BLTC Newsletter: Spring 2007

Contents

Chairman's Report

Although this newsletter includes the various reports for the season, I would first of all like to invite you all to join the committee at the AGM on Thursday April 12th. This is your one opportunity for meeting the committee as a group and expressing your views, either good or bad! You are all very welcome.

Looking back to the 2005/6 AGM there was considerable discussion about vandalism and how it could be reduced. That winter we had experienced our worst damage with the pavilion windows being broken. 2006/7 has gone better. The front porch has been modified discouraging young people from congregating in the doorway. This appears to have been successful and we have only experienced minor damage to our fencing, mostly due to the fences being used as a stop for footballs. Even this should now improve as the Parish Council has funded facilities for the footballers at the bottom of the field. So hopefully now we can concentrate on tennis issues.

I regard this last season as an average one, with some highlights and other disappointments. Membership has remained relatively steady with just a small drop this year. It always amazes me how many new members we gain each year and also how many we lose. We discuss these losses regularly but rarely come across causes that are due to the way the club is run. My biggest concern is the erratic attendances for social sessions. We have had some periods with very healthy numbers joining in, but at other times the numbers have dropped off badly, particularly in the winter.

At our last committee meeting we considered how we can bridge the massive gap between our large junior membership and the adult members. We seem to run two clubs in parallel and never meet. We have decided to open up the Monday night social sessions to our younger members to see if we can break down these barriers. Many tennis clubs have moved this way very successfully and we will watch the results with interest. It will only succeed with the support of both young and old. I would therefore ask you all to give it a go and be a little sympathetic to the older ones who cannot get around the court so well on one hand, and on the other hand show patience with hopefully some over enthusiastic youngsters who are getting better all the time.

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 this summer, when we hope to resurface them. The surround fencing has survived, but only just. This will definitely need replacing this year. Quotations are currently being obtained for both of these projects and we should know by the AGM whether it looks feasible to do both.

Congratulations to our team players particularly 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. We did ask for views on why there was not the interest in these events. Some people said that Sundays were inconvenient, so we are going to try Saturdays this year for a change.

Finally thanks to all of my committee members for their hard work this year. Particular thanks to Jess Hutchinson and David Silber who have decided to stand down from the committee. At our last meeting the committee agreed to co-opt Maggie Warren and Andy Grey after they kindly volunteered to join us. James Marsh, our coach is also hoping to attend committee meetings in the future. My thanks to James for his continued dedication to our junior coaching programme.

David's resignation leaves us with a vacant treasurer's position. We have one person proposed as a possible replacement. If anybody is interested in taking this on, can they please let me know before the AGM.

Secretary's Report

Membership reached 193 this year, slightly less than last year. The club welcomed 45 new members, including Maurizio from Italy and Bill for a few months over the summer all the way from New Zealand!

The committee met four times during the year. Jess resigned from the committee during the year because of other commitments. We thank her for her work, particularly with publicity and arranging skittles evenings. This left a committee of just eight, not enough when we need a quorum of five. So in January, we were pleased to be able to co-opt Mags Warren (who had already become involved with balls and floodlight tokens), James Marsh, and Andy Gray.

Social events during the year were alas not well-supported. Two out of three American tournaments were cancelled, but members turned out for mixed doubles with mulled wine and mince pies just before Christmas. Suppers at social evenings twice a month during the summer proved popular. It was planned to continue with these once a month in the winter but we were thwarted by the weather. We hope that once the weather improves, members will come out of hibernation and support social sessions. George Elliott was our representative at the village Carol Service.

Treasurer's Report

In this, my last report as your Treasurer, I'd like to give you a brief overview of the accounts picture as it stands at late January — though it will certainly change by the end of the financial year on March 31st. Total funds in all accounts now amount to some £15,200.

The good news is that income is up compared with our 2006/7 estimate and outgoings are down which will result in a higher carried over figure than expected if there is no other major expenditure.

