NEWSLETTER

MARCH 2021

Hello fellow members,

Next Monday, 29th March is Back to Tennis day; the good news is that all the Oldies like me have had their first dose of vaccine, and all the bad news seems to be reducing as the days get longer and warmer. We may play singles or doubles, but the Rule of 6 still applies. That means we can’t organise social tennis as we used to do, with players swapping around; we have to stick to our group, with 6 maximum.

Bookings will be on the Whatsapp system as before. If you are not on our bookings Whatsapp, please contact Tim Bowen, Treasurer and Membership Secretary, on 07565 545191 and he will tell you how to do it. Bookings will open at 7am. We may not book before the day we play, but coaching booking is allowed the day before. This worked well in the past and hopefully will continue to do so. We have more members now, so my fellow committee members and I will be keeping a close eye on how it’s going. We can play on the MUGA especially during the day; access is through Tracy Cole by phone on 07958 472208. Please let me know if you are finding you can’t get the booking you wanted (or indeed if you have any other issues). My contact details are at the end.

We want to make sure New Members are made welcome; you may of course start playing next Monday, but we will also be running several group events in the coming months; we are starting with a FREE Coaching session on Saturday, 24th April from 12:30 – 2pm. This is restricted to new members (those joining for the first time after 1 April 2020) and there is a restriction on numbers. So, if you would like to join in, please contact Yasmin Palejwala on 07586 288900 as soon as possible. We also plan to offer free coaching for existing members a bit later in the season. More news of that and other events as soon as we have decided what we’re doing! Yasmin is also starting more general coaching, and you should have received an email from her about this. Please go to https://microsportsltd.co.uk/barton-lawn-tennis-club for more information.

We will also be having some social events for everyone as the rules ease and everyone feels more comfortable about getting together. Watch this space!

Would you please let me know What you would like from the club? Please email me (see below), and the committee and I will do our best for you.

A newsletter at the beginning of the season would not be complete without information about and a request for Subscriptions! Last year we cancelled subs for existing members, but if they had already paid, we offered to carry that payment forward for the coming year. For new members we charged an amount in proportion to the months left in the year. Then Lockdown hit us again, and so they got rather poor value for money. So we have decided to give a 40% reduction in subs for last year’s new members.

We have decided to keep the same membership categories and rates as last year. For information, these are as below:

Category Eligible Cost Discounted

FAMILY Married/co-habiting couple + up to 3 school age children £160 £96

ADULT Individual aged 25 or over £110 £66

YOUNG ADULT Individual under age 25 £85 £51

STUDENT Individual in full-time education under age 25 £50 £30

JUNIOR Individual aged 12 or over and under age 17 £35 £21

JUNIOR COACHING Individual under age 17 only for coaching £20 £20

Please note that the ‘discounted’ rate is the 40% discount offered to last year’s new members. Unfortunately, for various reasons, we can’t offer any discount on the junior coaching category.

With what we hope is that with the imminent end of most lockdown restrictions, we are anticipating an exciting summer of tennis with events to suit all standards of players. To renew your membership, please make a transfer to the Club’s account referencing your full name (and membership category if possible).

Some people have paid in advance so please contact Tim if you have any queries about what you might owe.

Our AGM will be on Wednesday 21st April at 7.30 pm by Zoom. Please let Tim know if you would like to attend.

My contact details are

Charles@theaker77.co.uk

Charles Theaker, Chair, on behalf of the Tennis Committee