string of posts he held with the sport's governing body.

As well as being the voice of tennis in the media as spokesman for the Bermuda Lawn Tennis Association, Lambert was schools co-ordinator and Shell Challenge organiser, and he also served on the National Select Committee and Junior Development Board.

Lambert, the director of tennis at Elbow Beach, gave work commitments as the reasons behind a decision he had made reluctantly.

On Wednesday, he was working so late with clients at the hotel that he was unable to attend the BLTA annual general meeting and later this week he made public his decision to quit.

"I am doing this with regret because there are so many things I had planned to do,'' said Lambert, who joined the BLTA executive six years ago and served as president for three years.

"But if I can't get to meetings like the AGM, then I can't say what's going on. And if I can't do the job people rely on me to do then I would rather someone else did it.

"There comes a time when you have to go for your personal goals and top of my list now is to fulfil my role as director of tennis at Elbow, which is very demanding and I'm putting in a lot of time on court.'' Lambert's announcement came just hours after Colin Smith had been re-elected BLTA president for a second term at the AGM, but he made it clear there was no coincidence.

"In an organisation like the BLTA, there will always be differences of opinion, but I have a lot of confidence in the people on the executive -- they are smart people with an in-depth knowledge of the sport,'' said Lambert.

The junior clinic at the Bermuda Open earlier this month, which attracted 92 youngsters and involved top players Richey Reneberg and Karsten Braasch and was organised by Lambert, was the sort of event which gave him most satisfaction.

But he said what he would miss most was the camaraderie of the people who shared his passion for tennis.

Lambert will remain on the BLTA executive as immediate past president for as long as Smith is president and the affable 43-year-old insisted he would return to a more involved role in the future.

"I think I will return, but I can't say when and I'll never close the door,'' he added.

Smith said he had been sorry to hear of Lambert's decision: "It is a blow for the BLTA to lose someone of David's energy and devotion, who has given so much time and effort to the sport.'' Choosing a new schools co-ordinator would be high on the agenda of an executive meeting next week, added Smith.

"His positions on the National Select Committee and the Junior Development Board should be easier to cover because those committees are larger in size, so his involvement with them was less critical.'' David Lambert