Club Policies

Terms & Conditions of Membership

ELMS LANE TENNIS CLUB - RULES AND CONSTITUTION

The Club

  1. The Club, founded in 1994, shall be called the Elms Lane Tennis Club, and is formed to provide a tennis court for its Members and to encourage and facilitate the playing of tennis, for all ages. 
  2. The Club is a nonprofit making Members’ club, the entire management of which shall be vested in a committee of not less than 3, and not more than 7 members.
  3. In no circumstances, during the continuance of the Club, nor at or after its dissolution, shall any assets or surplus funds be distributed to any Member or other person, nor to any organisation which is not itself either constituted as nonprofit making or registered as a charity.
  4. The property of the Club shall be vested in three Trustees, who shall be the same persons as are from time to time the Trustees of the Lease Agreement dated 10th March 1994 between the Club and Stephen Balchin or his successor in title as the freeholder of the land on which the Club is situated.

The Committee

  1. Membership of the Committee shall be determined by annual election at the Annual General Meeting of the Club, except that the Trustees of the Lease Agreement shall be ex officio members of the Committee.
  2. The Committee shall be responsible to the Trustees for the proper maintenance of the Court and its equipment, together with any other property of the Club and shall ensure compliance with the terms of the Lease.
  3. The Committee shall meet at least once each year. The quorum for such meetings shall be 2.
  4. The Rules of the Club may be altered at any time by the Committee, but such alterations must be confirmed by a General Meeting of the Club, within 3 months of the decision of the Committee.
  5. The Committee may call an Extraordinary General meeting of the Club at any time and shall call such a meeting within 28 days of receipt by the Secretary of a requisition in writing signed by not less than 25 Members stating the purpose for which the meeting is required and any resolutions to be considered at such a meeting.

Annual General Meeting

  1. An Annual General Meeting of the Club shall take place each year as close to April 1st as is convenient. At such meeting:

   (i)the Secretary or other officer shall report on the activities of the Club over the previous year;

   (ii) the Treasurer or other officer shall report on the financial situation and provide the annual accounts of the Club;

   (iii) the officers and members of the Committee shall be elected to serve for the following year;

   (iv) any resolution proposed to be moved at the meeting, duly given in writing to the Secretary not less than 14 days before the meeting, shall be decided;

   (v) any other business shall be considered.

Membership

  1. No person shall be denied membership of the Club on the grounds of race, ethnic origin, creed, colour, age, disability, sex, occupation, sexual orientation, religion, political or other beliefs.
  2. The permitted number of Full and Junior Members of the Club at any time will be at the discretion of the Committee, who shall have regard to the numbers of regular playing members and the consequent level of peak usage of the Court.
  3. Any person over the age of 18 may apply for full membership of the Club. Persons between the ages of 12 and 18 may apply for junior membership, although they shall not be permitted to hold office, or to vote at any general meeting of the Club. Junior members shall automatically become full members on reaching 18. There shall be an Entrance Fee for new members payable on joining the Club, which shall be set each year by the Committee.
  4. Membership subscriptions shall be set each year by the Committee and shall be payable to the Hon. Treasurer on or before June 1st each year. Any Member whose annual subscription has not been paid by 31st July in any year, but thereafter seeks to renew their Membership, will also be required to make payment of the full Entrance Fee.
  5. Any new member joining the Club between December 31st and June 1st may pay only 50% of the annual subscription as their first subscription.
  6. If at any time the Committee is of the opinion that the interests of the Club require it, it may terminate the membership of any person at any time, without refund of any subscription paid, subject to the following rules.
  7. Membership shall not be terminated by the Committee unless the Member is given, (i) 14 days written notice of the meeting of the Committee at which the termination is to be considered and, (ii) written grounds for the proposed termination.
  8. At any meeting of the Committee to consider the termination of membership of any Member, the quorum shall be 3. If the Member whose termination of membership is under consideration is a member of the Committee, the quorum shall be 4.
  9. The Member whose termination of membership is under consideration may appear at the meeting of the Committee and may make representations as to why his/her membership should not be terminated.
  10. No membership may be terminated unless the Committee so decides unanimously. If the Member whose termination of membership is under consideration is a member of the Committee, she/he may not take part in the decision.
  11. If the decision of the Committee is to terminate the membership, the Member may appeal to the membership of the Club in General Meeting. The appeal shall be decided by majority vote of Members present and voting at such meeting.

The Court

  1. The Court may be booked for one hour, and may be made up to one week in advance. 
  2. A booking for a session with an official coach may be made two weeks in advance, except in August, when three days in advance remains the rule; such coaching bookings must be clearly marked as such alongside the Members name.
  3. Members should ensure that any cancellation of a booking is made as soon as is possible.
  4. No visitor may use the Court in the absence of an introducing Member. The introducing Member must enter the name of the visitor in the Visitors Book and shall pay a playing fee of £1 per hour.
  5. Collection of playing fees will be made by the Hon. Treasurer from time to time.
  6. No one may play as a visitor on more than 5 occasions each year.
  7. Coaches employed by Members should be recorded as visitors; however the 5 occasions each year restriction will be waived for official coaches, as will be the requirement to make payment of a Visitors Fee in respect of that Professional / LTA Registered Coach. 
  8. Correct tennis footwear must be worn on the Court at all times.

Lawn Tennis Association (LTA)

  1. Each member of the Club agrees, as a condition of membership:

   (i) to be bound by these Rules and the Rules and Regulations of the Sussex Lawn Tennis Association as in force from time to time, and

   (ii) to be bound by and subject to the LTA Rules and the LTA Disciplinary Code

As Revised at the A.G.M. on 21st April 2018