latest news
American Tournament: On the afternoon of Sunday 24 May we will be holding an American Tournament at the club, instead of our normal Club Session. This will be a relaxed and fun afternoon and all club members are welcome. Further details will be coming soon but please put the date in your diaries, as it will be fantastic to have as many of you there as possible!
Pickle Ball taster: In addition, we're planning to do a Pickle Ball taster session at 2.30pm on Sunday 31 May on Court 4.
Bank holiday tennis: Happily, we have 2 bank holidays coming up in May, and there will be additional Club Sessions 2.30 - 5.30pm on Monday 4 & Monday 25 May.
Membership Renewals: It's April and we are in full swing with membership renewals. Thank you to everyone who has paid already. If you have paid by Direct Debit, your membership is automatically active but the money will go via GoCardless towards the end of the month. If you choose the payment method 'Other', you need to actually make the bank transfer to the club account from your bank account. I'm guessing some have missed this step! On 30 April, the early bird discount of £5 per adult will run out but more importantly, if you haven't paid, you will be unable to book courts as the membership for 2025/6 will have lapsed. We are lucky to have full membership for many years now and we shall be running a Play-in mid May for those on the waiting list. Before running the play-in for new members, we would like a true picture of how many active members we have. If you know you don't want to renew this year, please let Claire Unwin know via: membership@muswellhilltennis.com.
Junior Liaison role: We are keen to offer children of different ages the opportunity to discover and enjoy tennis, to improve their skills, play for fun and learn to compete. We are looking for someone who can get informal and honest feedback from other parents as to the effectiveness of our junior programme, and an understanding of what we can do to improve. Here are the type of things we'd like to know:
-Are children enjoying their sessions and what works well and less well?
-Are the times convenient?
-Are there things they wish we offered but are not?
-How could our Holiday Camps be more attractive?
Skills required for the role:
-A parent member who has at least one junior having lessons at MHMLTC
-Is able to meet with other parents at drop off or pick up at some junior sessions
-Feels comfortable to chat with and build relationships with other parents to get their views
-Can digest and feedback to the committee on the views of parents
-Is able to attend committee meetings to report back on what they have found, either as a full committee member or just occasionally
If you are interested in this role or would like further information, please email:
committee@muswellhilltennis.com
Junior Development Fund: We want to further support the development of juniors within the club who show particular talent and/or enthusiasm. The committee have, therefore, agreed to set up a fund of £5,000 per annum which juniors can apply for to support a particular tennis need or activity. We plan that the total fund is not given to one individual but shared amongst several applicants.
Examples of how it could be used are:
-private coaching
-entering a tournament (entry fees, travel expenses etc)
-regular sessions with a paid hitter
These are just examples and it would be open for juniors and their parents/ guardians to apply for anything tennis related.
Tennis is an expensive sport so financial hardship will not be part of the criteria to qualify, and applications will be assessed by our Head Coach (Joe Anan) and Club Captain (Claire Unwin)
If you would like to get an application form, please email:
committee@muswellhilltennis.com
Your help is needed: We are lucky to have such a beautiful club but it takes hard work to keep everything in tip-top shape. It would be wonderful to have more members helping with some of the routine tasks, such as: Keeping the clubhouse neat & tidy, filling / emptying the dishwasher, putting rubbish from the courts into bins, taking away the white & black bin bags from the clubhouse, collecting stray tennis balls from the grassy areas, brushing the courts.
And if anyone wants to channel their Mary Berry talents and bring a cake along to club session, we would be more than happy!
If you see something that needs doing, please do go ahead and if you need any instructions, just ask a member of the committee.
The Elfrida Society: We are pleased to let you know that our club will be supporting The Elfrida Society. This is a local charity that provides services and support that help people with learning disabilities and / or autism build connections and have happy and independent lives. We will be providing free coaching to some of their younger people from April 15 2026. We hope that it will prove to be a success and we will provide feedback to you once the initial trial period is over.
Car park stickers: A reminder for those of you who have renewed your membership this year, to pick up a parking permit (expiry date 31 March 2027) and display it on your windscreen. This is especially important if you use the parking spaces outside The Paddock. Please ask Joe or any member of the committee to give you one next time you are down at the club.
Parking: The Paddock are very generous in allowing us to use some of their parking spaces when our own area is full. However, we must leave at least 3 spaces free for their own care workers and any vistors to residents. Unfortunately, we are not permitted to park on the entrance road into Meadow Drive, so if there are no other spaces available, please park on the surrounding streets or walk to the club.