Membership income is down around £55, with the ball levy and floodlight money are also down. Attendance at the daytime social tennis sessions has dwindled, a fact that I am sure will be reported on elsewhere in this newsletter. The other side of that coin is that our ball supply is lasting longer and we do not anticipate a further purchase this financial year. With two months to go, and excluding Wimbledon ticket income and expenditure, we have already spent some £150 more than in the whole of 2005/6 although this has been skewed by the fact that due to the Parish Council's tardiness, we paid no rent in 2005/6 and so paid double this year. Also, the pressure washing of the courts done last March (£686) was paid in this financial year, and we also had the extra expense of moving the pavilion door. We may well incur another pressure washer bill this spring. Electricity costs are already some £63 more than last year, hardly surprising.

In summary, I am doubtful that our financial situation will be robust enough to pay for the fencing repairs and the resurfacing of courts 3 and 4 in the next financial year, unless income increases greatly. We are currently obtaining estimates for this work and will have a clearer picture at the AGM. The big bills, ball purchase, GLTA affiliation, insurance and increasingly, maintenance, do not unfortunately go away.

Coaching Report

James ran summer coaching camps for three weeks during the school holidays. These were very successful and resulted in several new members and their families. There were further sessions during the February half term holiday. Linda retired from helping with mini tennis in September, and her place was taken by Viv Macrae. Altogether this season 80 younger members have taken advantage of coaching. In September there were 48 children in three groups on Mondays, and a waiting list for the red and orange groups. Numbers fell during the winter months, but a core of hardy youngsters continued to enjoy their tennis, despite the wind and cold. Unfortunately, our orange team was left out of the league this winter, but they will be able to play competitively in the autumn. James has now started performance groups for more able players on Saturday afternoons, and some under 14's will be embarking on 'The Road To Wimbledon'. The first round is a tournament within the club and the winner and runner-up go through to the county finals at Oxtalls Tennis Centre. The county winners get to play at Wimbledon!

Dee continued with two groups for ladies on Thursday mornings.

Team Reports

Summer Leagues

Two men's and three ladies' teams were entered for the Gloucestershire summer leagues. Both men's teams have 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 2006.

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, who had played in the higher divisions of the Gloucestershire league, moved into the area. With their commitment to playing almost every match, we enjoyed great success by finishing second in division 2a. The team will be promoted to division 1 next season. The B team finished fourth on 24 points, missing out on second place and promotion by just two 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. They won division 5b this season with 23 points, losing just one match. The three ladies' teams played their matches with a pool of 19 players.

Winter Floodlit Leagues

We entered two teams in the mixed floodlit league, and one men's team in the East Glos. floodlit league. The mixed A team had a squad of six players, and it looks as if they will win the league and gain promotion to division 2. They have won 11 matches, drawn two, and only lost one. The B team had a squad of 13 players all of whom had the chance to play a few games and gain experience of hard hitting solid tactical tennis. It is hoped that they will finish mid table having won six and lost six matches. The men's team is looking to gain promotion, so far having won three matches and drawn one.

Thank you to all who have played in the matches. Anyone wishing to partake in team tennis please .

Club Tournament 2007

The club tournament is progressing well, with the finals' weekend on 24th and 25th March, at which we hope to see some excellent tennis. It was encouraging to have three juniors in the mixed doubles tournament, and we hope that they will persuade others to enter in future years. By the time of the AGM we will know who the club champions are, and the presentation of the cups will take place on that evening.

The timetable for the finals' weekend is as follows:

The Ladies' Singles and Men's Doubles were 'round robin' events, with no final to be played.

Club Tournament 2006

Last year's tournament winners were:

The Men's Doubles event was not played.

Annual Quiz

It has not been possible to set a quiz so far this year because of a lack of compiler. If you have a quiz we could use, or are able to set one, please contact a committee member as soon as possible. In recent years, this has been our only method of raising much-needed extra funds.

American Tournaments 2007

As two of the American Tournaments on Sundays last year were cancelled, this season there will be two on Saturdays: 19th May and 18th August, both starting at 2pm and followed by 'bring and share' suppers. Please make a note of these dates and do support them. These tournaments are fun and you do not need a partner because partners are drawn on the day. Each round comprises eight games of doubles, four with your partner and then four against. Individual scores are kept and there are prizes for the two overall winners.

Tennis Club Website

The Club's website continues to be well-received, with over 4,800 visits since its creation in 2002. The site contains useful information for both prospective and current members. Highlights include:

The site can be found by logging on to: http://www.bredon-tennis.org.uk/. Comments and suggestions for improvements would be gratefully received and can be emailed to: .

© BLTC, 2007.