Is it 2021 yet?

What has felt like one of the shortest (yet somehow also the longest) year in history, is almost ready to roll over and give way to its shiny successor - which we hope will have many more good things in store for us.

We have most definitely not remained idle now the winter months are upon us - check-in below for the latest developments.

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Survey results

We started off our membership surveys in July as we were about to open our brand new courts, to check-in with everyone following from a very unusual spring we'd just experienced. This is what 40 of you said:

• 73%  missed playing tennis at WELTC either a lot or a great deal
• 60%  took up new exercise; including running, online workouts and weight lifting 
• 40%  played tennis at another site
• 33%  felt their mental health was worse during lockdown; 49% felt it was the same and 18% felt it improved
• 47% felt their physical heath was worse during lockdown; 30% felt it was the same and 23% felt it improved
• 93% felt it was likely they would re-join the club when lockdown was over
• 75% felt the club had communicated well during lockdown
• 92.5% felt safe to return to tennis

We  took a real interest in your free text comments and as a result have continued to offer free floodlights this year and started the planning process of looking into opportunities to offer social tennis and coaching sessions safely as soon as this was to be permitted again. Click here to get details on how to book in for these now that they have been in place for some time!

In October, we ran another survey to see how how you felt about being back on the courts after the long absence. 33 of you got in touch with us to say the following: 

• 100% agreed or strongly agreed they felt safe at the Club
  • "I think the committee has done a good job of making users of the club aware of the protocols in place to ensure safety on court and that people have been good at adhering to them."
  • "Only joined 6 weeks ago, courts and the whole set up is excellent"
• 100% Agreed or strongly agreed they enjoyed playing tennis at the Club again.
• 90% felt their physical fitness had improved since the club re-opened.
• 94% felt the new court surface met or exceeded expectations
  • "Courts are great, just a few dead spots on court where the ball does not bounce well. These seem to be around the lines."
  • "Nice for the knees, good grip, some funny bounces on suture lines"
  • "It’s night and day with the new courts. They play well and like the new colour."
• 91% felt the booking system is working well.
  • "Courts very busy in the evenings. It would be good to encourage people to release courts if they are not able to use them, including organised sessions."
  • "It has been nice to see the courts so busy and the booking system makes it more convenient to ensure you have a court when you turn up on the court."
• 18% said they would like to join the Committee.

We also received some general comments with some special mentions to our Head Coach Jack Ganley and his work with the Juniors, here is a snapshot of some of these: 

• "Jack has been a breath of fresh air and is excellent with the juniors. More power to his elbow!" 
• "Excellent work getting everything up and running with covid restrictions"
• "Congratulations and commendations to the committee. The club is the best I’ve been a member of"
• "Committee does a splendid job. Please let us keep on playing!"
• "Why would Abertay uni tennis team be given a peak evening 7.30pm ..... ridicules
  request and to be granted is more ridiculas ... poor decision and it would never
  happen at any other club"
• "I have recently started semi retirement, and would be keen to play mornings during
  the week , however it’s difficult to know who’s available, maybe a club WhatsApp
  group would assist in arranging games with other members"
• "Feels like the club is thriving with Jack as head coach"

Some of the feedback we received suggested some isolated issues with the new courts, particularly with Court 1 along the centre line. We have been in touch with the contractor and arranged for these problems to be resolved - we thank you for your patience as these works will be weather-dependent and therefore take place in the spring/early summer of 2021.

Based on feedback, we also changed our online court bookings so that there is a maximum of one booking per person per day, with a limit of 2h rather than 2.5h - reminding players to cancel the bookings where they are unable to use them to ensure that these times can be utilised by others. 

New pathway

The works on our new pathway started on the 21st October and finished not long after, leaving behind a beautiful entryway to our courts. Our tireless contractors of choice worked through the weekend hours to finish it all for us - what do you think?

Box leagues

To drive participation and matchplay at the club we have started up some box leagues. These are open to all ages and abilities and will be a great way to socialise and get some regular tennis matches in. Missed out on the initial set up? Not to worry, give Jack a shout and we will look at getting you involved!

     Categories: Adult Singles, Adult Doubles, Junior Yellow Ball Singles, Junior Green Singles, Orange Singles and Red Singles

At the end of each month, there will be some movement between the boxes allowing for a good level of play to challenge us all to play our best tennis.

Tayside Tour Competition

On the 14th November the club hosted a Tayside Tour Competition for 8&U (Red) and 9&U (Orange) Juniors. So many of our own Juniors participated in this and even brought home the trophy for the latter category! Have we got the attention of those young aspiring tennis champions in your household? Give Jack, Head Coach and now also the Tayside District Competition Co-ordinator, a nudge and he'd be happy to outline how to get started as we continue to host more of these events going forward.

Clubhouse 

The clubhouse has persevered for years in some tough conditions - we know how unpredictable and harsh the Scottish weather can be! In November, the works to provide the clubhouse with some well-deserved TLC have finally started after what can only be described as a total clear-out. Thank you both to the members of the Committee and our lovely volunteers with their hard work in preparing the space to allow for the work to begin. Time for a fresh start and more than just a new coat of paint.

Remember to take extra care when entering the clubhouse to use the floodlights and to utilise the side gate at court 1 to get your games going when the contractors are busy working away in front of the clubhouse steps.

You may have also spotted some balancing acts on our clubhouse roof recently! Estimated start date for the roof to be replaced is in December...  stay tuned, and most importantly, safe.

Bike rack 

Thanks to the tireless efforts of our Fundraiding Convener Hannah Lord, we have secured funding from Cycling Scotland for a bike rack to be fitted for the club. New Year is just around the corner so if you're inclined to make annual fitness resolutions (we've all been there), why not get your trusty bike out of the garage in preparation?

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We would like to thank all of our members for their continued patience and support in making all of these recent investments possible so that we can continue to run the club for the years to come.

PS. Remember to join us for our AGM on the 30th November 2020 at 7:45pm for a 8:00pm start - we look forward to tackling our first virtual AGM to give you all an outline of the past year and the vision we hold for what comes next. So get your favourite coffee cup ready, prepare your background of choice and we'll see you there!