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 - 5th August 2025

It has been some time since my last update, during this year our tennis community has grown considerably and will be getting used to the many improvements that have taken place.

As well as resurfacing the courts in the park, installing the floodlights and support buildings, we have also included a hitting wall and are in the process of installing a seating area to court 2 as I write this update.

Programme-wise we continue to deliver a full programme for beginner adults and juniors to learn, for our regular players to train in weekly sessions and we deliver both Adult and Junior LTA Sanctioned Tournaments.

Our 2 full-time coaches, Francis Carrero and Emre Koyunoglu are ably assisted by Alex Christofi, Josiah Oridota, Kelan Cattaway and others. Our 2 qualified Referees Alex Christofi and Ranjit Fenton are kept busy officiating our regular Sanctioned tournaments. I'm pleased to say Francis has recently completed her LTA level 3 coaching qualification, where her students are benefitting from the experience she has been gaining over the past few years.

New Café – Aces Café – Pop up

Our next step is to start the Café that has been promised for some time. In the first instance, I have opened the ‘pop-up’ version of the Aces Café, it will be run out of the green container next to the courts. The container has taken some time to get it to the point it can be used as a café. I’m happy to report it is fully functional and the opening hours will be posted on the noticeboard by the courts.

You are be able to buy hot & cold drinks, Ice-creams, cakes & pastries, snacks, sandwiches. In time I will expand the offering once I find my feet. The business will be contactless, so no cash will be accepted.

Further plans include installing tables, seating and coverings to the grassed area by the courts.

The main café is still in the pipeline but the complications that the Council have experienced with their own procurement process has meant the project has finally been turned over to me to finish. More on this in the future.

Water Fountain

I’m very pleased to announce we will be having a water fountain installed in the park, it will be sited close to the path crossroads by the children’s playground. No schedule has been announced yet but I will let you all know as soon as I’m told.

MUGA Courts

We have been using the courts behind the school for tennis bookings for this past year or more. In the main, the courts are mostly used for Junior and Adult LTA tournaments, for normal bookings it’s clear people would prefer to play on the painted Park courts.

It is true the courts are not as well looked after as the park courts, but I am hoping to upgrade the courts when I take over the courts from Everyone Active early next year. The upgrade will include painting the courts like the park courts, removing all the weeds surrounding the court surface and installing an LED floodlight system like the park courts. It is true that the MUGA courts are better protected against the wind, which mainly travels in from the west – hitting the Park courts to blow across the court – annoying for tennis players………..

Pickleball

We continue to run Pickleball sessions at Elthorne, the Club Sessions are scheduled in regularly.

Look on the Coaching Tab on the website for upcoming Pickleball sessions.

Pickleball Court Bookings

We also offer 1 hour court bookings for pickleball, this will include the courts being marked out and the nets being made up ready for 4 players to play. You will need to bring your own Pickleball Paddle and balls. You can make Pickleball court bookings by going to the Court Booking Tab on the website and clicking on the day you want and then clicking the arrow button next to the MUGA 4 column to expose the Pickleball courts. If you are booking a Pickleball court you are best off texting Matthew on 07876221259 to prompt him to set up the court.

Friends of Elthorne Park Action Group

It’s clear we have a very active community that uses Elthorne Park and the wider area that the park backs onto. With this in mind I’d like to bring together the community to further enhance our park experience by creating an action group. This might include;

• Litter picking groups
• The interests of dogs and dog walkers
• Improvement of the park’s horticulture and pathways
• Improvement of Notices and Noticeboards
• Art Installations
• A Park Run
• Events that might utilise the Bandstand

Ideally we would have a group of people meet to discuss the scope of how the park could be enhanced and action could follow from there. I welcome your thoughts and comments.

Thank you

Matthew Cattaway

07876221259

matthew@cattaway.com