BLTC Newsletter: Autumn 2006

Contents

Forthcoming Events

Free Floodlights
Floodlights will be provided free of charge during club sessions in October (see inside), and also at the monthly social supper evenings throughout the winter (see below).
Social Suppers at Club Evenings
There will be two social sessions in October (5th and 19th) with a bring and share supper. From November onwards, there will be one each month on the first Thursday (Nov 2nd, Dec 7th, Jan 4th, Feb 1st, March 1st and April 5th). If you didn't play last winter you will have missed home made soup and chicken curry, so do come along.
Club Tournament 2006/7
Running from November to March. See inside for details and an entry form. The deadline for receipt of entries is 21st October.
Mixed Doubles, Mulled Wine & Mince Pies
Yet more food and drink on a date to be arranged in December. Everyone welcome. Look out for a poster in the pavilion.

Chairman's Report

As the summer season draws to a close, this is a good time to look back at what has been achieved in 2006. At the AGM in April, we were concerned about membership levels, the condition of the courts, and why club sessions were poorly attended, as well as many other things. Six months later, I think the picture looks better than expected.

Thirty-nine new members of all ages have joined the club, giving everyone the opportunity of playing against different players. The courts have stood up well this year, particularly the two top courts which are at the end of their life and badly in need of resurfacing. It looks as if they will last through to next summer, when we should be able to afford to resurface them. The surround fencing has survived but only just. This will definitely need replacing shortly.

Attendance at club sessions was poor at the start of the season, but picked up well in July, particularly in the evenings. For those new members in particular, and those who do not attend the social sessions, these continue throughout the year despite the colder weather. We just put on extra layers!

Congratulations to our team players, and particularly those who played for two of our ladies' teams. You will see from the following team report that they have had a very good year.

One disappointment to me was the cancellation of the last two American tournaments due to lack of support. I would be interested in members' views on these. Would a different day be preferred, or is it just that people do not enjoy playing in these social type tournaments?

Finally, thanks to all my committee members for their hard work this year. Particular thanks to Jess Hutchinson who has decided to stand down from the committee due to other commitments. If anyone else is interested in joining us please contact myself or any other committee member.

Team Reports

The summer leagues have now finished and the Bredon teams have shown once again that they can rise to the challenge.

The men's teams have both held their places in divisions 2a and 3a despite struggling with injuries. The A team finished fourth in their league with 25 points. The B team was close to relegation for a good part of the season, but pulled out all the stops to finish fifth with 19 points and save themselves. A pool of 12 players was used for the matches. Thanks to Anthony Hickling and Tim Troughton for their captaincies during 2005/6.

The ladies faced injuries and maternity leave in the A team and so two of the regular B team players were persuaded to progress to the A team with great success. A new member moved into the area who had played in the higher divisions of the Gloucestershire league. With their commitment to playing almost every match we enjoyed great success by finishing second in division 2a, giving us promotion to division 1 next season. The B team finished fourth on 24 points missing out on second place and promotion by just 2 points in a very close fought league division 3b. For the first time for many years, next season will see our C team progress from the lowest league division. The C team won division 5b with 23 points, having lost just one match. The three ladies' teams played their matches with a pool of 19 players.

We would like to thank all those who played during the season, and would point out that it is not just the playing that they enjoy in team tennis, but also the social time and supper following the matches.

The winter season is now under way. We have entered two teams in the Gloucestershire Mixed League, and one men's team in the East Glos. Winter Floodlit League. Home matches will be on some Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Fixture dates and results can be found on the team noticeboard in the pavilion and also online. Good luck to all our teams for the coming winter season.

Anyone wishing to play team tennis in the future please contact Carol Smith or email .

Juniors and Coaching

Summer Camps

The summer holiday coaching camps were very successful and all the children who took part enjoyed not only improving their tennis skills but other games as well. The interest has given us several new members; not just children, but their parents as well.

Schools Tennis Tournament

On a very hot day in July eight children, aged 9-11, from Bredon Hancock's First School took part in a tournament for first schools at South Littleton Tennis Club. Six boys and two girls attended, all of whom receive coaching at Bredon Tennis Club. After a few warm up exercises, they were randomly divided into groups and played short matches of eight minutes each. The two children with the most points from each group went through to the next round.