Keep our courts tip top!: Now that drier weather has arrived, could we please get back to dragging the courts regularly after we finish playing. Also, please wind down the nets to release the tension at the end of the day. There are green measuring sticks hanging on each net to re-set the height at the beginning of play.
Finals Weekend: This will be Saturday 19 & Sunday 20 September. Our annual club tournament will run as usual over the summer, with the finals weekend in September, weather permitting! More details will follow in due course, but please save the date for the finals weekend. This is always a fun two days with great tennis to watch and food to eat, even for those not playing matches.
Singles ladder: The new cycle has started. See here >> for all the details.
Release tension on the nets overnight: In order to preserve the nets and the net-posts, best practice is to release the tension on the nets slightly at the end of each day. If you are last on court please remember to do this, and the net heights can then be re-set by those first on court the next day. We have purchased a new green measuring stick for each net and they can be found hooked onto the nets, next to the posts.The design is such that one person can set the net height on their own.
Coaching with Joe: Our long term coach Joe Anan has recently made a modest increase to his coaching fees for the coming year. The new price schedule is now here>> and also displayed on posters in the clubhouse. Joe currently has some availability to offer individual coaching on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays in the mornings and early afternoons. Please do contact him if you are keen to brush up on your technique or work on specific skills. Joe Anan: 07956 265158 or joetenis@hotmail.com. Joe has completed 30 years of service to the club. As a mark of our gratitude, the committee have given him a well deserved Long Service Award. Thank you to Joe from all of us!!
Beginners' coaching session: Joe runs another beginners' group 7-8pm on Wednesday evenings. Cost £14 + £2 for lights. If you're interested please contact Joe at joetenis@hotmail.com or 07956 265158.
Membership: Happily, we have had a flurry of new members joining the club since our membership re-opened in April. We have now reached capacity so we are currently not accepting any more new members, except juniors and those of team standard. Any other membership requests will be added to our waiting list.
Mid-week tennis league 55+: We have entered a mid-week tennis league for players 55 and over. Matches are played during the day, usually starting at 11am or thereabouts. We would require 4 players for each match, 2 men and 2 women. Each player plays 4 sets: men's doubles (2 sets); ladies' doubles (2 sets); mixed doubles (2 sets). If you'd like to play just click here>>
Club hitters: A hitter is a consistent player, who is paid to play with you. It can be a great way to build consistency, get fit or focus on perfecting a new shot. It can complement coaching or just be a great way to shake up your game. We are conscious that it can be hard to get coaching time, so we are delighted to announce that the club now has two official club hitters in Louie Kovaci and Pete Ross! For more details about them, including contact details, just click here >>
Booking and cancelling courts: The booking system lets you book for the current day and the next six days for up to 90 minutes maximum per member (or group of members). Obviously if there is no-one using the court after this time there's no problem with you continuing beyond this. However it is not in the spirit of the club for one person to book 90 minutes and another in the same group to book a further 30 that day. It isn't fair to other members, particularly at peak weekend times. Please be sure to cancel court bookings that are not needed. Just one more plea - to cancel them the minute you realise you're not coming. So if you're looking for a court, it's always worth checking the night before, or morning you're hoping to play, as late cancellations do happen.
Club sessions: It's been great to see so many people coming to the weekend sessions recently, from 2:30 to 5:30pm Saturday and Sunday. Club sessions are open to everyone of 'club standard' (if you're not sure whether you're of that standard, then talk to Joe) and the principle is that we all mix in. Members are required to mix-in in sequence, unless a Club officer rebalances those waiting. So this is not an opportunity to arrange your own sets.
Thursday morning club sessions are from 10:30 to 12:30.
Junior club sessions are every Sunday from 5:30 to 7:00pm. 12-16 year olds welcome. Any questions, just contact Joe on 07956 265158.
Club Tournament 2025: Congratulations to our winners! The finals of our annual club tournament were played 20 & 21 September. The quality of matches was excellent, and the turnout of friends, family and members attending to cheer on our finalists was superb. We were lucky with the weather on both days, with mostly dry conditions, and Mike was able to go ahead with the BBQ as planned on the Saturday. Photos from the 2 days are here>>. A big thank you to everyone who was involved in making the weekend a success! All the results are here>>
On court behaviour: Please do your best to keep shouting to a minimum. Emotions are part of tennis for sure, but swearing and shouting - even if it is only at your racket - can be off-putting to your opponent and in extreme cases disturb other people using the Estate grounds. In particular, please be aware of your noise levels if you're playing early morning. And we all play our best tennis when we feel supported and comfortable, so encourage your partner. Criticising is counter-productive and not in the spirit of the club. In the end it boils down to one simple principle - be nice!
