Newsletter
January 2008
I hope that you have all had a good break over the Christmas period and are looking forward to an enjoyable, challenging and successful year of tennis at Telford Park.
It seems quite strange to think that this time last year we still hadn’t officially taken possession of the Club House and the builders were working away in the mud bath which is now our well christened terrace.
Happily, the builders did move out in time for us to enjoy the benefits of the new building for most of the year and what a cracking year it was. The first of many, many more to be enjoyed.
Thank you to all those members who took the time to complete the Survey last Autumn. Those of you at the Annual General Meeting in November will have seen Joe Steel’s excellent presentation of the results. All members were sent a summary via email (and a hard copy is available in the Clubhouse) which we hope that you found interesting.
The feedback from the Survey will provide the Board with useful input for its plans for the Club over the next few years.
This year we have a lot to look forward to. Further details on all of these items can be found below, but here is a taster of a few things happening at the moment:
Our new Head Coach, Charles Morris, is already making an impact, with new initiatives for junior and adult players and he and Derek Hanby (Club Captain) will be planning some interesting competitions and social events for the Spring and Summer.
If you have made it to the Club in the last couple of weeks you will have noticed the tree pruning, court cleaning and new nets. Further improvements are planned in March.
We are indebted to Paul Newman, who in a rash moment volunteered to create a website for the Club. We are delighted that this went live on Saturday. Paul will continue to develop the site while we incorporate more information and useful areas for Members to use.
The IT theme continues with another of this year’s priorities; an on-line booking system. Joe Steel has agreed to Chair a sub-committee charged with securing an appropriate system as soon as possible.
Finally, if this all sounds like thirsty work, there are plans being hatched to get the bar up and running on a more regular basis and to complete the fitting out of the bar itself and seating areas.
I hope that this has all helped to whet your appetite. The membership subscription renewal forms will be sent out in March and as per last year, we will be asking for all subs to be paid by April 1st so that any spare spaces can be offered promptly to new members. A full plan of dates for your diary will be sent with the renewal. Information will also be regularly updated on the website. In the meantime, please read on for further details of the above initiatives and current events.
Wishing you a Happy New Year!
Brigid Clarke
Chairman
Board Responsibilities
Following the AGM in November we are delighted to welcome 3 new members to the Board: Andrew McAuliffe, Caroline de St. Quentin and Joe Steel. Our thanks to Sally Cole who stepped down from the Board in November and also to Stella Jack who although no longer a Board Member will still attend meetings in her capacity as Life President of the Club.
The responsibilities for the Forthcoming year are:
Board Members:
| Life President | Stella Jack |
| Club Chair | Brigid Clarke |
| Secretary | Peter Walters |
| Treasurer | Andrew McAuliffe |
| Strategic Planning | Joe Steel |
| Competitive Tennis | Caroline de St Quentin |
| Coaching | Brendan Beith |
| Social | Caroline Vincent |
| Courts and Grounds | John Yarnold |
| School & Local Liason | Alex Tatham |
Others:
| Club Captain | Derek Hanby |
| Head Coach | Charles Morris |
| Club Administrator | Juliet Griffiths |
The more beady eyed of you will have noticed a few changes to the Board job descriptions. In particular it is worth explaining that the Strategic Planning role will involve developing and implementing a plan for the Club’s future using the Survey results as a starting point. The Playing Committee role has been replaced by a representative for Competitive Tennis. The remit includes the Surrey League teams, Club Championships, all internal and external competition and liaison with the Club Captain and Head Coach.
Coaching
Hopefully you will all have received details of the junior and adult coaching programmes for the Spring term via E-mail. Details can be found on the website and are displayed in the Club House. For further information on any coaching matter please do contact Charles Morris on 07736068375 or at the Club: 0208 674 5979 or by e-mail: coaching@telfordparktennisclub.co.uk
Competition
Congratulations to Neil Cuninghame who finished top of the Men’s ladder for 2007. If you would like to be included in the next Men’s ladder please add your name to the list or let Derek Hanby or Charles Morris know.
