Spring Newsletter 2023 16th March 2023 Easter Holiday Camp Grand National Social Tournament Play Your Way to Wimbledon Tournament Coaching Update
Dear Members 2023 has seen a lot of tennis already and we are loving it. We started with fun and mince pies with the Frosty Tournament where all 6 courts were in use and more. The club nights are going well, and congratulations to all the teams taking part in the Bucks League as well as the Farnham Common Winter League there are some great wins taking place, yes as well as some tough matches.
This latest newsletter is packed as always so please read through to the end. Coaching Update Easter tennis camp for Juniors: Monday 3rd April - Thursday 6th April Grand National Social Tournament: Saturday 15th April 2pm - 4.45pm Play Your Way to Wimbledon: Saturday 13th May Details TBC Fundraising update Court 5 and 6 resurfacing Ball Machine back ready for use Clubspark court booking now linked to Stripe for non member fees Farnhams Magazine highlight Singles Ladder See you all on the courts very soon - won't be needing those floodlights for much longer is the good news. Won't be long before our very own Club Championships start. Please pencil in the first weekend in September for the Club champs finals. Much more info to follow on that in due course.
Coaching update
As you will have all seen, Matt has been an incredibly visible and popular coach. The number of hours of coaching each week have gone up hugely in 2023 and he continues to add new sessions due to demand. As we shared previously, his contract was an interim role through to the end of April while we managed the transition seamlessly.
We would have liked Matt to continue with us given how well received his coaching has been, but instead we are going to congratulate him on a huge promotion that he's received from Mark Warner, Matt will be returning to them in May as Activities Manager for the whole of his previous resort. Congratulations Matt!
Our open position is live on the LTA website, we have had an excellent response and are already actively interviewing candidates. The committee is confident we will be able to secure another coach just as capable and popular as Matt has been. Please be reassured we will be working towards yet another seamless transition during this period. Matt will be working as normal for the next 2 months through to the end of April. If you do have any questions at all please approach Aman for Juniors and Chair Peter for senior tennis
In the last 2 weeks alone, Matt has added another Intermediate midweek group lesson, and starting Thursday 16th March there will be an advanced teenager group session taking place from 5-6pm. If you want either a private lesson or suggestions for a group lesson please do let him know.
The Tuesday night team training from 7pm - 8.30pm has been a highlight of the last 2 months, with the results definitely showing up in our confidence and ability. It's been super to see some of the older juniors participating regularly too. Here you can see a very committed set of team players in zero degrees just a couple of weeks ago.
Easter tennis camp Coach Matt will be running a tennis camp Monday 3rd April - Thursday 6th April. Full days are from 10-4pm and half days are also available. Details below, camps are always very popular so please contact Matt directly to get your child booked in as soon as possible.
Grand National Social Tournament: Saturday 15th April Please put the date in your diary now for this annual favourite!
Plan is the same as last year, eg registration and warm up at 2pm, play will start promptly at 2.15pm. We hope to play 5 or 6 rounds before 4.45pm at which point we will declare winners, and move to the clubhouse to watch the race at 5.15pm with non players of course welcome.
As before and just like the Frosty Tournament in January, it will be a handicapped event where you will have the chance to play up to 6 short matches with different partners and opponents. There is no need to come with a partner. Juniors 14 and over who feel capable of playing in a tournament with adults are most welcome. There will be a small fee of £3.50 to cover the cost of balls, prizes and entry to the Grand National draw.
Please note this is open to absolutely everyone from beginner upwards. It will be fun and the handicap system will quickly ensure everyone is having a great game and some fun.
If there is anyone who is injured and can’t play but would be happy to come along and help keep track of scores, that is always very much appreciated.
Whilst pre-registering is not essential (and you can decide on the day) if you do definitely plan to attend, do confirm in one of the Whatsapp groups where this is also posted as planning will be easier if we know our numbers.
Please note, due to the expected popularity of this we will be booking all 6 courts for that time.
Play Your Way to Wimbledon Saturday 13th May (Details TBC) We are considering hosting this LTA event this year. It is being run across the country from March through to 4th June. After that stage then there will be county finals with ultimately the winners having the chance to play on the courts at Wimbledon!
This really just our way of getting some more friendly match play in for everyone so we do hope all levels will join in, please be reassured you don't need to be playing for one of the teams already. We are currently deciding if it should be for members only or if it will be open for non members to join as well.
We have chosen Saturday 13th May amongst a very busy fixtures schedule. Judy D'Arcy and the rest of the social committee will be very kindly helping us pull this together so this is a save the date at this stage for you while we figure the details. The format is likely to be what the LTA is calling Fast4 where the matches will be sped up - if you want to learn more about that format (it was new to your newsletter editor) click https://www.lta.org.uk/play/how-to-get-started/rules-scoring/ and look for Fast4.
Categories will be: - Girls 14U Singles - Boys 14U Singles - Adult Ladies Doubles - Adult Mens Doubles
We suggest parents and senior doubles players put this in the diary and for the seniors find your partners! We will send out more information in a specific mail in due course and of course publicise it on our WhatsApp groups and Facebook page.
There is a tiny bit of admin anyone not already playing matches will need to do is ensure you have an LTA logon and World Tennis Number - all of which are free and if you're booking courts via Clubspark you already have the LTA logon. Please follow these steps to obtain your personal number. Go to https://www.lta.org.uk/ Choose COMPETE from the drop down box at the top of the screen Choose World Tennis Number and Ranking You will come to a page the explains the World Tennis Number and half way down - press the link on point 2 - My Game Dashboard Answer the 5 questions and submit. You now have your World Tennis Number.
Fundraising update The club has some exciting plans and ambitions ahead, including improved facilities, youth development and much much more. Thank you to Tim Needham who has thrown himself into this project so fully.
To bring these plans to life we will looking to put the ‘FUN’ into FUNdraising. As a community club, It will be fantastic to get as many people involved as possible whether members, neighbours, parents, friends or family. Watch this space for more news as we launch our FUNdraising program.
Court 5 and 6 resurfacing and Ball Machine update The bottom two courts will be resurfaced after Easter, once the weather has settled down. We will let you know the exact dates closer to the time, but they will be out of action for 4-6 weeks.
We are pleased to confirm that the ball machine is available again. Huge thanks to Alan Polding for his perseverance with the manufacturer to troubleshoot the right thing to get it working again (a motherboard in case you're interested!).
There will be an annual fee of £10 for usage which can be paid through the online membership system now. If you would like to be trained on how to use it safely then please contact Alan via [email protected], Maggie and Ivan are also volunteering as trainers and can be contacted via [email protected] and [email protected]
Guest fees: Online payments now taken via Stripe Sue our membership secretary has worked incredibly hard behind the scenes to connect the Clubspark account to Stripe.
This means when you are booking a court via Clubspark and have a guest playing the payment can be made online, saving all those trips to the bar to make payment. You can of course go to the bar for a drink, we're not stopping you! Instructions were sent out in the recent email but here for ease: - When you book a court on Clubspark, add a participant and add the non member name(s) - Save and Continue booking - Make payment - the fee is £3 per hour per guest. You can invite the same guest 4 times a year, before we expect them to join. Non members who are thinking of joining the club can try up to 3 different club sessions for free before joining.
Singles Ladder Andy has re-set the Singles ladder to start again for the Spring so if you'd like to be involved please contact him directly via [email protected] to get your name added.
Farnhams Magazine feature See our page in the Spring issue here, nice write up thank you to all involved. We were approached via Facebook as our FB page is quite active - don't forget to follow us on Facebook via https://www.facebook.com/groups/2363389568 if you're not already and share your updates and pictures.