Community Involvement: Food Bank Aid are in desperate need of empty egg cartons. If you have any at home, please leave them in the labelled box in the phone cupboard in the clubhouse and Jane Brunner will gratefully pick them up.
Three Generations of the Chester Family: As many of you know, Guy Chester opened the new courts and clubhouse at our tennis club at its current site 100 years ago, in May 1925. Members of his family came to visit the club and play some tennis back in April this year. Here is a link to an article regarding their visit, and some reflections on Guy's life, for those of you who are interested in learning more.
Guest fees: you are welcome to bring guests to play at the club (except for weekend club sessions) but please:
- let us know in advance who you are bringing and when (email guest@muswellhilltennis.com)
- once they have played, pay £5 per adult guest, £3 per junior into the club account
This is important as we need information about who is playing for the purposes of our insurance.
Members may bring the same guest 10 times each tennis year. A member may bring up to 3 guests weekdays till 4pm.
Tennis balls: The club can supply Wilson US Open tennis balls to members for £6 per tin.
Contactless payment for the floodlights: We have a contactless payment system for the lights. All debit and credit cards and ApplePay are accepted (but not Amex). The card reader is behind the door on entering the clubhouse. As agreed with our neighbours, floodlights should not be on after 9:30pm.
The climate crisis: We're doing our bit. All the lighting at the club, both on and off court, is now LED.
Car parking : We ask that, where possible, you walk or cycle to the club. If you need to drive, we have 7 spaces in our car park and we ask that the first car to arrive parks at one end or other of the car park, to encourage others to park so that we make use of the 7 spaces. Please ensure you display a current MHMLTC sticker in the windsceen. In addition, we need to remind long standing members and to advise new members of the following:
- We have a friendly arrangement (not a right!) with The Paddock to use their carpark when our spaces are full.
- When using The Paddock spaces we must always leave 3 spaces empty so that we do not deprive any resident or visitor of a space.
- Please ensure you have a current MHMLTC sticker in your window if using spaces at The Paddock so that they know you are a tennis club member.
- We are not permitted to park in the curve opposite the entrance to The Paddock parking or in the bay at the entrance to Meadow Drive.
Clubhouse security: If court 4 is the only court being used and there is no-one in the clubhouse, in the interests of security please lock the clubhouse.
Sun Awareness: An important reminder to be sun aware and put on some sun screen, especially when the weather is fine. A hat will also help protect you, especially those of you who are challenged in the hair department! Bottles of SPF lotion are available in the clubhouse, so please help yourself.
Fox poo is horrible! Please keep it off our courts by making sure you close the gates when you finish playing, at any time of the day. If allowed access to the courts, the foxes also love chewing our nets. Also, if there are not too many people around, they like to go into the clubhouse, so best to keep the door closed if you're on court and there's not many people about.
Closing up: A gentle reminder that if you're the last person/group leaving the club at any time of day please make sure that in freezing weather the clubhouse heaters are turned right down to the frost setting (the red dot), doors are properly closed and locked and that the gate is closed behind you. With the weather so changeable it may well be that later bookings get cancelled, so don't assume others will be there later.
Emergency contact details: It's essential that we have contact details for a parent or guardian of junior members. But it is also important for us to have contact details for ALL members, particularly if you are the only person in your family who is a club member. Hopefully it will never be needed, but it would be terrible if there were a serious incident and we didn't know who to contact. So please check that we have up to date details in your profile on clubspark.
Supervision of Juniors: When children attend formal coaching sessions or holiday camps, they are supervised by the coaches concerned. However, when junior members and their guests use the club's facilities at any other time that is permitted by the club, parents and guardians must understand that there are no staff on the premises to safeguard, supervise or assist children, and at times there may not be any adults present at all. Parents must therefore accept complete responsibility for their juniors and guests when using the facilities of the club and the neighbouring North Bank estate, and either arrange for their play to be supervised or knowingly allow them to play unsupervised.
Safeguarding & Diversity: The LTA have asked us to make all members aware of their responsibilities when it comes to safeguarding children and vulnerable adults. Guidance and details of our Welfare Officers who will deal with any issue is on the noticeboard in the clubhouse. You can also find advice on what to do if you have a concern in the 'Club policies' section here>>
Frost update: Our policy is that play can continue unless the temperature dips below -5C. A thermometer is situated at the entrance gate above Court 1. However, even above this temperature, the courts may be slippery. The club cannot be liable for any injuries due to these conditions so please take care.
Feedback: As we reflect on the past year and what we want to change, the Committee would welcome your feedback! Things that have gone well, things we could improve - we'd love to know, so just drop us a note.