The Good, The Bad and The Ugly
No, not a film review but the next Bishop Sutton Tennis Club Newsletter. Read on and all will become clear!
First The Good:
Well overall not a bad summer weather-wise and plenty of tennis under our belt. It was great to see the success of our national players crowned by Murray's double success at Wimbledon and Rio. Closer to home the BSTC Junior and Senior Teams have had a good summer season:
Juniors
The development of our Mini and Junior teams has reflected the growth of the Club's tennis programme both in terms of participation and results. We entered 8 teams, involving 50 players, in the Avon Junior Winter League and 12 teams, involving an incredible 70 players, in AEGON Team Tennis 2016 - more teams and more players than any other club in Avon!
In the Winter League our U9 Mixed, U12 Boys and U18 Girls teams all won their divisions. In AEGON Team Tennis both our U8 Teams won their respective Divisions, as did our U14 Boys Team. Well done to all who took part and a huge thank you to all the volunteer Parent Captains without whom this would not have been possible.
Seniors
It's been another great summer for the eight Adult League Teams in the Avon LTA Summer League. We have had 32 players each Friday evening for the 10 weeks of the season and so thanks to them for representing the Club so well and for all the great tennis! We have had a wonderful summer in terms of results and five teams have won promotion, with three winning their divisions and three will stay in their current divisions. No relegations for us this year!
The men's teams have performed really well. The first team had a tough time in Division 3 but finished 4th to stay up, despite this Nathan Hawkins came 2nd in the statistics table out of 55 players in the Division. The men's 2nd and 3rd teams both won their Divisions with 5 players from each team in the top ten players for each Division. The men's 4th team also gained promotion and narrowly missed out on winning the Division but will enjoy life in Division 7 next year.
The ladies have also had an excellent 2016 summer season. The first team won division 3A with matches to spare. Jane Heeley and Nic Scott were the top two players in the statistics for all 61 players in that Division - a great achievement. The ladies 2nd and 3rd teams were both promoted last season and both finished a very respectable 3rd in their new Divisions. The 3rds missed out on a promotion spot by four games on the last night of the season! The ladies 4th team also had a very successful season, finishing 2nd and securing promotion to Division 5 next season. Rachel Waldock finished in the top 5 statistics out of a whopping 86 players.
So we look forward to the LTA presentation evening with three trophies to collect. Thanks from me to the 64 players who played 5927 games for the Club this summer and to the volunteer Captains who organised all the matches on a weekly basis. If you would be keen to play for one of our league teams do please get in touch. There are practice sessions through the year, pre-season coaching, and opportunities to play mixed in the winter league; all great ways to meet more players and above all play more tennis!
Social
On the social side Mark Hunter and his team have continued a run of successful events. The Summer Bash held at the local village hall in July was a great evening and bodes well for future, an annual signature event.
The next date for your diary is another quiz night in the Clubhouse on the 25th November - look out for the posters.
We are also hosting a Macmillan Coffee Morning on Friday 30th September, from 10.30am. Please drop in to support this event; there will be cakes, and Phoenix cards and crafts for sale. If you want to play some tennis to burn off the cakes, please bring your racket too!
Coaching
The coaching programme has been going well and we were pleased to get Fleur Wilcox back into coaching again after a few years break - she provides a great role model for any young girls looking to learn tennis. She is also taking her level 2 coaching qualification this September so we wish her well with that. We also welcome Dan Church, a level 2 coach who has joined the coaching and three new level 1 coaches starting this term; Oliver Lowe, William Rogers and Anthony Haywood.
Hopefully the commitment, time and energy that our coaches are putting in will reward the club, tennis generally and the individuals coached. On that note Jasper Pover won the County Closed U9's tournament with Max Culverhouse coming a respectable third - well done guys!
Now the Bad & The Ugly!!
I guess it falls on me and the committee every now and then to point out some of the issues around the Club. I would not want to overplay these because on the whole we are in good shape and the Club and its members respectively enjoy our great facilities provided at competitive rates.
Visitors
It is clear that there are a number of members who have forgotten we are a membership Club and that any visitors that they bring to the Club must be signed in and the £5 visitor fee paid. Sons, daughters, parents or friends of members who are not members themselves are not entitled to use the facilities unless they pay a visitors fee. They can bring the same visitor up to a maximum of four times a year.
Non Members Using Courts
We also have examples of people who are not with members, who have just walked in and used the facilities. All of our members should be aware of the possibility and not feel shy to ask people whether they are members. If they are not then they should be asked to leave immediately. As a club member if you are asked if you are a member then please understand that the question is asked in good faith and is just to ensure that our club facilities are preserved for those that fund them.
Food Waste & General Tidiness
Please do not leave food waste in the club. Volunteers clear the bins and on a number of occasions the clubhouse has an unwelcome smell due to food waste being left in the bins overnight or longer. Please take any food waste off site yourself. Also please when you have used the clubhouse or courts tidy up after yourself - there is not a cleaning fairy ever present and it is left to volunteers to clean up your mess.
OK the negative bits over - parents please ensure that you talk to your children about these points.
Hope to see a lot of you at the Club Finals Day.
David Tonkin
Chair BSTC