WLTC NEWSLETTER SUMMER 2022
It’s been a very busy year for our tennis club. Our membership has increased and we hope to continue our development.
Here is an update of what’s been going on!
WLTC Team Captains Report
The Ladies entered two ladies’ doubles teams. Lost a couple of matches by games meaning matches were tied on sets and went down to who’d won the most games! Every match we sent a full quota of players. The final results and placings are not in but Whitstable Ladies have ended up middle or higher of each of the tables which is a really great result. 15 ladies represented the club and would have been more if illness and injury had not struck.
Winter League - Only one ladies’ team is entered in anticipation that fitness and skill levels improve through club training sessions in order to have 2 summer teams next year and who knows, top of the league and promotion!
The Men’s Team sit mid table in both Kent League Men’s and Men’s Vets with The Men’s Kent League completed we have one Vets rearranged fixture to play next week where a win will land us in second place. We have just started our Mens Doubles East Kent League fixtures with a resounding 4-0 win away at Faversham this weekend!
This winter we intend to run just a Men’s over 45 Vets Team Playing weekends and to support the (all ages) Mixed Team – based on last winter’s experience there was not a huge appetite for too much winter travels around Kent and most of the match ready team are age +45 Vets – the experience of last winter playing other better/younger players through winter leagues was not much fun – we aim to get the new and recent younger members up to match tennis for next summer and are looking for new members as the men’s section is significantly less in number than the ladies.
This season we have managed to build on where we were and are looking to grow a young strong team supported by age and experience (playing in both Mixed, Men’s Vets and Men’s in future) – the mood of the team is positive and while we could still do with a few stronger male players we are developing as a squad and have competed well and much better than last year!
The feedback from other Clubs to playing Whitstable Men, Ladies and Mixed both at home and away has been highly positive and very rewarding (win or lose).
A very big Thank-you to the Club for the ongoing support; to members who have accommodated changes so we can fit matches in and to everyone who has played for Whitstable LTC this summer.
Jonny & Ruth
Please note the last two home matches of the summer season will take place on:
Sunday 21st August at 11.15 – Mens Doubles
Sunday 11th September at 11.15 – Mens Doubles
Winter season dates will be included in the next Newsletter.
LTA Open Day
Despite the scorching weather we had a very successful day with 37 attendees for the various activities. Big thanks to everyone who helped organise and facilitate the day. We gained some new members which is great news. Jonny reported there was a great buzz around the day with passers-by impressed by all the tennis activity going on.
Special thanks to Vanessa Webb who put the day together overall and organised publicity. We will definitely look to have further Open Days.
Rusty Racquets
Mandy Sargent is running a new Rusty Racquets course on Monday evenings for new and existing members who feel they need a bit of extra help.
The first course starts on Monday 8th August and runs to mid-September. It is now full but there are plans to run them regularly.
The format is an hour of coaching drills, then an hour of social tennis; mixing in with other members to put it all into practice!
Monday Social tennis will be on Court 3 from 6-7pm then on Courts 1-3 from 7-8pm.
Please contact Mandy or Jonny if you would be interested in attending.
Club Social Tennis Sessions
As confirmed by Jonny’s email the additional social tennis sessions on Monday and Wednesday evenings didn’t prove to be popular and the numbers attending were very low.
Mondays have been given over to the Rusty Racquet sessions and we are looking at ideas for Wednesdays for the future.
Social Sessions are therefore:
Monday Rusty Racquets – as per above
Tuesday 6-8pm All members Social Tennis
Thursday 2-4pm All members Social Tennis
Saturday 10-12pm and 2-4pm All members Social Tennis
Sunday 2-4pm All members Social Tennis
Please support these sessions as much as you can as they are an integral part of our club tennis and an important way for new members to meet other members.
Cardio Tennis Sessions
We also have the introduction of Cardio Tennis being run by Mandy on Saturday mornings at 12 (£5 per person). This is a great way to improve your speed and fitness. Sessions need to be booked with Mandy on 07786 904720.
Disability Tennis
Vanessa Oakes continues to develop and build this amazing programme.
Here is her report:
Children and Adults disability tennis
Attendance remains good for both the adults and children’s sessions, and numbers are steadily growing. WLTC ran a pan disability tennis festival day in partnership with Kent LTA on Sunday 10th July. This was a great success and enjoyed by both participants and club members who volunteered.
Outreach dementia friendly tennis
This is now a weekly event held at The Harrier Lodge care home. The sessions have proved really popular with residents, thoroughly enjoyable to deliver and have received great feedback from staff and residents with one participant declaring it was the highlight of her week.
Due to the high level of need, a lot of energy and planning goes in to them, and the challenge continues in finding engaging, stimulating activities for a group who have very limited mobility. The equipment purchased from grant money is proving invaluable in facilitating this.
Outreach - day centre for those with physical and learning disabilities
These important sessions continue to be run on Friday afternoons at Swalecliffe Hall, and is a way of enabling those who face barriers to coming to the courts, to access and enjoy racquet-based sports, fun and fitness.
Finally, we were delighted to be recognised for our Disability Programme by the Kent LTA and were awarded ‘Highly Commended’ at the presentation dinner in May.
Vanessa Oakes
Walking Tennis
James continues to run the weekly sessions which are very popular and numbers have grown. There are now 7-12 regular participants, with interest from possible new members to the group. They are a wonderfully positive and humorous group, who enjoy the sessions immensely and are remarkably supportive of each other's needs.
James is hoping to organise friendly matches with other clubs who also run Walking Tennis.
The group enjoy meeting socially and are looking to have a small social event later this month. We have decided to offer them a reduced club membership as they are keen to become part of the club and to participate with the rest of us at social events.
Huge thanks to James for running such a successful group!
Club Social Events
Vanessa, Karen and Linda organised an excellent summer BBQ again, which happily this year wasn’t during a mini monsoon! Everyone really enjoyed themselves and of course the food was great. Thank you to everyone who contributed.
Upcoming events for the rest of the year are:
Tournament Finals Day (Pimms and cake)
Saturday 24th September 2022, from 10am
Halloween-themed fancy dress tennis, food and drinks at the courts
Saturday 29th October 2022, 10-12.30pm
Presentation dinner, Mucinis Tankerton
Saturday 12th November 2022, 7.30-11pm (date changed from 5th November)
If you haven’t yet confirmed your attendance and would like to come, please contact Vanessa asap with your deposit.
Christmas-themed fancy dress tennis session, food and drink (venue to be confirmed)
Saturday 17th December 2022, 12pm after the morning session
There will also be a Club Quiz night on 4th March next year and further details will follow nearer the time.
Building Development near the Courts
Many of you will be aware of the proposed building development where Mucini’s is. Just to confirm this is due to start after our presentation dinner and our booking will not be affected.
However, we are engaging with the Council to ensure disruption from dust and debris is kept to a minimum. The plan was approved in spite of objections raised by the Council regarding the impact on the tennis courts, which is disappointing. Details of the development are available on Kent Online.
While the above is happening we are looking at a Court refurb and an application to install Court floodlights. We are engaging with partners to explore the options. Floodlights would typically give us an extra 1000 hours of play on each Court that can be lit; this would be a massive boost in providing after school coaching for juniors and of course evening play for all throughout the year. We are actively looking at how we can develop tennis for local children so the ability to provide after school coaching in that 4-6pm window would be awesome!
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As this is the first Newsletter there has been a lot to fit in but I hope you have found it informative.
We’re thinking of making it a monthly initiative, depending on what is going on, and they will therefore be shorter. If you have some club related news you would like to share you can always email it to me for inclusion in the next newsletter by clicking below -
Many thanks for reading!
Debbie