UK Racketlon is devastated to learn of the passing of Lee Gregson. Whether in the way he conducted himself on court or his efforts organising the UK Tour, Lee personified everything that makes Racketlon a great sport to play.
Based out of The Northern in Manchester, Lee quickly became a regular at events across the North as well as in our national events. On the UK Tour he claimed three titles, the Men’s B title at the 2016 Staffordshire Open (defeating son Will in the final!), and a brace of back to back Men’s C titles at the 2018 and 2019 Richard Lawrence Opens. On the World Tour Lee claimed two titles. In a Racketlon sense, the highlight would be the World Tour Mixed O45s title at the IWT Malta Open in 2019. Partnering the indomitable Esther Dubendorfer from Switzerland they won the O45s Mixed title winning every sport in their matches. However, I would assume that his personal highlight would have been winning the 2016 Men’s E Doubles title at the CHA English Open, as he was playing with his son Will. They faced Robbie Wong and Sam Wilson in the final. Three down into tennis the Father and Son due squeaked a 21-18 tennis set to require a gumi-arm. They won to claim that title. Lee, Will and gumi-arms, we’ll come back to that topic….
Lee was capped twice for Team GB, playing in the GB4 side in the Challenge Cup at the 2019 World Championships in Leipzig. It was a baptism of fire, debuting vs India 1 in their first international match where Lee played Adarsh Narayanaswamy at Men’s singles 2 (he did win the tennis) before helping the team secure a final standing of 5th as he teamed up with Joel Durston in the doubles rubber against India 2.
But Lee had a greater impact on the UK Racketlon community as well being a player. He ran several events at the Northern club in Manchester, usually the North West Open tantalising players with the opportunity to play grass court tennis, which were always supremely friendly tournaments as Team Gregson banded together to ensure all players had a great day. But, even if you never played at The Northern, Lee played a crucial role in all our Racketlon experiences, as he was Tour Officer between 2019 and 2023. One of the toughest jobs in Racketlon, Lee helped ensure that we were all served with a great array of events and venues up and down the country, as well as supporting new tournament directors in their journey and ensuring that the logistical challenges of equipment and barriers was always sorted.
Administration, tournament direction, World Tour winner and…. dancer. Because for many of us, one day in 2017 will provide us with our abiding memory of Lee. The 2017 European Team Championships in Vienna. GB U16s 1s were in the final. With Hungary and GB U16s 2s having both beaten Austria 2, they played an effective semi-final in the last match in Group B. It was a fantastic encounter all the way as Botand Francia & Balazs Szalay faced Ross Wilson & Will Gregson. At the halfway stage the Hungarians were 17 points up, with a maximum of 66 remaining in the tie, but Ross and Will dragged it back. They were 3 down into the final doubles tennis rubber, and they came home 11-8, the tie was all square, it was a gumi-arm. Shirley Barre captured the drama for those of us back in the UK (the whole Europeans were over 10 days that year) and joy abounded in the UK and Vienna as Ross and Will won. But the real joy was captured in Lee. With a smile as wide as his face, he danced his heart out in joy at the boys performance, celebrating them in a fun and friendly way, and for UK Racketlon ‘Dancing’ Lee Gregson was born. For me it captured the essence of Lee, he was competitive yet friendly, a proper sporting gentleman, who took joy in others, from his son to all his friends in Racketlon.
Ultimately the sport of Racketlon is built on people like Lee. They are not the superstars of the game, but they provide the infrastructure and the environment for those stars to shine and for the sport to continue growing and thriving. Lee will be greatly missed by all of us in Racketlon, both here in the UK and across the global community. Our thoughts are with Will and the rest of the Gregson family at this time.
Written by UK Racketlon Secretary James Pope, on behalf of the UK Racketlon Community.
