About Us
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Introduction
Elsenham Tennis Club (ETC) was formed in 1976 through the desire of a small cohort of local keen tennis players who through dedication, sweat and sheer hard labour instigated the building of 2 outdoor tennis courts. Since then, improvements have been made on an ongoing basis to the facilities including the erection of a small club hut, the installation of floodlights (allowing all year round play) and more recently the resurfacing of the tennis courts making them some of the best looking in the local area. The Club is affiliated to the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) and complies with its standards as well as providing members with LTA benefits.
The Club welcomes members and court users from any background and has an Diversity and InclusionPolicy (available on the ETC website).
Location
The Club is located in the centre of Elsenham, on the Village Playing Fields off Stansted Road. It is next to the Elsenham Bowls Club and Memorial Hall on land owned by Elsenham Parish Council.
Within the fenced area, next to the courts, is a compound and hut. There are two separate gates, with padlocks, to the courts and the compound. The hut, which is also secured by a padlock, contains the control boxes for the floodlights.
Website and Email
ETC has its own website www.elsenhamtennisclub.co.uk where up-to-date information can be found including scheduled events, Club Rules and Constitution, etc. The website provides a link to ClubSpark which is an online club management system, enabling bookings of courts, coaching and membership information and forms. Communications can be made via email at mail@elsenhamtennisclub.co.uk. This sheet should be read in conjunction with the Club Rules and Constitution. Members are responsible for maintaining their own information on ClubSpark and ensuring this is kept up to date and accurate, especially when renewing membership annually.
Current Committee:
Mike Stiles - chairperson
Paul Burt - treasurer
Linda Steer - secretary
Petra Studholme - membership
Emily Bloom - committee member
Gavin Strickfuss - committee member
Steve Smith - committee member and head coach
Play
Keys
Upon joining every member (family or individual - except juniors under 12 years) is given a key to the Tennis Club. These are available for use by members at any time they are not being used for planned events/matches. If you lose your key, then you will be charged for the replacement at a cost of £5.00.
Please ensure that the courts, hut and compound are locked when you leave if no one else is playing.
Keys must returned to the club if you do not remain a member. Keys remain the property of Elsenham Tennis Club.
Court Booking
Members are able to book courts online through ClubSpark in accordance with the parameters set and must ensure all participants for the booked session are added to the booking system.Link is here: https://clubspark.lta.org.uk/ElsenhamTennisClub.
Coaching
ETC has a qualified Level 3 LTA coach offering coaching for players (group and/or individual) of all standards. Details are available on the ETC website and coaching can be booked through the coach directly or mail@elsenhamtennisclub.co.uk.
Various regular activities take place including: -
● Tuesday Club Night
Every Tuesday (weather permitting) from 7.30pm onwards. ALL members are welcome. Balls are supplied and £3 (summer season) and £4 (winter season) is charged as a contribution towards the cost of the lights and balls.
● Cardio/Team Training Sessions
Cardio tennis/team training sessions are held by our coach, every week weather permitting. These are fun training sessions available to members and are a great way to keep fit and develop new skills/techniques. For times and more info, see website.
● Weekday casual play Tennis
Sessions are held on Wednesday and Friday mornings every week, weather permitting. This is an informal friendly/social play session attended by any member.
Visitors
Visitors are welcome on the courts if not being used by members. If you bring a visitor onto the courts you are responsible for their behaviour, adherence to our rules and also for collecting the relevant fee (£3 for an adult and 50p for child under 16).
Visitors who wish to hire a court and require us to book and open the courts, please note that we do require 24hr notice to enable us to find someone to do so.
Payment can be made via BACS:- Elsenham Tennis Club, 20-36-98, 70353906 or Paypal:- https://www.paypal.me/PayTennis stating “guests” and date played.
Floodlights
The floodlights are controlled from boxes in the hut, one for each court. They are operated by tokens, which cost £2.50 each and last for 35 minutes, which allows for a warmup period. The lights must stop being used/go off by 10.30pm on any given night.
For inter-club matches, club nights, group coaching and other committee authorised events, the lights will be operated by a key. Tokens to operate the lights can be obtained in advance by emailing mail@elsenhamtennisclub.co.uk.
Please note:
1. If the lights go out for any reason, you must wait at least 15 minutes before restarting them.
2. Please report any problems with the lights to any committee member as soon as possible.
Matches and Tournaments
The Club plays competitive league matches against other clubs in the Mixed Doubles, Ladies and Men’s Doubles. Teams are regularly entered into both the Summer and Winter Essex Small Clubs League and teams/individuals enter the popular annual Hospital Cup for which the Club has had extensive success. We are always looking to expand our pool of players, so if you would like to play please contact:
Men’s Doubles Jon Tann jon@elsenhamtennisclub.co.uk
Ladies Doubles Linda Steer linda@elsenhamtennisclub.co.uk
Mixed Doubles Petra Studholme petra@elsenhamtennisclub.co.uk
These leagues operate in two sessions - winter and summer. Match fees (home/away) are £4.
Services
LTA membership
The Club is affiliated to the Lawn Tennis Association which gives the club and its member’s further benefits, including becoming a British Tennis member.
Fund Raising
The Club occasionally runs fund raising activities including quiz nights, usually twice a year. These are held locally in Elsenham and help keep our subscriptions one of the lowest in the vicinity. Please support these events by making up a table. Any other suggestions for fund raising are always welcome.
Tennis Balls
New tennis balls can be purchased by emailing mail@elsenhamtennisclub.co.uk.
Racket Restringing
We have two sources for racket restringing within the club so email us for further info.
Governance
Details of elected committee members are available on the ETC website, together with Rules of Play, Codes of Conduct and the Club Constitution.
Safeguarding information is available on the ETC website and in the Club Hut (Safeguarding Folder) including details of the Club Welfare Officer, policies and procedures to be followed, contact details, etc.
The Club complies with data protection legislation. Personal details of Club members are held on ClubSpark, of which the member can set/change their preferences. Where members wish to have their personal information restricted, deleted, etc. they should contact the Club Secretary on mail@elsenhamtennisclub.co.uk with details. ClubSpark requires that all junior members must have an adult as the main contact who has this responsibility. Our full privacy policy is on the website.
Thank you for your interest and attention - please continue to enjoy your tennis!