Dear Members,

Well, I think we’ve probably all just about come down after the excitement of the championship at Wimbledon. What a two weeks! A wetter tournament than we’ve seen these last few years and that has also been reflected in less tennis in Eardisley due to a very damp and windy July. The croquet players seemed better able to tough it out in the difficult conditions, I assume due to their balls being much heavier and closer to the ground!

News

The mini tennis court is well on its way to becoming functional once more. Having had our insurance claim refused by the NFU we had to resort to a DIY solution. Many thanks to Jan for having a personal contact in the shape of Nick Kerner who has done a great job of straightening the metal uprights. We are sourcing new netting and a quick release system for future possible weather events.

Diary Date: Saturday 23rd September for the Senior Tournament Finals and BBQ. More details will follow nearer the time.

Accidents: If you have an accident, no matter how trivial, please write in the Accident Log book in the clubhouse. This will enable the committee to take the necessary steps to avert a repeat occurrence.

Cleaning rota: Much as it would be desirable there are no magic fairies who appear at night and clean the clubhouse. It would be very much appreciated if members could sign up to perform a thorough clean (in pairs it takes no more than 15-minutes). All these simple tasks help the committee to keep club membership fees as low as possible.

Security: The clubhouse door has been found open on several occasions during the last 6-weeks. PLEASE always check before you leave. And do also check the gates onto the courts and remember to hook up the nets, especially on windy court 3 (which has a brand new net).

The new mirror on the road will be adjusted to see if its scope can be enlarged so as to give an even better view of traffic coming round the corner. We are also looking at clearing some plant growth and branches so as to give a better view for those leaving the club and also for the approaching road traffic.

And lastly, many thanks to new member Andrew Towler who has grabbed the bit between his teeth and offered to assist in the revamp and update of the club website. He will also look at the Facebook page and keep that current.

H&W Summer League update

The Men’s A-team was promoted last year to Division 4 West and there have been some tough matches this season. We have played 5 matches with one win, against Ledbury B) but defeats against Ledbury A, Hereford Whitecross, Leominster B, and Madley A. All of the matches have been close (either winning or losing by 3 rubbers to 1). 11 of the 20 rubbers

played have gone to Championship tie breaks where we have won 6 and lost 5! Two more matches to go and we will need at least one more win to stay up.

The Men’s B-team are in Division 6 West and only had five matches this summer. With four played so far we have done well in two and not so well in two. The team did manage to play a friendly against Madley at home which was great fun and we did very well - it was good to see a junior amongst the team. One away match at Ledbury was memorable for the absolute deluge driven through in order to get to the match: once there the clouds parted, within half an hour the astroturf had dried sufficiently and the team managed to get it done.

The Women’s A-team are in Division 5 West. Well, it has been an eventful summer: rain, injury, lights going out and more rain.... The summer season for the ladies A team has been a bit frustrating. Out of a total of six matches, we have only managed to complete two so far with four having to be rearranged. Even so, with just two completed we are mid table. Fingers crossed we get to finish the rest without any further dramas. Talking of which, the trophy for drama goes to Jan Baker and Janet Parry who battled on court for four hours, almost as long as the Wimbledon men's final! Well done ladies.

The Women’s B-team are in Division 6 West and have had a mixed season. After a great start against Woolhope we then lost two matches against the much stronger Boughton Park teams, although we fought hard and many of the games went to tiebreaks. Final match is on Tuesday 8th Aug at home at 18.00.
The pleasing news is that many of our combinations were playing together for the first time and show great promise for next season.

Tennis Coach Report August 2023

The Club Coaching programme continues with term-time groups and one to one coaching, and currently 3 different tennis camps are running for juniors with lots of fun and tennis development. Older juniors are training up to assist the younger children on court: we are building a skilled team of Tennis Leaders.

Coach Competition Organisation. Enter by 31st August to be part of The Internal Box Leagues: Men’s and Women’s Doubles. This is a doubles competition to give you more opportunity to mix in with other players at the club you do and some who you don’t normally play with. This will restart in September with a longer time to play fewer matches over the Autumn/Winter. Please forward your name by 31st August to Luci to join in.

Previous Winners The top female player for the Round Robins was Judy Nightscales with 15 points. 2nd place was Hannah Jones and 3rd place was Janet Parry. The top male player for the Round Robins was David Ashby on 9 points, 2nd place was Ben Anderson and joint 3rd place was James Towersey and Jim Eliot. Congrats to all!

Saturday 23rd September - Senior Tournament Finals and BBQ: there has been a good level of enrolment and the tournament schedule is now out - get playing! Please also note that there will be a club social afterwards so do make a note of that in your diaries.

The Junior Tournament was sadly rained off: Luci will arrange the match-play during the Autumn term. Junior Match Play Sessions Saturdays 1pm to 3pm on two courts: The last session will be on 12th August.

Coaching Dates 12th September onwards
Luci will restart senior and junior coaching from 12th September on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. During term-time 2 courts are used for junior coaching on Tuesdays and Thursday afternoon/evening: Tuesdays until 6pm and Thursdays until 8pm.

Christmas Fun Events

Luci will organise a fun social mixed doubles tournament on 16th December 10am to 12am for senior tennis players. Time to enjoy some doubles and refreshments and a chat afterwards. Details nearer the time.
And Luci will run fun Tennis Games and Christmas party events on 16th December 1pm onwards (Under 10’s) and 2pm to 4pm (10/11+) for junior tennis players.

Thanks for supporting the coaching programme.

Over the net and in!

Luci

Croquet Report July 2023

After a very dry spell in June the lawns are now well-watered and looking good.
Following the demise of the main mower for the lawns we are in the process of purchasing a new one with a trailing seat at a cost of £3700. The expense will be covered by £700 raised last year, a very Generous donation of £1500 from Keith Pressnell and the remaining £1500 from club funds. An electronic vote by the committee agreed to this expenditure. The new mower should arrive by the end of July or early August.
Recently we have had an influx of new members who are all very keen and showing potential. We had a record turnout of 28 players at a club afternoon. Members are being encouraged to sign up for the club's internal competitions which will take place in August and September.
The WMF Golf Croquet League has now finished. Our team was 50% rookies who gained valuable experience.The WMF Association Croquet League continues into September.

David Ashby