Lachlan Date with wife Brooke, daughter Amelia and newborn Lucas, whose arrival swung a tournament. Photo: Supplied.
Club coach and rice farmer Daniel Dossetor won the Griffith men’s autumn tennis comp in dramatic fashion on Thursday (11 July), with a newborn arrival on the eve of the final swaying the result.
Teacher Lachlan Date reignited competitive men’s tennis in Griffith in early 2024 by launching a Thursday night round-robin doubles tournament. Under his format, each player teams up with a different partner every week and accumulates individual points every time they play, with the top scorer crowned champion at the end of 11 rounds.
Date himself took out the inaugural Spring tournament and remained a frontrunner going into the final rounds of the Autumn comp, along with Dossetor, fellow teacher Andrew Noad and policeman Greg Lynch.
Noad led Dossetor by four points on the ladder going into the final round – for which he had a bye and an automatic 16 points. This meant that Dossetor, who was teaming up with Date, would need at least 21 points to take the title.
Given Date’s impressive form, it looked as if Dossetor would romp it in, leaving Noad to pray for rain as his only hope for salvation (everyone gets equal points during a washout). But the skies cleared on Wednesday, and in a dramatic twist, Date’s wife Brooke gave birth to his second child on the eve of the final round, forcing him to pull out.
In a shock move, Date called in veteran Jason Clifford, who hadn’t played tennis for several years, to replace him.
“I just want to get as many different people to the club as possible. I know Cliffo hadn’t played for a while, but we wanted him back,” Date said.
As the drama unfolded on Thursday night, Date’s priorities lay elsewhere.
“I did throw out the name Tennys for my son, as in [American player] Tennys Sangren, but we decided to call him Lucas – a favourite name of Brooke. We are both teachers, we wanted something that is known that has common spelling. We are traditionalists in that respect.”
Lucas has already signed up for his father’s comp. Photo: Supplied.
On the court, the drama went down to the final match of the season. Clifford was playing as if he’d never left the game. The top-seeded pair achieved consistent scores in their first three matches, such that Dossetor needed to win three games in the last set to overtake Noad and take the crown.
But Dossetor and Noad came up against an inspired performance against Rob ‘the lob’ Irvine and Blake Rayworth, who did everything they could to deny the perennial Griffith champion one more title. But after a tough battle, Dossetor won gold, Noad took silver and Date bronze.
In a cruel twist for Noad, the heavens opened just one hour after play ended – had the rain arrived easier, he would taken the title by default.
The Autumn comp crew. Photo: Supplied.
Meanwhile, in the same week he expanded his family, Date grew his tennis competition.
His upcoming winter men’s tournament will feature two divisions and a total of 22 participants. Like the English Premier League, there’ll be promotion and relegation for top and bottom players, intensifying the competition.
“Soon, we’ll have a third division for sure. It’s in the pipeline. We’ll just have to cement the second division first,” Date said.
Anyone wanting to be on the waiting list, reserve or express interest for a future competition can message the Griffith Tennis Club Facebook page.
