride in providing a welcome (coffee? nibbles?). I think this would depend on what venues/clubs each company had access to, if none of the employees were members close by then they might have to hire a public venue. Not sure about this part at the moment, also central london court time is probably hard to come by at peak time.

Very best of luck and keep up updated. If you get a calendar, I'll try to come along and cheer loudly at one that's close to me. Thanks for your advice.

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Do players have to be employees of the company representing 

Thanks for sharing about this great event dear, I am also planning for a small event at my workplace and looking for some professional help on planning. Do you have any suggestion for me?

Well done! Hope it's a huge success!