Alex Stanghellini, Rory McGuigan, Daniel McGuigan, Dan Barber and Charlotte Rimell were all successful in progressing through to further rounds. There were some super rallies and very close games. Alex Stanghellini took home the runners-up trophy for the boys, only losing out to a very consistent county junior. Charlotte Rimell also played really well, managing to reach the semi-final for the girls. It was a very enjoyable day for all, with some highly entertaining tennis. Well done to all the children who took part.

Weekly Group Coaching

More children than ever are taking advantage of coaching on Mondays, and there is now a waiting list for the red and orange groups. This winter some children from the orange group will have the opportunity to play in a league against other clubs. This will give them their first taste of competitive tennis. There will be four or five matches, indoors at Plock Court in Gloucester, so play will be guaranteed whatever the weather.

Full details of coaching available at the club can be found online.

Annual Quiz

This year's Quiz 'A Little of What You Fancy' focussed our attention on sweets. Members were spotted gazing at jars of sweets in the old fashioned sweet shop in Church Street and scanning supermarket shelves. First prize went to the Derret family, Viv Macrae came second and Daphne Turner third. Answers can be found on the noticeboard in the pavilion. We hope to have another quiz in the New Year.

Use of Floodlights

Just a reminder on the use of floodlights during the winter months. The lights are operated by tokens at a cost of £2 per half hour per court. These can be obtained from Maggie Warren, Colin Smith, Linda Whittaker, and Helen Townsend. The meters are in the locked cupboard in the pavilion which can be opened using the main pavilion key. The lighting charges are not just to cover the electricity but also the replacement cost of bulbs which are very expensive.

Once the clocks change, there is a court booking folder in the pavilion that you can use to book courts for tennis other than social tennis nights. This is used particularly for the club tournament and any other privately arranged matches for which you can book sessions of up to one and a half hours. Existing commitments such as coaching, club sessions and mixed doubles matches will be marked as unavailable. Please ensure that you use any times you have booked, as it as it can be frustrating to find all the courts booked but then not being used.

Floodlights are free at club sessions in October. However they still need to be turned on. If there are no token holders present, use your own tokens and write in the attendance book how many you have used. Your tokens will then be refunded by Maggie Warren.

From November, lighting at club sessions will need to be paid for in the normal manner. Players are asked to play for about 25 minutes per match instead of one set. Whoever puts the token in then in collects 50p from each of the other three players. Please remember to leave the courts promptly so that the next group can put their token in and start playing. If the lights do go out, they will not turn on for about 15 minutes to avoid damaging the bulbs.

Club Tournament 2006/7

The club tournament this year will run from November to mid March, and is open to members of all standards (including juniors) who feel that they are able to play full three-set matches.

The finals' weekend will be 24th and 25th March 2007. It is important that if you enter for the tournament you are available to play that weekend should you reach the final. There will be no concessions and people who reach the final but are unable to play will be replaced by the loser/losers of their previous match.

The tournament is open to all members. This will mean juniors can join in the singles and also pair up with a friend or parent in the doubles if they wish. Providing numbers allow, it will be a knock-out tournament but with the proviso that if a player (or both players in the pair for the doubles) is in either the A or B teams for the men's or ladies' summer league they will not be entered into the first round. The losers from the first round will also go through to the plate tournament where they have a play-off and knock-out against similar losers. This will give everyone at least two matches. To enable this to happen it is important we get a good number of entries. Don't be afraid to enter; we will try our best to seed it fairly. Obviously if numbers are low then we will have to revert to round-robin tables.

Once the draw is put up in the pavilion, it is important to start arranging your matches. It will be the responsibility of those highlighted on the draw to arrange their match with their opponent by the date set for that round. Any matches not played by the set date will mean the person who should have arranged the match will be taken out of the tournament unless there are extreme circumstances.

To enter, please complete the enclosed entry form and return it by 21st October to either Carol Smith Helen Townsend together with your entry fee of £1 per person per event. Come on let's have the biggest tournament for a change! With the greatest variation of playing standards you may be surprised how far you get; even the better players have off days!

© BLTC, 2007.