Children's News - February Holiday Camp options

We are pleased to open registrations for a new Holiday Camp option, joining Tennis Ambition's offer of quality tennis lessons and multisport activities in French, alongside Discovery Club's English immersion activities for children of all language levels, including native English speakers. The Holiday Camp will run during both weeks of the upcoming February school holidays (17-21 and 24-28), and is open to children ages 3 to 14, from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm, with an option to stay until 5:30 pm.
The base price for a full 5-day week of 7 hours per day is €350, tax included. (€50 per half-day)
We invite you to contact Genevieve, the camp director, by email at with any questions, or you may register directly using this Link.
Non-members of the Standard Athletic Club are invited to participate in this holiday camp as well, so please feel free to spread the word to other parents you know who might be interested.
(See posters and QRCodes in the main article.)

Bridge News - Tuesday 11 February Tournament Results

Warm congratulations to Joyce and Anne (again!) with 60.21% in NS; to Monika and Jean-Francois with 59.35% in EW; the next highest scores were by Ghislaine and Noelle with 56.46 in EW and Monica and Joan with 55.03% also in EW.
Many thanks again to Monica, Anne and Christine for their contributions to the cocktail, to Joan, Maureen and Carole for their help with all the preparations, and to everyone for their participation! It was wonderful to have 9 tables again.
Please see the results and the Quiz answers n the main article.
Our next tournament is scheduled for Tuesday 11 March.
Please note Jenny's new EMAIL ADDRESS: .

Junior Football News - Match results vs British School 1 February

Tennis News - 2025 perspective

Your new Tennis Committee (see photo in the main article) is making early progress preparing for an absolutely smashing season ahead.
Full details will be forthcoming in the weeks ahead, but prepare yourselves for our annual clay-court opening social tournament, the annual club knock-out tournament, and news on Team and other competitive and social tennis.
We will soon be sending round our second SAC Tennis Survey to canvas members' views on tennis at the club. So stay tuned.

Ian Cully (11/08/1944 - 25/01/2025) RIP

Ian CULLY, who died on 25 January, was a longstanding and valued member of the SAC - together of course with his wife Pat who was very active on the membership front. Ian was a keen member of the cricket team, causing bewilderment amongst opposing batsmen with his Burmese brand of spin bowling. Still under the sports heading, he was once a cunning squash player and became a keen golfer when Villarceaux became the main venue for new and existing SAC golfers. More importantly no doubt, Ian was a major figure on the SAC Management team, serving for many years as Club Treasurer at a time when the Club was fortunate enough to have many more members than at present. See the main article for details about the funeral arrangements (12 February).

Cricket News: Off to Andalucia on 15 Feb for T20 tournamant

Our cricketers are once again heading south to the Desert Springs resort in Andalucia from 15-18 Feb for a T20 competition against Granada, the University of Bristol and another.

Videos from Burns Night - Saturday 25 January 2025

Please click on the links below to see the Burns Night videos.
Video 1: Dougie Anderson and the Haggis  
Video 2: The piper

Adult Tennis coaching during February holidays (17-28 Feb)

Shake off the winter blues and get ready for spring with some tennis coaching!
On behalf of Team Ambition, which provides tennis lessons at SAC, we would like to announce a special offer of tennis lessons for adults during the upcoming February school holidays.
Gregory and Heissen propose two evenings of coaching a week for groups of up to five at a rate of 75 euros a group. 
As for when, we are talking about the weeks of 17 Feb and 24 Feb; Tennis Ambition suggest either Monday and Tuesday or Wednesday and Thursday, with 90-minute sessions starting at either 18:00 or 19:30.
Please sign up with Tennis Ambition here: (phone: 0624208027)

Videos from TGI Friday 17 January with Lewis Hammond's Flying Fishes Choir

Please see the main article for some videos taken of Lewis Hammond's Flying Fishes Choir in action

Squash News - 4 SAC Squash facts

Bridge News - Tuesday 11 February Tournament

The next tournament will be at 2:30 pm on Tuesday 11 February. Jenny hasn't received many replies so far, so is looking forward to hearing from you - if you haven't already signed up. As usual, Anne and Jenny are jokers if you are looking for a partner.
Here's a link to a PDF file with a quiz on the Forcing Fourth Suit (4e couleur forcing), which we can go through at 2 pm before the tournament proper. See the main article for the corrections to January's quiz.

