Elthorne Tennis

As many of you will know, we have been successful with our planning application to redevelop the tennis court area in Elthorne Park.

This will include;

• Resurfacing the 3 existing tennis courts. Courts will be painted macadam as before.
• Supply of Electricity to Elthorne Park
• Floodlights to all courts
• Pathway Lighting for access after dark.
• Internet connected coded gate access. This will be interactive with your Clubspark account for bookings
• New Pavillion/Cafe sited on the grass area between the tennis courts and children's playground
• The Cafe will include a public toilet, accessible during cafe hours
• outdoor table and chair area

Update 9th December 2024

My update this time around will report on both our facility development and the programme development.

Facility Development

Plans are still on schedule for building works for the new café to start in March/April 2024. A more detailed time frame will emerge as we move into the new year.

Hitting Wall

I’m pleased to announce we will soon have a hitting wall ! It will be sited on Court 2 and will enable players to practice independently. I’ve mentioned this to quite a few players and have had very good feedback already. I’m building the wall so like many of the new additions it is likely to take longer than some might expect.

Access Lighting

The access lighting that has been planned for such a long time is now finished and is operational. Anyone wishing to reach the courts from the main Boston Road can now walk on an illuminated path the whole way. The side road to the park between park and school is now lit from the main road to the barrier, from the barrier to the courts festoon lights strung between the trees will illuminate the path. The lights are on timers so the path is illuminated between 4pm to 10pm.

Water supply to the courts and café

I’m pleased to report that we now have a water supply to the courts that will eventually feed the café and the public toilet planned. In the mean time we will be able to use the water to clean the courts when needed.

New Hedge

It’s only a small thing but I have planted a hedge at the top of the bank by the entry gate, I hope that in time it will help to cordon the seating area from the courts and create a natural feature for our venue.

Added Storage

Some of you will have noticed a new container by the MUGA courts, this is to house all the outdoor equipment for the venue’s business, I do not believe we will be needing any more storage.

Floodlights

The Floodlights continue to function well throughout this winter period. Each court can be individually lit so that light impact is kept to a minimum and excess energy is not wasted. Those booking a floodlit court will be able to enter the courts 5 minutes before their allotted booking time, during the hour they have booked and 5 minutes after their allotted time.

Booking of Tennis Courts behind Elthorne High School

Further to the Pilot Scheme we have been running to enable tennis bookings on the MUGA’s (the Multi Use courts behind Elthorne High School), I’m pleased to be able to report the scheme will now continue to run officially and will expand into Friday nights, this will include the use of lights. This will mean you will be able to book a MUGA tennis court on a Friday 5pm through to 10pm, and then Saturday & Sunday mornings during the rest of this school term and then any day during the school holidays (Fri 20th December to Sunday 5th January). I’m pleased to announce the programme of junior and adult tournaments we have started delivering has been a huge success and will continue through 2025.

As some of you may know the courts are owned by Ealing Council and are used by the School for PE and Games sessions during school-time. At all other times the courts have been managed by the Sports Centre under Everyone Active. 

You will see the 4 courts shown on the Court Booking page on the website. The courts will be listed as MUGA 1, MUGA 2, MUGA 3 & MUGA 4 and in the first instance we will open bookings during the weekends. Bookings will be priced at the off-peak price - so £2.00 for members and £4.00 for public bookings.

Programme Development

New Assistant Coach

I welcome Alex Christofi to the Coaching and Competition Team at Elthorne Tennis. Alex, who lives locally, has been playing tennis since he was 4 years old and has recently completed his level 1 Coaching Qualification and his Referees Qualification. Alex is still a student at school, this year will be his 1st year A levels. You’ll see Alex working with some of our Junior Groups as well as assisting with Adult Groups too. I’m keen to ease Alex into his position at Elthorne and will be offering Alex’s time as a hitting partner for those people who want to drill more than be taught stuff. If you’d like to enquire about hitting with Alex, please contact me on 07876221259. Alex’s rate for an hour will be £23.00

Competition

I’m pleased to report we have started to deliver LTA Sanctioned Adult and Junior Tournaments at the courts in Elthorne Park and the MUGA’s behind Elthorne Park School. I’m also very proud to report we have 5 new qualified Referees from our club, this came about from the huge response we had from my invitation back in May/June of this year.

New Ladies Team & Men’s Team

We have both a new Ladies Team and a Men’s Team in the Middlesex LTA Winter County Leagues. The teams are placed in the lowest leagues to start their respective campaigns. During the winter league, each team fields 4 players for each fixture. Typically, there are 6 or 7 teams that are put in the same league. Our team will play all other teams through the winter period. The Men’s Weekly Practice session will take place on a Thursday evening and the Ladies Weekly Practice session will take place at 8.30-10.00pm on Monday evenings. Presently our Ladies team is 3rd in their league, with the Men’s team in 7th place their league

Pickleball

I’m excited about the introduction of Pickleball to Elthorne Tennis. We have managed to get regular sessions going where lots of people have been able to try out the new sport. The numbers have gone down as the weather has deteriorated so it may be that we run our club sessions less during the winter months and look to relaunch early next year as spring arrives.

Adult Coaching Programme News

We have had a good response from the new Adult Beginner Courses that have started, spaces are still available and you will only pay for the remaining classes if you join mid course. Rest assured we will offer regular 6 week courses from now on. The regular drop-in Adult Beginner Classes will continue to run on Wednesdays at 7pm and Saturdays at 9.30am.

The New Adult Beginner Courses will start week beginning 6th January 2025. Sign-up on website

Junior Coaching Programme News

Please see an up-to-date list of Junior Coaching Groups on our Notice Board by the Entry Gate to the courts. The list will give info about time/coach/age group/numbers in group

The September to December Junior Groups will end the week of 16th December.

New Junior Groups will start the week of Monday 6th January 2025 and will run for 12 weeks up to Easter at the beginning of April 2025. Half-term will be the week of Monday 17th February (no tennis during half-term). You can sign-up for the 2025 junior groups at the 2024 price up to the end of 2024. Prices are set to go up on 1st January 2025.

Remember it’s cheaper for the child to become a member of Elthorne Tennis when booking group courses. You’ll pay £11.50/hour if you are a member and £16.43/hour if a non-member. Membership is open to anyone for £13.00/year

Children joining classes after they start will only pay the cost of the classes left in the term. Single one-off drop-in lessons will be charged at the non-member rate of £16.43

Please contact Matthew on 07876221259, Francis on 07922210220 and Emre on 07449966455 if you have any further questions about coaching

Please be aware our prices will be going up from 1/1/2025

I hope this update is good news for you all. This redevelopment signals a big improvement to tennis provision for our community, not to mention a brand new cafe facility for all park users.

Kind regards

Matthew Cattaway

07876221259

matthew@cattaway.com