Chair's Welcome (By Kath Temple)

Welcome to ARTC latest newsletter to update you on summer results and future events as we move towards the winter season. In what has been a very different season in so many ways, the committee has endeavoured to be as flexible and adaptable as possible to ensure that the club provides a safe and welcoming community asset in these restricted times. Hopefully, we will be able to build on the positives that have emerged. We hope you enjoy reading our news. If you have any comments or queries please contact info@artc.org.uk.

Club Sessions

Thank you to Sara Heron for organising the Thursday evening WhatsApp group. These popular sessions are now coming to an end but Pat Watson is keen to organise a Wednesday afternoon session.

‘Now the nights are drawing in we are starting Wednesday afternoon tennis between 1-3pm where you can drop in for some social tennis. There is a new Whatsapp group for this. If you would like to be added please let us have your contact details. I will send a message out on Wednesday morning asking for a thumbs up if you would like to play. We look forward to seeing members down- hopefully we will get some dry autumn afternoons.’

Pat Watson

Ladies Social Tennis (By Julia Campbell)

This winter this popular club session has moved from the afternoon to the morning from 10am - 12noon. The first few weeks in September were a great success. Just recently however it seems that a lot of ladies are away on holidays and trips. However, availability is still there every Saturday morning and it just needs 4 ladies to come down and play. It’s run through a WhatsApp group and if any lady would like to be added to our happy band, please send me a text.

Junior Club Nights (By Chris Howat)

Supervised club sessions have been taking place on Friday afternoons, 4pm - 6pm, since the start of the summer term, whenever the weather and availability have allowed. It is a good opportunity for children to get a bit more practice. For those who cannot attend the coaching, it provides an opportunity for them to play and enjoy some fun games and activities with their friends.

Adult Coaching (By Pauline Belt)

We are nearing the end of yet another cracking and well attended season hosted by our very talented and fun coach, Rob Jones who we would like to thank for all his work throughout the year.

The coaching started on 29 March 2021 and the Development Group has quickly gained new attendees; Tim Spakouskas, Jethro Elvin, Diane Birkly, James Dutton, Sarah Walker, Stephen Bayliss, Ben Whitworth and more recently Bella Cowley. The development group did what it says on the tin and several players who have improved/developed so much over the past few years have played for our third and fourth teams in the York & District Leagues, the Fulford Ladies and the York Mens’ tennis League. Well done to all of them.

The second coaching group was also very well attended by players from all the teams from the first to fourth and where they had the chance to hone their skills and learn new doubles tactics and drills. This group saw two new attendees, Mick Miller and more recently Ross Charnock, to whom we also extend a huge welcome.

The coaching this season will end at the beginning to the middle of October, weather willing, and depending on the light. Coaching will resume around the end of March 2022. On behalf of Rob Jones and myself, I would like to thank you all for your support of these sessions, you all make it possible.

Junior Coaching (By Chris Howat)

There was no junior coaching during the summer term this year, due to Covid. However, Matt Ward from “I Can Play Tennis” organised camps through the summer holidays. Nine 3 hour sessions took place, which were very well attended and enjoyed by all. Eddie Fothergill took most of these sessions but then he moved on to his new job in the Civil Service. Rob Hodge then stepped in for the remaining 3 sessions. It was then a real struggle to find a coach, who could continue with the coaching on Monday afternoons in the autumn term. At the very last minute, Matt found our new coach, Damian Galloway, and, thankfully, coaching has resumed as normal in September. There are 2 groups of primary school age children:

4pm - 5pm: ages 4 - 7

5pm - 6pm: ages 8 - 11

After the amazing win by Emma Radacanu and the LTA adverts to encourage younger players, we are hoping there will be an influx of young talent.

Court Maintenance & Clubhouse Usage

The Clubhouse was given a lick of paint at the start of the season and the benches revarnished and repaired in lockdown, so the court furniture is now weather proofed. Thanks go to Steve Temple for taking on these responsibilities.

However, this time of year is problematic for keeping the actual courts free from leaves, Ash keys and, this year, pigeon feathers which are a nightmare to drag off the court! We have bought a new drag mat and a heavy duty brush for all the courts to help address the problem, but inevitably it all comes down to staying on top of it by using the drag mat before playing. So, to preserve the life of the courts, we are asking all members to DRAG BEFORE YOU PLAY by building in an earlier 10 minute arrival time. If we don’t do this, leaves will become ground into the carpet affecting drainage and court playability.

Many thanks go to Richard Barwick for overseeing the maintenance contract for the courts, keeping them in tip- top condition, Gary Carpenter for regular monthly updates of Health and Safety issues, Mark Baxter for dragging the heavy-duty brush and Pat Watson for monitoring the Clubhouse facilities regularly.

Returning to Competitive Play (By Keith Hunter)

This season we were delighted to see competitive tennis return with teams entered in the York Mixed, York Men’s and Fulford Ladies leagues. Only half the usual number of fixtures took place and there were no promotions or relegations and, most importantly, no post-match teas!

The sporadic nature of this season’s fixtures meant there were some challenges for team selection; however, all the team captains did a fantastic job. We had numerous players moving up squads and it was fantastic to see lots of new faces getting involved in league tennis for the first time. Although results this year weren’t amazing, there is no question that we enjoyed playing competitively again and players have gained valuable experience in preparation for a full season next year. Thanks to everyone involved in organising and playing in fixtures this season.