JANUARY OVER! The weather is improving, birds are singing, 6 Nations up-and-running and all is well. A few things that may be of interest:
ANNUAL CHARITY QUIZ – FOOD DONATION DRIVE
LAST CHANCE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR ANNUAL CHARITY QUIZ IN AID OF THE WANDSWORTH FOOD BANK ON FEBRUARY 13TH. IT’S THE FIRST SOCIAL EVENT OF 2025 SO PLEASE COME FOR WHAT IS NORMALLY A FUN EVENING IN AID OF A GREAT CAUSE.
COST PER PERSON IS £15 WHICH INCLUDES A CURRY!
YOU CAN ORGANISE YOUR OWN TEAM (MAX 6 PEOPLE) BUT DON’T WORRY IF YOU DON’T HAVE A TEAM AS WE WILL ACCOCATE YOU ONE IF NECESSARY. THERE WILL BE A PRIZE FOR THE WINNERS AS WELL AS SOME RANDOM SPOT PRIZES THROUGHOUT THE EVENING.
SIGN-UP AVAILABLE ON Clubspark / Spencer Lawn Tennis Club / Coaching / Class
Food Donation Drive
The Tennis section is also organising a food donation drive in aid of the Wandsworth Food Bank in conjunction with the quiz. In the week leading up to this we are hoping to get all Spencer sections to contribute some items and we will deliver them on Friday 14th.
We will be able to accept items from Thursday 6th Feb. There will be a collection point in the main part of the clubhouse and Dave (tennis coach) or Zak and Jenny behind the bar, will be around every day/evening to take any items you bring.
Much needed items include UHT Milk (dairy and non-dairy), Tinned Vegetables, Plain noodles, Non Bio Laundry Tabs, Shampoo, Tin Openers and Nappies/Pull Ups Sizes 6.
The food banks are well stocked with pasta, baked beans, rice and tinned soup so if you’re out shopping in the next few days and you can pop a few of the needed items in your basket we would be extremely grateful and more than happy to deliver them on your behalf.
Many thanks for your kindness and support,
Dave Watts (Head Coach)
BOX LEAGUES and ENTRIES for SPRING TOURNAMENTS
The Men’s and Ladies Box Leagues have started. Good luck to all those who have entered.
The Spring Tournaments will be announced very soon but to enter, you MUST download the MatchSpace app (from the app store or Google Play) which we now use for all tournaments and competitions. It’s free to download and once you do, simply enter the BGSFL-6135 club code which automatically connects you to Spencer. It only takes a minute to do this.
HALF TERM HOLIDAY CAMPS
We will be running a half-term holiday camp on the week of February 17th for one week only. As usual there will be 3 age groups: 5-7 yrs(Red Ball), 8-11 yrs (Orange Ball) and 11-17 years (Green/Yellow Ball). We have to limit numbers to 12 per group as we only have 6 courts available to us. The courses are up on this website and available to book now. Just go to the HOLIDAY CAMPS section.
JUNIOR SQUADS and SOCIALS
The after-school squads for the Spring 2025 term (which began on Jan 6th) are on this website and are available to book now. Don't worry if you've missed the first week or two as you can still sign up and the system will only charge you for the remaining sessions in the term. A full listing can be found in the COACHING/JuniorSquads section. There are still places available for most of the squads but if you're unsure of which squad might be suitable don't hesitate to contact Dave (Head Coach) who will be able to advise you. You can contact Dave at headcoach@spencertennis.com
The Friday after-school kids socials started up again on Friday 10th January. The sessions are 4.30-6pm for Orange Ball 6-10 years and the social for the older children begins at 6pm and finishes at 7.30pm. As before, no booking is required and you pay £10 cash (non members) or £5 (members) on arrival for this popular, fun session.
SUMMER TERM AFTER-SCHOOL SQUADS
We are happy to announce that the summer term after-school squads are up on the website and available to book. We hope to welcome everyone back and thank those who attended our programmes in the cold and wet autumn/winter months. Here’s hoping for a drier few months! Our after school squads are open to members and non-members.
Due to the early Easter this year the summer term is a rather long 14 weeks with a break on the week of May 27th for half term. You are signing up for 13 sessions.
START DATE: Monday 15th April
LAST SQUAD: Thursday 18th July
Timings: We have kept to the timetable that we had for the Spring camps with only one exception. The Thursday Orange Ball session has been moved from 4.30pm and will now start at 4.45pm instead.
Pricing: We have left the pricing for most squads as they were but there have been increases of £1 per session for some squads where we have added another coach and for others where the small squad size meant that the session was not financially viable. We hope this is acceptable to you.
You can find the full list of our summer term squads in the COACHING section of our website under Junior Squads or you can use this link: Spencer Lawn Tennis Club / Junior Squads (lta.org.uk)
JUNIOR TENNIS
We have entered some junior teams for the Surrey Leagues this year and our coaches will be talking to kids and parents over the coming weeks to see if we can get some keen boys and girls to represent Spencer against other clubs. Feel free to contact any of the coaches if you're interested in your child taking part.
We are also hoping to organise some internal tournaments for juniors with a finals day taking place in May before the half term. Again, get in touch if you want your child to take part but it's likely that our squad coaches will be getting kids involved over the next week or so.
IN OTHER NEWS........
Huge congratulations to our club captain Viv Ngan who is now a Surrey Champion! Viv won a tough final of the Women's Over 35 Singles last weekend. These titles are very, very difficult to win so well done Viv on such a great achievement.
MEMBERSHIP ANNOUNCEMENT
The club is at full capacity and is no longer able to accomodate any new, off-peak or junior members. We are also closing our membership waiting list until a full review of the list has taken place.
Balls and Strings
Tennis balls are now available for sale behind the bar and cost £6 per tin. For those of you who don't know, Seb (coach) is our resident racquet stringer and provides an excellent service using top quality strings. If he's not around you can leave your racquet with any of the coaches who will make sure he gets it. If you need an overgrip or a replacement grip just ask Dave who can do it on the spot for you if he's not on court.
Also worth mentioning that we do have quite a few 2nd hand adult racquets, some new childrens shoes and some new junior racquets for sale. Proceeds from these will be sent to the Wandsworth Food Bank.