Walton Tennis Club

A Letter From Our New Chairman

Posted 17th January 2022

Dear members,
May I take this opportunity to introduce myself to all members, in my new role as Chaiman of the Club.
 
The committee met last week and we have started to make plans for the year.  As a club, we are looking for a more normal year after the last two years disrupted by COVID. We are optimistic that we will be able to have many of our regular events and so planning has commenced.
 
Baseline on Friday night remains very popular especially in the cold weather. Many thanks to all the ‘slot’ organizers, who have had a difficult job with all the illness, injury etc.
 
Club Clean Up Day will be on the 7th of May starting 9.30am. Everyone is welcome and the more the merrier. Jobs will be decided and allocated on the day. This is also an opportunity to meet with some other club members.
 
Open Day on 28th of May. We are doing this a bit earlier than in previous years to encourage new members to join.  
 
Club Championship - We will be asking for entries by the end of February. We feel that there is a need to start earlier in the year to complete all the rounds and to have a finals day in September. This will mean that we will be stricter on completion dates of matches.
 
We realise that the club should make greater use of social media but we do not have that expertise among the committee members. Is there anyone among the members who has the interest and enthusiasm to help us out?
 
Ball Machine - In order to comply with our insurance, anyone who wants to use the ball machine must receive training. There is a file in the kitchen with a reminder sheet of what to do for those who have been trained, but if you are unsure ask Chris. If you haven’t received training we will be holding a training session in the Spring. If you need it earlier, please see Chris.
 
Bench for Sale - We recently bought 5 new benches for the courts, in bulk for economic reasons. We are offering the 5th bench for sale. It cost the Club £281, but would cost £427 if you went to buy a single one. It is 1.8m long and made of 100% recycled material. Anyone interested?
 
Finally the club was formed in 1932 so it is our 90th anniversary this year. We hope to arrange some form of celebration later in the year, probably September.

Steve Harris
[email protected]

About Us

Walton Tennis Club is situated in a rural location on the outskirts of Stafford. We take pride in being a friendly club which welcomes new or experienced players of all abilities, offering opportunities for social tennis, league tennis and family play. We have four hard courts, and play all the year round, until 10 pm under floodlights. We have around 140 senior playing members and run social mix-ins several weekday evenings, and on Sunday morning. These mix-ins are a chance for members to meet other players and guarantee newcomers a game. For more competitive players, we run several teams in the local Staffordshire tennis league. Our club championship competition runs each summer and an open veterans competition runs in the winter.

Our club coach, Chris Proud, runs coaching programmes for juniors and adults and is available for private individual or group sessions and is there to meet new members at the Thursday night mix-in. The licensed bar is open on mix-in nights and we also hold social events in the clubhouse.

We have a patio and social area, with outdoor table tennis table, picnic tables and benches and this adds an extra dimension to the atmosphere at the club.

Finally, whether you are a member or not, you can support our club by using EasyFundRaising when you do your online shopping. Visit https://www.easyfundraising.org.uk/causes/waltontennisclub/ for more details.