The Spring Ladies superset will begin soon, this time with 3 divisions. Full details of the competition are on the notice board by the kitchen – please add your name to the list or Email Juliet if you would like to enter. Closing date for entries is 3rd Feb.
Advance date for your diary: The Club Championship will run from 4th – 21st June. Finals day Saturday 21st.
As the website gets going you should be able to find an increasing amount of information about forthcoming internal and external competitions there as well as results.
Finally it is worth mentioning the considerable success of Telford members in the Winter Ron Grey leagues. The following all gained promotion:
Rod Smith – winner A2
Cecely Holliday - winner C2
Mark Franke – winner E1
Andrea Kay – winner E2
June Hanby – winner F1
Tim Clarke – runner-up B2
Ella Griffiths – runner-up F1
Well done to all, and good luck for the forthcoming league.
Website
As you can see we still have some areas to add but you can get the idea of what a huge asset it is going to be.
Coming soon:
Details of all programmes
Junior section
Newsletters
Regular updates
Members only section
Webcam
Links to tennis news and much more.
Our thanks again to Paul Newman for putting it all together for us, and to his partner for all her typing. Definitely beyond the call of duty!
Social
A massive thanks to Caroline Vincent and the fabulous Social Committee for a hugely enjoyable Christmas party. It was great to see so many contributing food. Thanks also to Chris Evans for lending us his Karaoke machine. Actually Chris, it might be worth mentioning that it did seem to be a bit out of tune when I had a go – not sure whether there is anything that can be done about that for next year…
A sub-committee has taken on the task of getting the bar up and running on a more regular basis. In the meantime, access to the bar will be broadened to include, board members, team captains and a select few prepared to take responsibility for running the bar on a regular basis at specific times.
As soon as the keys have been distributed a full list of holders will be displayed for members to refer to.
The Social Committee organise a number of events throughout the year but this still leaves plenty of time for other Club social events. If you have an idea for something that you would be prepared to organise for members we would be delighted to hear from you. Please talk to Juliet in the first instance. Examples might be a table tennis tournament, tennis quiz, themed evening….
A full calendar of events for the year will be published in March,
Courts & Grounds
Following the cleaning of courts 1-5, courts 1 &2 are going to be repainted, surface and lines. This is scheduled for March when the air temperature should be warmer. The court surfaces are now of an age whereby an annual maintenance programme is needed. More significant works such as the repainting will be done on a rotating basis.
Similarly, the recent tree pruning is nearly complete. This is done every 5 or so years to keep growth under control. Although the impact looks fairly severe at the moment, it won’t be long until the trees are in leaf again.
Floodlight Tokens
We know that many of you have been frustrated when hoping to buy floodlight tokens and we are trying to simplify the process. One of our main problems is that all the machines that we can find to dispense tokens cost a ridiculous amount of money. Likewise, the cost of changing the lighting board to a free system is also prohibitive.
For the time being, tokens can be purchased from the office when open (Juliet Griffiths and Charles Morris), the bar, June Hanby or Keith Browning (Club sessions). If you arrive at the Club and there is no one here, the Tillson family keep a stock for sale at 62 Killieser Avenue. If you know in advance that you need tokens, you can e-mail Juliet at admin@telfordparktennisclub.co.uk and she will arrange to leave some in a safe place for you.
We appreciate that this system is not ideal, but hope that you will be able to find at least one source that works for you.
Final Word
Two last things to draw your attention to:
Firstly we would like to have a weekend set aside for a spring clean of the Club House and Grounds. The suggested date is the weekend of 12th /13th April. We need as many volunteers as possible to cover tasks such as cleaning, painting, gardening – just about anything that you can think of. It would be really nice to get a good team of people together so, even if it’s just for a couple of hours please add your name to the list or e-mail Juliet with any time that you can donate.
Finally, a plea from the neighbours: When leaving the Club at night, please don’t forget that they may already be tucked up in bed so PLEASE move on quickly and keep the noise down.
MANY THANKS FOR READING THIS. DON’T FORGET TO CHECK THE WEBSITE REGULARLY & WE LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING YOU AT THE CLUB.