Report from the Chair for the AGM – 12th March 2025

In 2024 Leigh Tennis Club celebrated its 40th anniversary.

Over that 40 year period we have added floodlights and a fully equipped Clubhouse to our facilities. We have continued to field a Ladies and a Mixed team in the local leagues and we have continued to offer coaching opportunities to our members. Our Club facilities are made available to Leigh Primary School for netball practices and matches and our Club coach, Adam Harrison, provides tennis coaching to the Leigh Primary School pupils on a Tuesday afternoon.     

I think it is fair to say that the weather over the last year has not been the best, but Club nights on Tuesday evenings have been well supported.

We are lucky enough to have a fantastic social committee and it is thanks to their hard work and organisational skills that we have enjoyed not only our traditional summer barbeque and Christmas drinks but also the wonderful 40th birthday party on the Green.    

Our financial reserves are healthy but these need to be maintained and added to in order to cover the cost of future re surfacing.

We also need to have in mind that our deficit last year was in the region £4,000. This was due in large part to increased utility charges and a drop in coaching income.   

Our subscription rates remain very competitive when compared to other clubs in our area but, having considered the financial position in the round, the Committee have decided to recommend the following increase in subscriptions for 2025/2026.   

 

Subs for 2025/2026

Senior              £  88 to £95

Family             £193 to £205

Junior              £  39 to £40

Social              £  16 to £17

 

We currently have 169 members in total (-2). 106 adult members (+3), 43 junior members (-9), 18 social members (+2) and 2 associate members (0).

 

 

Membership

Chris Scott has kindly agreed to continue with his role as membership secretary for another year. We are very grateful to him for the work he does dealing with the annual renewals and helping new members, as and when they apply during the course of the year.  

Family membership remains open to adults and their “children” under the age of 25.

Any regular playing members, over the age of 25, are expected to pay full adult subs, unless they are students, or are in receipt of income support.

Our Club rules allow paid up members to play with visitors up to 3 times a year. If visitors are likely to want to use the courts more often than this then we would expect them to join the Club as members.               

 

Courts and grounds

Our lease with KCC is up for renewal in 2030 and we have decided to defer re surfacing until such time as our new lease is agreed.

The court surfaces are holding up well and we think that if we maintain our practice of having them professionally cleaned each November then this should be sufficient for the next few years. When we do eventually re surface the courts we will replace the court netting at the same time and carry out routine maintenance work to the floodlights.

 

Thanks once again to Judi Bishop who does a great job keeping the Clubhouse clean and tidy.

 

 

 

Playing matters

Adam Harrison continues to offer adult coaching on Monday mornings and junior coaching on Wednesday afternoons/evening. Adam coaches the Leigh Primary school children on Tuesday afternoons.

We have also recruited a new coach, Ian Chapman, who is able to help with individual coaching.  

 

Teams

Our match secretary, Ali Shamash, works tirelessly organising our teams and fixtures.

A summary of our results is set out below :-  

Weald League

Summer '24

Ladies Doubles Division 2

We finished top of Division 2 , winning all our matches so will move to Division 1 for Summer  '25.

 

Mixed Doubles Division 3

We finished fourth out or seven in Division 3 so should stay in Division 3 for Summer '25

 

Winter 24/25

Ladies Doubles Division 4

We have currently played 3 out of 5 matches.  Two matches were postponed because of the weather. Depending on the results of these we will either remain in Division 4 or move to Division 3.

 

Mixed Doubles Division 3

We are presently second in the table with one more match to play.  We should either remain in Division 3 or move to division 2 depending on the result.

 

 

Club nights

Club nights take place on Tuesday evenings (weather permitting) and as the evenings get lighter and the temperatures warmer we will encourage members to come up to the Club on Thursday evenings as well.

       

Social

The highlight of our social calendar was undoubtedly our 40th birthday party on the Green. We had a great turn out and the fantastic Groove 101 made sure that we celebrated in style.

We had good numbers too at our traditional Christmas Drinks party and summer barbeque.

A great deal of work goes on behind the scenes preparing and then running these events and we owe a particular debt of gratitude to Laurence Coleman, Janet Oppen, Tigger Neeves and Chris Scott.

A huge thanks to all the Committee for all they do to help run Leigh Tennis Club and to organise the various activities we host each year. Kendra Felisky does a brilliant job as our Treasurer and Iza, as our Secretary, produces minutes of our meetings with exemplary efficiency.   

If any of our newer members would like to join the Committee please don’t be shy. Duties are not onerous and we would love to have your input on how we can promote and develop the Club.    

 

Helen Scott                                                                                                     March 2025