Social Tennis

The nights are drawing in and finally leaves are at last stopping falling on the courts although they are being replaced by a light dusting of snow and ice every now and then! It’s good to see our hardy members continuing to play all forms of tennis during November and December. We have had a busy box league schedule as well as a successful spell in the external leagues (see more detail later in the newsletter). 

Social tennis sessions are continuing throughout the winter period and will run at the following times:

Saturdays from1pm, Wednesday evenings from 6pm and Fridays from 10am.

These sessions are open to all adult members – there’s no need to book, just come along and enjoy the tennis.

Social tennis is one of the club’s core activities, fulfilling many aims, among them the chance to play with a wide range of people, to meet new members and to play simply for fun; for many of us it has been an opportunity to test and improve our abilities in a gently competitive environment - we still keep score!  With a wider membership, changes in how and when members are using courts and the prospect of an expanded coaching team the new Committee are looking at how social tennis fits into club life and whether the current arrangements might be augmented or improved for the coming season. 

We will endeavour to plan competitive matches to avoid social sessions, occasionally when we are up against external deadlines, we may need to borrow two courts back but this will be on an exception basis.

Craig is also organising Rusty Racket sessions as well as tennis for adult beginners. Rusty Racquets sessions are open to everyone but targeted at members who are just taking up tennis or who have had a long break from the game and would like to get back into the swings of things. Sessions will go over the basic shots in the game: serve, return, groundstrokes and volleys and some start-up tactics of how to use these shots in point play.

More on this will follow from Craig, you can also contact him directly HERE

 

New WhatsApp Group: Action needed by Dec 31st

From the beginning of January, we will be setting up a new WhatsApp group that we hope will include the majority of our members. The committee will use this to let people know of any key information (e.g., courts being closed, tournaments happening, general news / updated etc) as we think this is a better way of getting messages out quickly and in a manner that includes all. It will be a one way, no reply group to make sure people don’t get bombarded with a lot of notifications!

We will also still communicate by email in addition to this new WhatsApp group. 

All members will of course be able to contact the committee as usual via the contacts on the website HERE

PLEASE LET US KNOW BY EMAILING COMMITTEE@BFTC.CLUB IF YOU WISH TO OPT OUT OF THIS BY DECEMBER 31st

 

Safeguarding and Welfare

We are still actively looking for a member to take over the role of Head of Safeguarding and Welfare (Colin has kindly agreed to stay on and cover the position pending a replacement).

If you might be interested please do get in touch with Jill (chair@bftc.club). She will be happy to talk to you about what the role involves. You will need to be DBS checked which we can arrange and we can provide all the necessary training.

 

Junior Tennis

It has been great to see the courts busy with our junior players on a Saturday morning. The coaching team have been working on their tennis skills while various committee members (see Jill below) have been cooking bacon baps for juniors and parents. It has been fun to catch up with people and enjoy the social side of Saturday mornings again.

 

Tennis Fixtures and Results

Floodlight League: Next Date 3rd Jan

We have unfortunately had to cancel the December date due to low numbers of people applying. Hopefully this is a festive blip as previous months have proved very popular and have been oversubscribed. We are planning to run further dates in the New Year. For all information on Floodlight Leagues please click HERE

Christmas American Tournament: 28th December 

American Tournaments are fun social tournaments held several times a year, traditionally on bank holidays. The tournament is played as mixed doubles with partners changing every mini-match. There is a prize for the person who wins the most individual games.

Members are welcome to turn up on the day but it would be very helpful to get an idea of numbers so if you are likely to want to take part, please email Steve Spikings: Steve

For more information, please click HERE

Box League: Final Deadline now 14th January

The courts have been busy with box league matches through the last few weeks. The latest results are all available on the website, please click HERE

External Matches

Teams continue to compete with distinction and here are the latest results: 

Ladies A: Top of Div 7

28/11 Won 8-0 v Cheddington

 

Ladies B: Top of Div 9

28/11 Won 8-0 v Long Marston

 

Men A: Top of Div 8

24/11 Won 7-1 v Naphill

 

Men B: 2nd in Div 9

21/11 Lost 6-2 v Horsenden

 

Mix A: Top Div 5

24/11 Won 5-3 v Horsenden

 

Mix B: 3rd in Div 6

29/11 Won 8-0 v Long Marston

 

Mix C: Bottom Div 7

24/11 won 7-1 v Wingrave, 23/11 lost 1-7 v Chesham Bois

 

Future matches are on the website

Well done to everyone who’s taking part, if anyone wants to be included in team tennis please speak to Ali Lyons, Club Captain or the Captain of the Team you are interested playing for:

Ladies: Jill Cohen & Ali Lyons, Men: Gordon Bettis & Tim Baldwin, Mixed: Angela Morgans, Maureen Grant and Dave Seddon.

 

Wimbledon Ballot

The LTA have just announced the new centralized process for the Wimbledon Ballot. This will mean that there will be no club ballot for the 2022 Championships.

Instead, all LTA members will be entered into the ballot provided they have opted in. The ballot opt in window for the 2022 Championships will open early in the New Year. The LTA will contact members directly. 

For more information, please visit the LTA site LTA

 

Mad Squirrel Brewery Trip

Our brilliant social committee organised a night out on Friday 19th Nov for 38 of us to visit Mad Squirrel Brewery owned by our very own Greg & Sarah Blesson. The evening included an excellent and fascinating (even for non-beer drinkers) brewery tour, beer tasting and a freshly made artisan pizza. A full report and more photos can be seen on the website 

If you’d like to get involved with organising social events or have any ideas for social events then please do get in touch. All input welcome!

 

Facilities

Thank you to everyone who has helped out over the last month. There is always a lot of work to be carried out over the Autumn and Winter months and all help is very much appreciated. A few highlights:

The shelter next to court five is now complete with concrete slabs having been laid by Martin, Andy S, Ian and Kev.

We have fitted new lightbulbs along the footpath adjacent to the clubhouse. This should make it brighter and safer for everyone.

Ideally, we would like to organize a monthly facilities work party on the last Saturday of each month. Dave will post a list of tasks in the Facilities WhatsApp Group. If you are not currently on this group, please do get in touch with Dave by clicking HERE

Sadly, our excellent groundsman, Chris Woods has had to resign after many years of excellent work for the club. We wish him all the very best for the future. We have appointed Hawkes Gardening Services to take on the work going forward.

 

Key Lock Code

The new key lock code (holding the club house keys) will change on Saturday 4th December. The new code can be found on the Club News email and on the WhatsApp Group descriptions.

Finally, a plea……

We would love to have a proper Club Toolbox to help with the facilities work. If anyone has one going spare (perhaps an unwanted Christmas present?!) we would love to have it. We could do with some or any of the following:

Toolbox

Hammer

Chisel

Screwdrivers

Hose grips

Spanners – 10mm, 16mm, 19mm

Side Cutters

Secateurs

Tie Wraps – all sizes

 

New Members 

Welcome to all our new members who joined the club in the last month. We look forward to seeing you on court and at social events!

 

Calendar

December 28th  TBC                    Christmas American Tournament 

January 3rd                                        Floodlit Fun Tournament

Jan 14th                                               Box League Results Deadline

And…….. all the very best to everyone for the festive period. Eat Drink and be Merry – then come and work it off on