The floodlights are a fantastic club asset that have enabled year-round play in Liss since 2013. However, in early 2024 a combination of wear and tear, followed by damage meant that play under the lights was at risk. Without repair (about £3k) or replacement (about £15k) there would be no play in in Winter 2024.

New Floodlights

Ben Marshall's Torchlight Tennis Marathon and the Village Clubs and Societies Festival organised by the tennis club in June helped raise some funds and momentum to fix things. The festival was followed by a successful grant application to Sport England and we can now announce that the new lights should be installed (weather permitting) on Friday 25th October.

The new lights utilise a green LED technology that also bring new opportunities. The old lights were halogen based meaning they were energy hungry and prone to explode if they were turned off / on too quickly (they heated to very high temperatures!) 

Access and operation of the lights was by necessity controlled. The new lights will remove some of these issues and the club is therefore looking at ways to open up their use to adult members as part of their membership benefits.

Club Room Improvements

Swiftly following on from the new floodlights will be further improvements to the clubhouse. 

Phase one of improvements were completed in November 2023 with the installation of a new kitchen. The latest improvements will see the installation of improved seating and storage which will complete the transformation of the room into an open welcoming space that members can access and will want to socialise in.

This work is expected to be completed before the end of the year.

Improved Access

Historically the club room was utilised by all adult members during club sessions but when Covid restrictions came in this changed. In the last few years we have then been working with the trust (who own the building and courts) to re-establish access and update the facilities. 

Improved access and use of the clubhouse will bring multiple benefits to members including access to facilities and use of the ball machine - another benefit of membership going forward.

Automated gate Access in 2025

We hope further improvements will follow in 2025 as we are also exploring the potential for integrated gate access and floodlights via the booking system  Details will follow when we have firm plan plans, costs and maintenance requirements.

And some admin...

In order to achieve all this there is a little bit of admin that we need to put in place so that members understand the benefits but also their responsibilities with respect to the building and lights.

The club do not own the pavilion for example and it is also used by a Children’s nursery, Guides and Brownies – we all need to be aware of their interests especially safeguarding requirements. The floodlights were also installed in 2013 with planning restrictions – members need to be aware of these restrictions before they can use the floodlights so that as a club we don’t break our restrictions.

We will aim to update our membership benefits page to reflect changss and get some guidelines and policies in place shortly so members who would like access can acknowledge that they understand and agree to follow the guidelines and procedures put in place.

If you have any questions please get in touch or come alomg and find ot more at our AGM on Sunday 13th October.