I hope this email finds you well. Another lovely weekend for tennis ... and cricket! Fourteen of us starred in the inaugural Victoria Park Cricket match at the Coaver club. Some spectacular hits, even more spectacular misses, unorthodox bowling, enthusiastic fielding, and a fair amount of laughter and in-game commentary! Ages ranged from the young and talented, to the getting older and once talented, to the getting old and never talented, to the young in mind and spirit! Thanks to Matt Olczak for organising and putting up with an afternoon of enthusiastic and almost completely unwarranted appealing! We have already booked the pitch for next year's event ... hopefully see you there!

Talking of social events, we held another afternoon of fun doubles tournament at the end of July. Thanks again to Simon who once again managed to juggle a mix of abilities, ages and levels of enthusiasm and competitiveness to hold a tournament that everyone enjoyed! A donation was made to Jay's Aim (the charity who kindly provided us with a defibrillator) with the leftover entrance fees (once balls and prizes had been taken into account). Look out for a golf social in late September and another friendly mixed tournament later in the year!

Also look out for emails inviting members to partake in junior and adult autumn group coaching. First come, first served ... although we will always look to ensure that everyone gets onto at least one session a week. League matches will also recommence after a brief summer break. Please do let us know if you would like to get involved. Congratulations to the Men's B and Ladies' A teams for winning their respective leagues!

It has been fantastic to see such well attended social and matchpractice sessions this Spring / Summer. Rest assured we are carefully managing the amount of new members we take on but we will always look to ensure the courts are as well used as possible. This may mean that you might sometimes have to wait before playing. Please continue to respect your fellow players and approach tennis with the right levels of competitiveness, kindness, fun and respect. There have been a couple of instances of over-competitiveness and unsportsmanlike behaviour reported in recent weeks. In particular, please do not deliberately aim for someone at the net, especially at club evenings or during social tennis - and if you do accidentally do this, please apologise immediately afterwards.  Unsportsmanlike behaviour is not acceptable and repeat offenders will not be invited to re-join when membership renewal comes around. Please do speak up if you ever feel uncomfortable, threatened or made to feel unwelcome at Victoria Park.

I hope you like the new flooring throughout the clubhouse - long overdue! Thanks also to Sue Stott for re-covering our sofa's! Please leave the clubhouse as you find it - which means turning lights off and locking up if you are the last to leave! Also please do remember to book courts prior to playing - this it a mandatory requirement. 

Lastly, as the inevitable turn of weather approaches, please take care during wet and frosty weather. The courts are designed to play in most conditions but should not be played upon in heavy rain or when affected by frost. Courts can remain slippery after rain and the back of the courts may be affected by moss in the winter months. We will be treating the courts in the next couple of months to help minimise this.

Enjoy your tennis, enjoy the last days of summer and do please get in touch if you have any suggestions, complaints or queries!

VP Tennis Committee