Revamped newsletter

With the courts looking great and the new lights now available for winter play, we thought it would be a good time to keep you updated on what’s going on at the club. Please do attend the AGM on 26 January at 8pm in the upstairs Clubhouse of the Sports Pavilion for more information and to stay involved.

 

NEW Monthly social activities

Kate Bryant will be arranging a social event each month and suggestions are welcome. There will be a variety of activities on offer so we hope something will appeal. These are not necessarily fundraising activities, they are more designed to get members together. So if you are currently injured and not able to play, you can still come and join in.

The first event will be on Wednesday 22 February from 7pm in the upstairs room at the clubhouse and is likely to involve ping pong, pool, darts, ‘Round the table’ table tennis and of course the bar will be open. More details to follow. We are hoping the March event will be a quiz night in the upstairs clubhouse.

 

Social Media

Tom Olesker has taken on the role of publicising the Club, including creating a Facebook page for the club, updating the website and more presence on social media. It would be helpful if we had a library of more up to date pictures to include in the future. Please send him any you have that might be suitable and let’s all try to take more pictures of FR tennis and events from now on.

 

What’s App group

During lockdown two very similar WhatsApp groups were set up, one called Club tennis and one called Social tennis. The club tennis group has now been closed down. There will just be one FRLTC group called ‘Social tennis’, this will be for people wanting to arrange games or checking to see who is attending social tennis. Tom is taking over the administration of the new ‘Social tennis’ group. His contact details are at the end of this newsletter.

Please remember to be mindful of other users when posting on the group. For example if you are trying to set up a game, once you have the necessary numbers, please switch to a private group. Or if you don’t want to be beeped each time someone posts to say they are stuck in traffic whatever, you can mute the chats and stay in the group for the content you are interested in.

 

Court Lights

It is great the lights on all three courts are now functional.

A reminder - ALL Members playing privately must use £1.00 coins to use the lights. On Club social evenings, members sign the attendance book and contribute £1 towards the lights, either online or cash on the night.

 

Regular Club Activities

Mondays pm - Rusty Rackets, organised by East Grinstead Tennis, open to members and non members.

Tuesday & Thursday - 6-8pm, Social Tennis

Friday - 4-6 pm, Junior Coaching, organised by East Grinstead Tennis

Saturday mornings, 10-2pm Wealden Home matches

Sunday - 10-1pm, Social tennis

 

Congratulations…

Oceana Ennis, our 2022 Club Tournament champion, has been awarded the Howard Robins Sportsmanship award for Tennis Sussex 2023. Many congratulations to Oceana who will receive her County award at a ceremony in February at the Brighton Amex stadium.

 

Weald Match Updates

Forest Row participates in the Weald league against other local clubs. We are currently coming to the end of the winter season, although because of the terrible weather many matches have had to be postponed. We field six teams one men’s, one ladies, three mixed and a men-over-55 team. Home fixtures are generally held on Saturday mornings. If you feel like coming to support the Home team, there are due to be matches on the following dates, (weather permitting)

Saturday 18 February           FR Mixed C vs Maresfield

Saturday 4 March                 FR Mixed B vs Lindfield B

Saturday 18 March                FR Mixed C vs Godstone

Tuesday 21 March                FR Men-over-55 vs Matchpoint

On Saturday 14 January FR Ladies, represented by Julie Ennis & Angela Taupitz and Kim Leyes & Louisa Creak took on Limpsfield A, the top team in the 1st Division, on their all weather clay courts. Despite our Ladies best efforts, Limpsfield won, 4-0. FR Men's were due to play at home on the same day against Crowborough, but the match had to be cancelled because of the weather. On Monday 16 January, our Men-over-55 team, represented by David Minns, Ian Hill, Raymond Kelly and Marc ter Kuile, played Oxted and lost 3-1. 

Angus Jeffery is Captain of the mixed B and C teams. Angus currently has some Mixed C matches he needs to fill. Mixed C is a great opportunity for match practice, whilst matches are competitive, they are played in a friendly and encouraging spirit against other local clubs, it is more about taking part than the outcome. If you would like to be considered for the C team, please get in touch with Angus, details at end.

 

Monthly ‘Social CCC Sunday’ - Cuppa, cake and catch up, CCC

Starting in the Spring, when hopefully the weather will be better, pop up to the Club house for a cup of coffee/tea, cake and a chat. Join in the social or just enjoy the refreshments. If it proves popular we can repeat monthly, subject to volunteers, say the first Sunday of the month. More details to follow.

 

AGM reminder

The AGM takes place on Thursday 26th January at 8pm in the upstairs Club house. Please attend. There will be updates on the Club finances, coaching and information on plans for the future. As always, all Committee posts will be up for re-election.

 

Club Committee

Committee members work hard, and on a voluntary basis, to keep the club solvent, thank you Marc, and working efficiently for all members. Some have been on the Committee for many many years. This month, Judy Garnham, is retiring from the Committee. We all owe her a huge debt of gratitude. There were many roles Judy co-ordinated. Most will be reassigned to members of the Committee.

Judy has recently been coordinating the Cleaning rota with Chris’s assistance. It would be very helpful if a member, someone with basic computer skills, could take on the role. This involves setting up the rota for cleaning the clubhouse and the courts, posting and monitoring the check list in the clubhouse and sending reminder emails to members about their forthcoming clean. It is not an onerous role so if you haven’t got the time to join the committee, might you consider taking this on? Please email Judy.

 

Tennis in the News

From the producers of Formula 1: Drive To Survive comes "Break Point", Netflix's new tennis documentary series. Follow a select group of top tennis players on and off the court as they compete in gruelling Grand Slams and tournaments all over the world. The first five episodes are now available to watch.

The Australian Open, the first Grand Slam of the year began on Monday 16 January. There will be some coverage on BBC Radio. But Eurosport Discovery+ has the main TV rights. If you haven’t got a subscription, you can sign up for 1 month for £6.99, just remember to cancel.

 

Dates for the Diary

Thursday 26 January, 8pm, AGM in the upstairs Clubhouse

Wednesday 22 February (tbc) - Fun & Games in the Upstairs Clubhouse

 

Contact details:

Kate Bryant                           katembryant@btinternet.com

Tom Olesker                        tomtejasolesker@gmail.com

Nicky Drysdale                     nicola.drysdale@btinternet.com

East Grinstead Tennis          Rob@egtenniscoaching-com.stackstaging.com

(for Rusty Rackets, Junior Coaching)

Judy Garnham                      garnham.judy@gmail.com

(re volunteering for Cleaning rota)

Angus Jeffery                        angusjeffery@yahoo.co.uk

(Re Mixed C teams)