Bridge News - Jan 14 Tournament results

Here are the SAC Section results (see main article).  Brilliant scores by Marie-Claire and Pascale with 62.42% in East-West, and Anne and Joyce in North-South with 59.58%. The best seconds are Dougie and Claude in EW with 58.33%. 
Thanks to Christine and Carole for their help in preparing our cocktail, to Monica for cooking such delicious finger food and to Joan and Maureen and everyone else for your help in preparing the rooms and putting everything away so rapidly!
The next tournament is planned for Tuesday 11 February.
The Quiz corrections have been added at the end of the main article.

Cricket News - AGM Sunday 2 February at 2 pm

The SAC Cricket Section Annual General Meeting (AGM) will be held on Sunday 2 February at 2 pm. It will be held both at the club and online.

Tennis News: 25 January Annual Meeting results

The Tennis Section held its annual meeting last Saturday to review the past year and elect a new Tennis Committee.
For the 2025 season, the new Tennis Committee is: Matthew Curtin (chairman), Victoria Migliore (tournaments), Christine Butterworth, Philippe Ayme-Jouve (master of ceremonies, tennis courts), Michael Golub, Aymerick Chastenet, with observers Georgina Marrison (Friday night social tennis) and Sarah Whitley (liaison with Children’s Section, holiday camps).
Please see the main article for a fuller report.

Cricket AGM - 2 pm, Sunday, 2 February

The Cricket AGM is planned for Sunday 2 February 2024 at 2 pm at the club and also remotely.

The Centenary Oak Bar & Restaurant

(See B&R News for the latest offers)

Management: Isabelle Szczepanski

Don't hesitate to contact her if you'd like to use the Centenary Oak's services for a private event or party.

The Club has a well-stocked bar with a full range of spirits and French wine.
In addition to bottled beers we currently serve Adnams draft beers.

We would also like to remind members that they should please clear their own tables (at least 15 minutes before closing time)
- Plates and cutlery to the kitchen
- Glasses and cups to the bar

Thank you!

Junior Cricket Kit for 2025

Please note that the section is about to order some new white shirts, orders must be in by Sunday 19 January. Please see the details on the Junior Cricket Whatsapp group.
For more information contact our head of Junior Cricket Adhavan Manoranjan at .

Junior Football News - Match vs British School 1 February

There will be a match between the SAC juniors and the British School on the afternoon of Saturday 1 February.

Bridge News - 14 January AGM and Tournament

The next tournament will be on Tuesday 14 January 2025. The afternoon will start with the Section's Annual General Meeting at 2 pm and play will begin at 2.30; followed by a cocktail at the end of the afternoon.
Please come forward with any candidates for the Committee or motions to propose. For the moment there is nothing special on the agenda; click here to see the draft (a Word document).
Click here for a copy of the provisional minutes of the 2023 AGM (to be voted on..).
And, last but not least, click here for the quiz on "Game-trial bids" (Les enchères d'essai) which we might have time to go through after the SAC Bridge Section AGM. (Or see it in the main article.)

New Year View From the Management Team

It is our pleasure to wish all Members and their families the very best for 2025.
The changing over of the calendar also gives us an opportunity to look back on 2024 and forward to what we would like to achieve for our “Shared Second Home” in 2025.
2024 was a year of continued steady progress, coupled with planning for further major improvements in 2025:

• Continuity. We continued on the path of steady physical and financial improvement that we have followed since 2020. While the accounts are not yet in, we do have a good overall view on 2024
  • Our brand new basketball court, fencing and net (Click for a photo of the net; or of the court in use). 
  • Preparation for final stages of repair of the Club’s historic pavillon (built by the British Army in 1946 to replace the old Clubhouse, destroyed by the retreating occupying army). We have relocated the container which had been damaging the Clubhouse and had prevented us from repairing and painting the final 10% of the siding. (Click for photo). This will now be repaired in spring 2025.
  • We expect to be profitable once again: i.e., the Club is generating the funds necessary to funds our day-to-day activities, and the average long-term replacement of our infrastructure
  • An increasingly healthy overall “balance sheet” situation, with debt payments declining
  • Concretely, we can see this in continued investments
  • A re-launch of our social media presence (particularly Instagram)
• Planning for 2025
  • Members approved the pool project and financing in June 2024: there has been much work behind the scenes to complete the project financing, obtain the necessary authorisations, and begin the work. (Click for photo)
  • Plans for increased activity at the Club (as voted for at the AGM), with initial steps around children’s activities.
  • Padel: the Padel sub-committee is hard at work and will lead to recommendations for discussions at our 2025 AGM.

What, therefore, do we hope to achieve in 2025? 3 items are on top of the MC agenda.

