Welcome to ARTC’s newly formatted monthly newsletter, designed to summarise what’s going on in your local tennis club in October.

At our last committee meeting in September we decided to focus on inclusion within our club at all levels. Consequently, this month’s newsletter comprises of news from members of the committee to give you a full flavour of what we can offer, what’s been going on and what’s coming up. Hopefully, it might encourage you to think about joining us at the AGM on Wednesday 18 November. A lot of work goes into maintaining the high standards we have come to expect at ARTC and this newsletter is designed to reflect all that goes on behind scenes to make this happen.

As we move towards the winter months, we are keen to ensure the courts are well used whenever possible. Not only is this a good form of exercise for us all but greater play also improves the court surface by shifting the sand around and therefore improving drainage. By discounting winter subscriptions, we also aim to promote health and well-being in what threatens to be a challenging time for us all. The safety of all our members is our top priority and that is why we have included a detailed Covid 19 update at the end of this newsletter. As a club, we understand the importance of being flexible and responsive and know, that by all of us understanding and following the guidance, we can minimise risk.

Our top priority, however, is to encourage enjoyment and participation in tennis at all levels. So, even though the winter months are on the horizon, I hope we can all get a chance to use the courts and blow away some indoor cobwebs. Enjoy!

Tennis News

As a committee we are keen to promote new initiatives that encourage greater participation at all levels. With this in mind, we are currently developing a Welcome Package for new members.

We are also exploring the possibilities of creating a Buddy System, where existing members can support and mentor new members and introduce them to a wider network within the club. Some new members may want to play social tennis, others may opt for coaching and game play whilst others may prefer a partner to hit with. We hope we can match new members with existing players. This exciting initiative will be on the agenda at the next committee meeting on 14.10.20.

On our website we have a section under ‘History’ that’s well worth a read. It details the effort and enthusiasm that went into founding ARTC over 40 years ago, charting the vision of founder members and the evolution of the club. It highlights that the emphasis on providing a local community asset has always been at the heart of the club and demonstrates how important it is to be able to respond to changing community needs; something with particular resonance at the moment.

Adult Coaching

By Pauline Belt

Appleton Roebuck fell in luck when top coach Rob Jones moved to the village a few years ago and soon became a member of our club. Making the most of this opportunity we invited Rob to provide group coaching for adults on Monday evenings. These sessions soon became hugely popular through Rob's extraordinary talent of being able to relate to members of all ages and from beginners to experienced league players. Not only does Rob teach new skills, they are fun and a great place to meet other members.

There are currently two sessions available from the beginning of April to the end of September;

    (1) Development Group 5-6pm - ideal for beginners, rusty rackets or social tennis

    (2) League level coaching 6-7pm - ideal for those playing in league competitions

    Sessions include practice drills and learning new tactics for doubles play. Unfortunately, due to Covid 19, the coaching was very limited this year. However, we sincerely hope to be back to normal next year and the sessions will begin in April 2021. An email will be sent to all members in March asking those to register their interest.

    Rob is also available for private coaching. If you would like any further information, please contact me.

Junior Coaching

By Chris Howat

Junior coaching is organised by Matt Ward, founder and head coach of “I Can Play Tennis.” He has a team of LTA accredited coaches, providing coaching at a number of clubs in the York area.

We had planned to start the 2020 season with a Juniors’ Open Day in the Spring, followed by a programme of coaching across all the junior age groups. Sadly, the Coronavirus lockdown and subsequent restrictions put a stop to all of this.

However, following up on some enquiries from parents, there is currently a six week block of Mini Red coaching taking place for 4-7 year olds on Monday afternoons at 4-5pm. Eight children are very much enjoying their first taste of tennis with Eddie Fothergill, one of Matt’s team of coaches. We had hoped to run another session for 8-11 yr olds after this, but due to insufficient interest/clashes with other activities, this is not possible at the moment.

Following a discussion with Matt, we are now planning to hold the Juniors’ Open Day in Spring 2021, as a forerunner to offering coaching across all age groups, from Mini Red to Teen Tennis (age 11+) after the Easter holidays. There will be more information on this at a later date.

If anyone has any queries about junior tennis or would like information about how to access the current coaching programme where there are up to 4 places available, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

Ladies Saturday Social Tennis

By Julia Campbell

Ladies Social Tennis has started up again, subject to government & LTA guidelines.  It’s open to any lady in the Club, any ability and runs from 2 - 4 p.m. on Saturday afternoons.  There has been great enthusiasm for the first two weeks and hopefully this will continue.

We would love to welcome any new lady members - come and meet us all.  The order of play mixes the players around every 4 - 6 games, so you are guaranteed to play with lot of different members. We’d love you to come & join us!

Court Maintenance

By Richard Barwick

This year following the success of the rejuvenation process we had done on Court 3 in September 2019, we decided to have a similar process to Courts 1 & 2. This was accomplished over 3 days in June. Using specialist machinery most of the sand infill is extracted using high pressure blowers, the courts are then cleaned and any repairs done and finally new clean sand is spread onto the courts. It takes about a month of playing before the sand is bedded in and the courts are playing at their best. Although the cost is expensive, at just under £10k for all 3 courts, it is considerably cheaper than having the courts replaced and provides an ‘as new’ performance. Feedback from members has been positive.

It is 9 years since these courts were installed and at that time we expected to have to renew after 10 to 12 years. As we can have the rejuvenation process repeated in years to come, we should be able to delay the very expensive renewal process for many years. Good news for club finances!

Now it is Autumn we are of course finding lots of leaves being deposited on the courts. Can I ask all members to clear these off by using the green plastic drag mat which hangs near the entrance from Court 2 onto Court 3? It takes about 10 minutes to clear a court, so arriving a few minutes earlier before your game should enable you to do it. The downside of leaving the leaves on the court is that they will break down into the sand and block the drainage. The courts will become slippy and not play as well as they do now. Hand sanitiser is to be provided on the courts to allow you to do this safely.

Health And Safety

By Kath Temple

At ARTC we take the health and safety of all members extremely seriously. In the next weeks you will notice that hand sanitisers will be installed at the court gates and between courts 2 and 3. As part of our regularly updated risk assessments, that are displayed in the clubhouse window, we refer to the latest Covid guidelines issued by the LTA.

Currently, we are working on establishing a procedure for dealing with any members who test positive for Covid 19. This is ongoing and will be reviewed at the next committee meeting on Wednesday 14 October.

Membership

By Steve Temple

It has been an exciting time for attracting new members and we are delighted to welcome 21 Adult members, 11 Families and 5 Juniors since March 2020.

New members talk about looking forward to having an easily accessible tennis venue on their doorstep, a chance to access different levels of play as well as an opportunity to pick up tennis again after not playing for a while.

Our focus on developing a comprehensive New Members Welcome Package is an additional support to help new members find an enjoyable level of tennis within ARTC.

Member Feedback

By Kath Temple

We are always keen to hear from members in order to evaluate and explain what is happening in the club. It can help clarify situations and prompt discussion at committee meetings. For example, since my September letter we have enquiries about coaching and inclusion which have informed our last committee meeting. All comments received get an individual response. So, if there is something you would like to suggest or raise email info@artc.org.uk

Well done for getting to the end of the newsletter! We hope you found the information useful and we'll see you next month.