April 2021 Newsletter Dear Members I'm sure you're all as pleased as the committee to have been back playing tennis since we re-opened on the 29th March. There has been so much play this April: Club nights, social play, ever popular kids Easter camps and much more. And of course the Main Bar opened on the 12th April and seems to be rather popular.
The committee would also like to welcome all the new members that joined in the last month, Sue and the membership team have been extremely busy with over 20 new members in the last month alone.
We have plenty for you to read about in this newsletter: Spring social tournament results Singles ladders latest Booking system update Court repainting 3&4 Ball machine seen in action Fixtures reminder Coach's corner Wimbledon update Please continue to keep an eye on our facebook group for the latest news outside of these newsletters: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2363389568. Simon Bailey has done some great work on the website recently so you should be able to access the newsletters and see more of the latest there too.
Finally - though it all feels as though we are approaching normal please remember to abide by the LTA rules social distancing, no more than one person or household in the pavilion at a time and please use the hand sanitiser. As of writing the bar is open, table service only for groups of 6 or one household per table.
If you still need to join for this year, or wish to rejoin please go to https://fcsc.org.uk/
Spring Social Tournament
Last Sunday, the 25th of April, we were able to run our first social tournament in a very long time. 12 ladies and 8 gentleman attended and played over two hours of tennis rotating between partners and opposition trying to win as many games as possible across 6 x 15 minute matches. The format enabled members the opportunity to play with people they’ve not played with before and the handicapped format meant all matches remained competitive.
Congratulations to Sandra Buckeldee and Andrew Davidson who emerged as victors of the women’s and men’s contests both winning 22 games throughout the afternoon. Pictured enjoying a well earned socially distanced drink at the club bar afterwards - thirsty work running around in the sun all afternoon.
We hope to run another social tournament in the early summer and that people who weren’t able attend this one will be able to join. Thanks to Andy who arranged and co-ordinated everything as well as managing to play and do so well!
Booking system latest
The FastCourt booking system trial has gone extremely well and we will be continuing with this going forward. The feedback has been very positive. You may of course just turn up and play but if a member has booked the court you are playing on they have priority and may ask you to move to a different court.
The Cricket section has now also moved to join our booking system as well so you will have seen an email announcing that the booking system is now under the umbrella of Farnham Common Sports Club and with a new link, please check your email if you are having any issues with booking or contact Sue Salmon [email protected].
Court booking is for members only, please remember to add all the players onto the booking. If members want to invite a guest to play with them, please choose guest one, (plus guest two if there are 2 guests), from the "add a player" drop down box and pay the £5 per guest fee directly to the sport club account: Name of account Farnham Common Sports Club Type of account Business a/c no 65514188 sort code 08-92-99 reference Guest fee and your surname
Please list all the players when you book a court. If they are child members who are not on the system, just pick child one, child two from the drop down box.
Singles ladders
The Farnham Common Men’s Tennis Ladder started on April 1st with 20 entered and since then two more have joined making a total of 22 players who are keen to get involved in some friendly competition.
As of 28th April 20 matches have been played and 15 have been won by the person challenging upwards meaning lots of people moving up and down and hence opportunities for players to play different people (often who they’ve never played with before). We plan to continue the ladder running until the early autumn and people can join anytime so please do contact Andrew Davidson ([email protected]) if you are interested in getting involved.
There are a number of ladies in a separate singles ladder, please let Maggie Southerden know if you want to join them.
Courts 3 and 4 repainting 13th / 14th May Exciting update, Courts 3 & 4 will be re-painted by Colourcourt Ltd on 13/14th May. The courts will be thoroughly cleaned and then re-painted with dark green playing area and light green run backs.
Although the painting should only take a couple of days, these courts will be out of use from 13th-21st May to allow time for the paint to harden properly, they will not be available to book. But will be ready just in time for half term!
Ball machine in action
We shared the photo of our ball machine in it's new home in the Pavilion last newsletter. Delighted now to announce it's made a few appearances at club evenings. Your newsletter Editor can personally confirm it's very simple - you alone are in control and it's an amazing way of practicing shots. £10 annual fee for hire and please ensure you've had a briefing on how to use it beforehand. Contact Alan Polding [email protected] if you haven't been briefed. Note - it's a 2 person job to get it out of the cupboard and Pavilion, over 18's only.
Here's Maggie our Ladies Captain setting it up one club night - took her less than 5 mins before the machine was in action - easy peasy. Check out our Facebook group for a video of the machine in action.
New member play
As well as the new members we have already welcomed, we have a consistent number of potential new members. We are very welcoming as you know, some prospective members have joined the club evenings which has been great to see. If you do know of anyone interested in joining please remind them they are welcome to join us for a hit with a committee member if they would prefer that to a club evening.
Fixtures
Matches have now started again. Looking forward to seeing how we perform in the next few weeks!
If you would like to play in a team and haven't been in one before, please contact Maggie Southerden [email protected] as the Ladies Captain or Paul Morgan as Mens Captain to express your interest.
Coach's Corner If you think the adults have been glad to be back on the courts since the 29th March - the children were even more excited if that's possible! Stephen and his coaching team did a wonderful job with 3 weeks of Easter camps, all Covid regulation compliant resulting in a great coaching to attendee ratio. Easter camp photo below.
The next camp is the May half term camp. Details below:
May Half Term Tennis Camp - 31st May - 4th June Venue: Farnham Common Tennis Club Times: 10am-4pm or 10am-1pm (half day) Cost: £199 members, £211.50 non-members weekly rate £120 members, £132.50 non-members weekly half day £50 members, £52.50 non-members daily rate £30 members, £32.50 non-members half daily rate
Stephen's coaches are DBS checked, first aid trained, and suitably qualified and experienced to run our camps. Children between 5-16 years can attend and will be placed into appropriate groups.
Places are on a first come, first served basis. Numbers are limited due to Covid. If you would like to book please constant Stephen at: [email protected]
Wimbledon update
With the weather recently we're all getting ready for strawberries - so great to hear confirmation that Wimbledon is on!