• Pool, pool, pool and pool. We are looking forward to re-opening our pool for this year’s season. This is a €400K investment which will provide joy to Members for decades to come.
• Activities.
  • You may already have noticed additional “family friendly” activities. Sarah has brought new leadership and energy to this vital work, with more planned for this year.
  • Bar and Restaurant: More activity as we improve food offerings.
  • Cleaning: A new approach, with an external provider who is giving us much-imporved service service. This has also freed up the apartment previously occupied by our on-site cleaner, with potential to convert this space for wider use.
  • Front desk: Increased staffing levels over the spring and summer months.
• New international Members. The new pool will provide a great excuse for a party and a chance for us all to show off our “Shared Second Home”. With a new pool, 5 new tennis courts, and a new basketball court, we will again have facilities to be proud of.

Bridge News - concluding 2024

To finish off this year's bridge here are the details of the 2 books that Jenny strongly recommends and the corrections to December's Quiz:
    Bien En hérir en Défense de Michel Bessis et Norbert Lébely (chez Le Bridgeur, 2012)
    - the title speaks for itself
    2 Faible et Dépendances de Veronique et Michel Bessis (chez Le Bridgeur, 2007)
    - covers the "Weak Two openings" + defence against them, and the strong "2 Club" and "2 Diamond" openings.
Please click here for the correction of December's quiz.

Squash News - 2024/5 summary

MESSAGE is offering free access to their next Message Talk

Message (messageparis.org), France's largest English-speaking parent organization is pleased to offer SAC members free entry to their next Message Talk: Is your Child Writing at Grade Level in English?

This informative webinar will be led by Rebecca Gulka, a multi-certified teacher and literacy specialist. Rebeca has taught iGCSE, the Canadian curriculum, Education Nationale curriculum and prepares students for IB, A Level, and OIB /BFI examinations. Basically, she teaches children of all ages the joy of writing and how to do it effectively.

When: 9 Jan 2025; Time: 8:30-9:30 PM;  Discount code: SACmember

Bridge News - 10 December Tournament Results

Please click here for Tuesday's Section results and the Nationwide "Ronde de France" results.
It was great to have 7 complete tables. Congratulations go to Ghislaine and Raphael, 1st in NS with 65.23%, but also to Jenny and Marie-Helene, who came 2nd with 64.71%; and in East-West: Jane and Yves, 1st with 54.34% (but 61.67% at the SAC) and 2nd Claude and Dougie with 51.75% (SAC: 58.75%) and very close 3rds Richard and Leon with 51.68% (SAC: 61.25%). As promised, there will be a prize for the 2nd to last pair: Christiane and Linda.

Taekwondo News - Belts ceremony 7 December

We attended the “Belts Grading” (Belts promotion) ceremony of our Taekwondo students at the Lavoisier gymnasium in Paris on Saturday 7 December. 
Congratulations to everyone for your success and your new belt.
Click here for a picture of the event.

Taekwondo News - 2024/2025 Season

Two courses have now been set up: :
* For children born between 2017 and 2020: classes on Saturdays from 1:45 p.m. to 2:45 p.m.
* For children born between 2006 and 2016: classes on Saturdays from 12:45 p.m. to 1:45 p.m.
Please use this link to register your children for the 2024/2025 season and pay the fees:
https://www.helloasso.com/associations/taekwondo-club-saint-germain-paris/adhesions/inscription-tkd-csg-2024-25
A reduction code is available for SAC members - see the Taekwondo WhatsApp group.
A paper registration form is also available here.

Golf Autumn Vase 12 October 2024 Report

Despite the terrible weather leading up to this weekend, the course was in good condition and the rain just about held off on the day.
The Autumn Vase is for Best Net Score and this year was won by Gil Anceaux from Villarceaux with 38 points.
Notable SAC member performances:
  • For the Ladies Sue Hall was a triple winner with best Gross, longest drive on the 4th, and closest to the pin on the 9th.
  • Muriel Jones won best Ladies' Net on 35 pts. Tied with Sue, but with a better back 9.
  • Emile Freiha was second in the Men’s 2nd Series Net with 35 points, while David Colson was 3rd on 34
  • Ian Jones was 2nd in the Men’s 3rd Series Net.
See the full scores on the FFG website:
https://pages.ffgolf.org/resultats/resultats-details/e72c369c55c27a3a89c56cf861f3b0ac/2401278846

Children - please keep an eye on them...

Just a reminder for parents and grandparents to please keep an eye on their children/grandchildren in the playroom and tidy up after them. After 6 pm last Saturday the playroom was essentially vandalized (click for a photo). We do appreciate that the majority are already taking responsibility of their children but we do notice that some parents/grandparents are letting children run wild in there. 

Squash News - November/December

Click for some photos of snow taken on Thursday 21 Nov