A Massive €3,000 Raised at Christmas Charity Tournament

Record Number of Entrants

Leixlip Tennis Club hosted the most successful charity competition yet on 27 December 2024 in aid of Cystinosis Ireland, with an unprecedented 84 registered entrants taking part.

This year, the weather was kind and we were delighted to welcome players from may other clubs, including Celbridge, Clane, Clontarf, Dunboyne, North Kildare, Leopardstown, Monkstown and Carlow, in addition to the many players from Leixlip Tennis Club, all of whom contributed very generously to the charity and played some fantastic tennis over the course of the tournament.

A minimum €10 donation ensured each player was entered into the competition which consisted of three rounds of timed mixed and doubles matches, where everybody had their names drawn out of a hat for each round. The generosity of attendees was overwhelming with many donating much more than the suggested €10 attendance fee.

Keith and Sharon Ashmore were on hand to manage the draws and get the players on court and turn around the rounds in quick succession. They had great support with different players pulling names out of the hat for all rounds of the competition.

There was plenty food and refreshments to keep players fed in between rounds and a huge thank you goes to Annemarie Dowling, who was at the club from early morning making sure that there was enough food to go around and looked after everyone throughout the event.

A huge thank you also goes to Brian and Patricia Donohoe for making their delicious and now very famous mulled wine and to Sean Kavanagh for being on hand to get everything set up and to help out throughout the day.

The tournament itself was a fantastic spectacle, enjoyed by all. It needed 8 rounds to facilitate all of the players, with all 8 courts being used for each round. Most rounds involved mixed doubles play, but due to the ladies outnumbering the gents, there was one round of just ladies doubles.

At the end of the 8 rounds, we has two players as joint leaders on 15 points - last year's winner, Nicola McKenna from Leixlip Tennis Club and John Doyle from Carlow Tennis Club with Yulia Dunne from Celbridge Tennis Club finishing in third place, just one point behind.

The winning player needed to be decided by one last 10 minute playoff match, where the Nicola and John were partnered with the next highest scoring male (Johann deVilliers, Leixlip) and the next highest scoring female (Yulia Dunne, Celbridge), both of whom graciously stepped up for the decider. They playoff match was hugely exciting and each game was extremely close with all four players playing fantastic tennis. In the end Nicola and Johann edged it, giving the trophy to Nicola for the second year running. She was later presented with the perpetual Christmas Charity trophy and she will be immortalised at Leixlip Tennis Club with her name engraved for all to see.

€3,000 Raised for Cystinosis Ireland

An amazing sum €1,400 was raised by all of the participants and this amount was very generously supplemented by club member Alvaro Blasco, Principal Solicitor at Blasco Solicitors in Maynooth. To find out more about Blasco Solicitors, visit their website here. The amount raised was further supplemented by the Leixlip Tennis Club, to bring the total to €3,000, all of which will be donated to Cystinosis Ireland.

Gavin and Donna Nolan, with their son Hagan, who has cystinosis, were on hand to accept the funds raised. Donna addressed the crowd and provided great insight into cystinosis and how the funds will go a long way towards important research and treatment to hopefully improve the quality of life to those who are living with it. Cystinosis is a rare, multisystem genetic disorder characterised by the accumulation of an amino acid called cystine in different tissues and organs of the body including the kidneys, eyes, muscles, liver, pancreas and brain. Very little is known about this disease, which unfortunately is also reflected in the challenges the charity receives with its fundraising efforts. To find out more about Cystinosis Ireland and to make a donation, visit their website here.

The highlight of the day though was the 'knock knock' joke that Hagan enthralled the crowd with and had everyone laughing at the punchline.

As an added bonus for attendees, a raffle ticket was handed out to each participant. The club had received a variety of donated prizes in advance which were to be raffled off at the end of the competition. Many thanks to Reflex Physiotherapy, Leixlip for donating vouchers for the raffle. The generosity of guests and players to the tournament was astounding. By the end of the registration, we had enough spot prizes to ensure that everyone would be drawn in the raffle.

Speaking at the event, Leixlip Tennis Club Chairman, Keith Ashmore thanked everyone for turning up and playing in such great spirits and supporting a very worthwhile charity. He said that the number entrants and the amount raised far exceeded all previous events and thanked everyone for their generosity. He also paid tribute to helpers, Annemarie Dowling, Sharon Ashmore and Sean Kavanagh with a special tribute once again to Brian and Patricia Donohoe for not only providing the amazing mulled wine, but also for their continued support for the Annual Christmas Charity event that they started many years ago and has since raised tens of thousands Euro over the years for many worthwhile charities.