I was going to start this newsletter by saying say that the start of the 2018/19 season had coincided with some lovely weather and then yesterday the thunderstorms hit us!
At our AGM in April there was one significant change when Sue Mercer stepped down from the Committee after 30+ years, as she’s had to give up playing due to rickety joints! The rest of the committee was voted in “en bloc” and now comprises of me (Chairman), Mary Thompson (Secretary), Paul Crowton (Treasurer), Caroline Morland, Olly Wiltshire, Peter Walshe and Steve Fitzgerald.
Open Day, Saturday 9th June
Our next big event is on Saturday 9th June, Carnival Day, when we’re having a Club Open Day starting at 10.00 a.m. and running until 4.00 p.m. We hope to get plenty of interest during the day from people involved with the Carnival and the many visitors. It would be great to have a few members around during the day to “meet and greet” or help out at any particularly busy times – let me know if you’re able to spare some time. As far as the day itself is concerned please let your friends and family know we’ll be there, everyone is welcome to come and try some of the activities on offer. In the morning we’ve got 2 x 25 minute Mini Tennis sessions for young ones at 10.00 and 11.00. With smaller courts, nets and rackets and lower bouncing balls Mini Tennis offers the perfect introduction to the sport, with all the fun and energy of the real thing. We’ll also be running 2 x 25 minute sessions of Family Time at 10.00 and 11.00, an opportunity to get on get on court as a family and have some fun. We’ll provide modified balls and rackets for the younger ones and coach Elizabeth Holding will be on hand to give some pointers. For anyone who doesn’t fancy a formal session the courts are available to use for free during 2 x 25m sessions at 10.00 and 11.00, and an hour each in the afternoon at 12:00 and 13:00. To book any session in advance go to:
https://clubspark.lta.org.uk/HarburyTC/Events
The afternoon session is more relaxed, the courts will still be open so people can have a chat and have a go (no racket is no excuse, we’ll have spares to borrow!) and there will be the added attraction of an on court target game which Olly is designing and building!
Hopefully we’ll sign up some new members and with that in mind we’re going to have a “New Members’ Night” on Tuesday 19th June (6.30) to give new members, or anyone who couldn’t come to the Open Day, an opportunity to meet us and to encourage them to come along to club sessions.
Social Dates!
Mary has already circulated details of various events but here’s a reminder about the next 2 social events:
Strawberry Tournament, Tuesday June 26th, 6.00 p.m. for 6.30 start of play. This is always a popular event that comprises of mixed doubles accompanied by lashings of Strawberries and cream - Peter is currently negotiating for warm sunny weather and will be in touch soon!
BBQ Tournament, Tuesday, August 8th, 6.00 p.m. for 6.30 start of play. Another popular event, it’s a bring your own food and drink event at which we often find a willing “volunteer” to help with the cooking, or fire prevention!! Peter will be in contact nearer the time.
Playing Matters:
There’s plenty of activity at the club and Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday sessions are well attended. The coolsportz coaching programme is going really well and we now have more Junior members than we’ve had for several years, which is particularly pleasing.
On the competitive side it’s already been a busy summer. The early action was in the Warwickshire Senior Classic Mixed Doubles with 4 matches in the Round Robin stage. There were some very close matches against Rugby, Warwick Boat Club and Solihull Arden which all ended in defeat but an excellent win against Blossomfield (Solihull) in the final match wasn’t enough to qualify for the knockout stage.
In the Banbury League we have teams competing in both the Midweek and Weekend formats. It’s been an excellent start in the Midweek league, winning the first 4 matches, and we’re currently top of Division 4. The weekend team has started with home matches against strong teams from Towcester and Priors Marston “A”, both matches were closely contested but both ended in 6-2 wins for the visitors. We also have a team in the Rugby and District League but at the time of writing have yet to play a match. If you are interested in playing inter-club matches please contact Caroline
For the Club Championships Caroline has already launched the singles ladder, if you would like to play this year and haven’t already signed up please contact Caroline, more details are on the website,
https://clubspark.lta.org.uk/HarburyTC/WhatsOn/Ladder
The Men’s and Ladies’ doubles are scheduled for Sunday 23rd September; Olly’s leading on those and will be in contact nearer the time.
Miscellaneous!
We’ve recently introduced online management of membership records using the LTA’s Clubspark system to ensure our records are accurate and compliant with the new GDPR regulations. If you haven’t already done so please take a few minutes to sign on.
What you need to do:
Visit the membership page of our web site. https://ClubSpark.lta.org.uk/HarburyTC/Membership/Join
Select the appropriate membership package and hit the “Join Now” button (NB. It is not going to charge you again for this year!)
Register on the system. If you have previously signed up with us via clubspark please use those sign in details.
Add or update your contact details
Update your consent details for marketing purposes - e.g. so we can send invites to tournaments and social elements including the Wimbledon ballet. (These are “opt in” and can be updated at anytime once registered)
And finally! Mary is in the course of setting up a display of club photos in the Harbury Heritage Room at the village school. The room contains hundreds of photos and documents relating to the Village and is open on the first Tuesday of every month.
As ever, if you would like to offer your help in running the Club, or have any thoughts or suggestions on how to improve the Club just contact me, or any of the Committee, we’d be delighted to hear from you!
Hope to see you on court soon!
Cheers,
Colin