John and Kerry, Open Doubles Champions 2019 Firstly, a very warm welcome to all of our new members – I think I’ve managed to say ‘hello’ to all of you by now, but if I haven’t, then I’m sure it’s only a matter of time before we bump into each other at the courts. And talking of members, a (hopefully) final reminder to anyone who hasn’t yet paid their subscriptions for 2019 – these are now overdue and it will save us a lot of admin if you can make payment as soon as possible.
It’s been a busy couple of weeks for the Club. We held our Wimbledon ballot on Sunday and firstly I should say a big thank-you to all those who opted in, as we were allocated four pairs of tickets this year rather than the usual two; and well done to the four lucky people who will be heading off to SW19 come the summer – fingers crossed for the weather! We also held our Open Doubles tournament on Friday night, and yes that was the night that it ended up pouring with rain, as Katie, Paul, Linda and Stuart will testify as they unfortunately drew the short straw and played the final match in near dark and extremely wet conditions. But that didn’t dampen the fun and we had 7 pretty evenly matched pairs competing, with yours truly and Kerry running out winners and Louise/Martin and Alan/Mike tying for second place.
The competitions calendar for the year has also just been published. We are now up to 11 competitions that we have to squeeze into the six months from April to September – a lot for a small Club such as ours. There is hopefully something for everyone, and if you are interested in playing in any of the competitions please speak to the organiser and/or keep an eye on the noticeboard in the clubhouse for entry particulars.
We also held a Committee Meeting last week (minutes will be displayed in the clubhouse in due course) where, amongst other things, we reviewed the membership feedback on the subject of entering the ESLTA Vets Leagues. We had 2 responses against playing League matches on a Sunday morning due to the impact on social tennis, and 5 responses in favour of playing League matches on a Sunday morning. After a healthy debate, we took an in-principle decision to continue to support the ESLTA Vets Leagues for both Ladies and Men subject to their being sufficient membership support to field teams. In order to try and offset the concern over lost opportunities for social tennis, we agreed to set aside court time from 8am – 10am for social play on the mornings when League matches are scheduled, as well as to seek to better advertise any cancelled matches. We will also be asking the team Captains to ensure that the wider membership are given the opportunity to put themselves forward for possible selection by putting notices up in the clubhouse well in advance.
On the coaching front, I’m delighted to see the numbers participating in the junior coaching on the increase again, which not only helps in keeping the programme sustainable, but also makes for much more fun for the kids involved. I’m also pleased to see a good take-up for the adult cardio tennis on a Wednesday evening (7.30 – 8.30pm), which is proving to be very popular – and no, there’s no truth in the rumour that a certain Mr Menzies had to get a taxi home after the experience!
And finally, a date for the diary. We’ll be holding a tennis-themed social evening (but you won’t need a racquet!) on Saturday 20th July. More details in due course, but if you happen to have a supply of old/dud tennis balls at home that you don’t mind donating, please hand them in at the clubhouse as we’ll be needing lots of them for what we have in store!
John.
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