Clubspark / Charlton Kings Tennis Place / Charlton Kings Tennis Place

Information about Charlton Kings Tennis Place

Background

Charlton Kings Tennis Place is a friendly tennis facility which was started by Simon and Ruth Thomas in 2008. Under their stewardship, the club grew dramatically, recruiting well over one hundred members, winning several awards and earning a reputation as an outstanding local sporting facility. This article gives more background about their achievements.

At the end of 2022 however, Simon and Ruth decided to stand aside and the club then reformed itself as the members-run organisation it is today.

Legal Structure

The club is now a company limited by guarantee (registration number 14536601) and governed by a committee elected by members at an Annual General Meeting. The full name of the club is Charlton Kings Tennis Place Limited. The main purposes of the Club are to provide facilities for and to promote participation in the amateur sport of tennis in Gloucestershire

The club's Companies House record can be found here.

The club is also registered with HMRC as a Community Amateur Sports Club, registration number CH12782.

Committee

The board of directors, more generally known as the committee, consists of:

Chair – Helen Abiona
Secretary – Sue Wassell
Treasurer – Tom Goodman-Smith
Social Secretary – Anne Chappell-Smith
Members' Representative – Alison Burgess
Website & Constitution – John Price
Safeguarding - Sue Thomas
New committee member - Tom Cantle

Welfare Officer

The Club's Welfare Officer is Sue Thomas.

This very important role is to ensure that any welfare or safeguarding concerns can be raised and investigated in an appropriate and confidential way. Sue has completed the safeguarding LTA tennis course and her contact details are as follows:

Email: suzanneclarethomas@gmail.com

Mobile: 07850 757022.

Club Guidelines

The following Guidelines have been adapted according to Balcarras School Sports facility hiring terms and conditions. They are in place to help increase your enjoyment, consider personal safety and contribute to other members’ and users of Balcarras Sport Centre enjoyment.
Balcarras School and Charlton Kings Tennis Place accepts no responsibility for any injury, damage or loss incurred. This includes vehicles parked on the school premises. All accidents must be reported to the duty member of staff.
Correct and clean footwear must be worn.
On the courts, no drinks other than water are allowed, and no food items at all. Please ensure that any litter is disposed of correctly in bins provided.
Any damage to Balcarras School property must be reported.
A good standard of behaviour should be maintained at all times. No bad language is to be used and noise levels should be kept to a minimum to avoid disturbance to our neighbours.
Children under the age of 11 should be accompanied by an adult unless attending organised tennis activities courses.
Charlton Kings Tennis Place is not manned at all times, therefore children are the responsibility of parents.
Members may bring guests on 3 occasions after which time they must become a member or the usual court hire charges will apply.
If members wish to receive coaching from an external coach they must negotiate this with the committee beforehand who will make sure the relevant quality starndards are in place.
If you would like clarification on any of the above please contact the committee at tennis@charltonkingstennisplace.co.uk

Policies

First Aid

First aid equipment is stored in the following locations:

Coaches have first aid kits which are brought to all their sessions
Balcarras School Sports Centre Reception

Tennis Friendlies WhatsApp

We have a WhatsApp group for members who want to arrange their own doubles or singles games and we currently have over 40 members in the group.

The group works really well and is a great way to connect with other members to arrange games especially if the forecast is looking good. We ask that the chat is kept to tennis related stuff!

If you would like to join the WhatsApp group email your number. If you were in the group last year we will keep you in unless you let us know otherwise.

LTA Advantage Play Membership (Formerly British Tennis Membership)

See LTA Advantage

Many members are already members of LTA Advantage Play, this being a free benefit of being a club member. It ensures you receive regular updates from the LTA and are entitled to certain benefits including and include access to exclusive videos and features, prize competitions, and discounts with LTA partners including Castore and Dunlop. In your LTA Account you need to select 'my venues' and select Charlton Kings if you have not done so already (you can be linked to more than one club). You can then use this ID to log into the members only section of this website.

If you are new to the club and would like to know more about becoming an LTA Advantage Play member click on the link above to find out more.

You should be allocated a LTA Advantage Play + account which gives you the opportunity to apply for Wimbledon tickets in the Advantage Ballot which takes place in January of each year. If you are only allocated an LTA Advantage Play account (ie without the +), you should should be able to correct this by logging in your membership, go to View Account, then My Account and then Manage My Advantage and you should be able to do the upgrade from there. If that doesn't work, you should send a query to their helpdesk from this link .

Teams

The club enters four teams in the Dunlop Gloucestershire Summer League - two men's teams and two women's teams. Each team consists of two doubles pairs, who play two rubbers per tie. Rubbers are two sets long, extended by a 10-point tie break to decide the match if the sets are shared. There are typically six clubs in each division meaning 10 matches for each team (5 home and 5 away) with clubs all over the county, and each match generally lasting up to 3 hours. They will normally start at 6pm and could be on any night of the week. There is usually a small match fee to pay for each match you play to cover the cost of balls and refreshments.

Mark Smith is captain of the men's A team and also organises the men's B team; Helen Abiona is captain of the women's A team and Cathy Morton captan of the women's B team. Each team uses around ten players over a season so there are real opportunities to play league tennis if you wish. If you want to put your name forward, please email tennis@charltonkings.co.uk.

Information about the club's performance in the 2024 leagues can be found here.

Club Clothing

Club T shirts, hoodies, shorts and other items are available in diffferent coulours and sizes for both adults and children.

Click here for more information