“We don’t stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing.” George Bernard Shaw
A number of our members are now of a certain age and sadly not all can still play the games they love. Speaking on behalf of those who are falling apart but can still play, the writer feels there is much to be said for Shaw’s aphorism. Games can lubricate the mind as well as the body so please keep on playing (whatever the sport and whatever your standard) for as long as you can. Of course, most of our members are still in prime condition and so no such encouragement is necessary; indeed, the spouses/partners of some members may prefer that you played less but hopefully Jesters can find the right balance!
Our Games Representatives and the Chairmen of our Overseas Branches have overseen a splendid range of activities across the spectrum of our games and nations. Suffice to say that they are evidence that these activities have been resumed in spades across the board and that we continue to flourish as a club.
With so much going on, it seems invidious to single out particular individual achievements or triumphs but special mention should be made of our two traditional annual gatherings to which all are welcome; these are the Strawson-Vaughan evening at the beginning of the season and our annual dinner towards the season’s end. Originally the Strawson (named after our late Chairman, Frank Strawson) was an annual squash match between our best players and those of the Squash Rackets Association but over
time all our sports have been included in this evening. As a result, it is now known as the Strawson-Vaughan evening in memory also of our late President David Vaughan who particularly loved and nurtured this annual jamboree, as, for him, it epitomised what the club was about. Matches for our teams against their National Associations take place at Queen’s (with Fives being played nearby) culminating in a beano in the President’s Room for all and sundry. All ages, standards and sizes are there (from the
fearsomely good under 17 National Squash Team to the more stately but equally skilled septuagenarian handicap experts in the bottom pair of the real tennis match); the only problem is that there is scarcely enough room into which the assembled company can be squeezed for dinner but Queen’s always kindly somehow copes. The evening also includes our AGM which is normally admirably brief, as most present seem more interested in playing or watching rather than taking your Committee to task (long may this
continue to be the case!) For your diaries, the date for this year’s event is Tuesday, 10th October, 2023.
Our annual dinner takes place at the RAC in March and is always well attended. In 2023 we were thoroughly entertained by our guest speaker, Adrian Davies, the Wizard of Welsh Squash for many years. He regaled us with splendid stories of squash in the professional era and it was lovely to hear that, even at the top level and although very competitive, the game remained great fun. Tim Garner was awarded the Jester of the Year not only for his contribution in running the Annual Jesters’ Tournament at the RAC but also for the splendid example he has always, and continues to, set in playing great squash in true Jesters spirit.
The date of the 2024 dinner is Tuesday, 12th March, where the speaker will be the real tennis playing crime writer, playwright and radio and TV producer Simon Brett.
Touring activity was resumed with a vengeance over the last season. We were thrilled to receive the US Jesters, admirably led by Chris Haley in September 2022 on their previously postponed tour. Their tour kicked off with a traditional Cambridge weekend (kindly attended also by their President, Mark Pagon and his wife Holly suitably attired in splendid Jesters masks for the black tie dinner at Sidney Sussex), whereafter they went on a whistle-stop tour throughout the South of England playing as many different games as possible; they were wonderful ambassadors for the club, participating wholeheartedly in everything to the full. No sooner had our American guests returned home then we in turn sent a squash team led by Nick Brown to the West Coast of the US where they were regally entertained.Their tour ended up at the Annual US Jesters Weekend in San Diego; a photo of them drinking cocktails barefoot in the surf at sunset at La Jolla epitomised it perfectly!
Not to be outdone by these squash tyros, our ex-Chairman, Gareth Quarry then led our first ever real tennis tour to Australia in November 2022. Whilst the Australians may not have that many real tennis courts, Jonathan Buckley, Dick Friend and their colleagues organised the most magical tour which included not only playing at all of these but also sampling the manifold delights of the areas surrounding them.The trip included a lovely sojourn in Sydney where their exciting plans for a new court are progressing apace.
Since then, the Canadians celebrated their 75th Anniversary in Toronto in May 2023 and an informal group of US Jesters travelled to France in July to play on courts various there and thereafter to the UK to participate in International Real Tennis Day. In September 2024 the South Africans are coming to the UK on tour, starting with a weekend in Cambridge from 6-8th September to which all are invited. Shortly thereafter, the UK will be sending a team to Canada. All in all, evidence that touring is very much back on the agenda!
During 2023, we reluctantly allowed Peter Cattrall, a committee stalwart of many years, to retire (with our grateful thanks) and we welcomed both Andy Keeley and Laura Neill to the committee. Amazingly (unlike the world of politics and business) we do not appear to have been beset with any scandals or disasters to date and our Treasurer reports that the finances are healthy (he even managed to persuade our bank to compensate us for their tardiness in responding to his requests!).
I suspect that all of us have just been inspired Carlos Alcaraz’s performance in his epic Wimbledon Final against the indomitable Novak Djokovic, heralding a sense that there is a changing of the guard in the air in that sport. Hopefully such a change is also gradually taking place in our club. Laura Neill together with Owen Riddall and Andrew Lindsay and others have arranged some get-togethers for their under 35 group, with the elder generation looking on avuncularly and with pleasure at their achievements and enthusiasm. The young are the future of our Club; when asked in Cambridge (after a suitably bibulous dinner) what was the purpose of the Jesters, the writer, initially slightly stumped for a response, replied that the answer was to look around at the weekend and those participating (over a third were under 35) and at all the other similar Jesters events taking place throughout the world, which he felt demonstrated in practice the purpose of the Club (without him being able to articulate it in words!).
It is hoped that this was not too flippant but should you have a more eloquent way of expressing our purpose (preferably in no more than one sentence), do please let me know.
Robert Dolman, President of The Jesters Club