Just a few things to remind you of before we start playing on Saturday.....

Membership

A gentle reminder to all those members who have not yet renewed to please use the individual link sent to you to renew your membership for this year.

Saturday 6th May - Club Opening

Most importantly, we are starting to play on our grass courts on Saturday 6th May. You may book courts from Saturday and you are very welcome to come along to our Saturday club afternoon (2-5pm) to mix in and play doubles with other club members.

Club Sessions

Going forward, mix-in club sessions will be available for all members to attend on Tuesdays and Saturdays (4 courts) and Thursdays (2 courts). Traditionally we start club sessions at 6pm on a Tuesday and Thursday, but we would like to encourage members to come along to play on Tuesday afternoon so that we can extend the club session. We will start by people sharing messages on the club WhatsApp to check who is free to play. If there are sufficient numbers we can then book out some of the courts on a regular basis.

We are always happy to set up other group sessions for members to come together and play tennis. Let us know if you would like to start another group to meet up and play.

Coaching

Thursday night coaching. Julie Williams (our coach) will be providing coaching for members on a Thursday and will use 2 courts:

• Adult social players including beginners/returners 6-7pm (prices all set up to include a members price which includes 3 free sessions as part of membership)

• Adult league and regular competitors 7-8pm (prices all set up to include a members price which includes 3 free sessions as part of membership)

She will also have private lesson slots from 10am-3pm on Thursdays.  Players can email her to secure timeslots and dates. The group lessons are all set up and bookable via www.jwtennis.com

As in previous years, Julie will be providing coaching to children from North Town School and other local schools during Thursday afternoon on 2 courts.

Ball Machine

The club has the use of a ball machine and all members are very welcome to book court 1 and practice their shots using the machine. It is hard work so practising  in groups might be advisable!!! Let us know if you would like a demonstration on how to use the machine.

From the welfare officer:

Some of you will have noticed the obvious error - that we asked all members to read our safeguarding policy when they joined up/renewed this year. In fact - the policy wasn't uploaded onto the website. Forgive me. That has now been rectified. It can be found here - please have a read. It's important that we remember that safeguarding is everyone's responsibility. Along with this - let's keep the LTA's fair play principles front and centre as we embark on another great season. Fair play includes among other things;

• Good sportsmanship, honesty and respect whether you win or lose
• Learning to challenge yourself and improve social skills
• Taking responsibility for your actions, calling scores and lines clearly and fairly even if it costs you the point
• Learning and following the rules and being a role model to others
• Enjoyment of the sport

Watch this short video if you want more information.

Open Day - 13th May

Just a reminder that we are hosting an open afternoon on 13th May from 2-5pm. If you know of anyone who might like to come along and play at the club, please invite them along to have a hit and meet the members. Hopefully we will have good weather and lots of members present to play some tennis and show off our club to potential new players. All offers of cakes for tea, will be most gratefully received.

Kind regards,

Cathy (Chair- Elms Lawn Tennis Club)