Chairman’s Message from Katie England
Firstly, thank you to all those who attended our AGM where committee reports for the year were presented and there was an opportunity to review the club’s annual accounts.
On the committee front, I’m very pleased to welcome Rosie O’Connor onto the committee as Membership Secretary. Also, I can report that we have co-opted Gary van der Byl onto the committee, as Vice Chair. We still have a vacancy for Bar Manager but are grateful to Rosie who has offered to organise bar rotas. Several members have offered to help with trips to re-stock the bar when needed, so thank you to all those volunteers.
As mentioned at the AGM and in the last news update, the committee recently asked Fosse Contracts to carry out a professional assessment of all the courts. Following this (and with the advice that the pile is still at a good depth) and after careful discussion, it was agreed to have courts 1, 2 and 3 rejuvenated professionally and the work was completed this week. A plan for replacement of courts 4, 5 and 6 in 2016 is now in place, followed by courts 1, 2 and 3 thereafter.
I also mentioned at the AGM that the current coaching set up was under review. Since then, and with Hassan’s move to Manchester, his company will no longer be involved with organising our junior or adult coaching after Christmas. From January our coaching programme will run by Ben Minski, supported by the club’s Coaching Committee and the assistant coaches. Ben is part way through his Level 3 coaching qualification which will provide him with the skills to develop our coaching programme and build upon its strong foundation. We wish Hassan all the best for his relocation and thank him for running our coaching for the last two and a half years.
We are at the time of year when we look at our membership renewal and again we have decided to keep our rates the same as previous years. The club is well set financially to deal with the court rejuvenation and eventual replacement and the committee felt that there was little need to raise our subs at this time.
This year we have already raised £330 for charity ( Macmillan Cancer Suppport and the Elena Baltacha Tennis Academy). Our Christmas charity is the Glenfield Heart Centre - we have a fundraising coffee and Christmassy cakes on Saturday (from 10am - 12.30pm) and a raffle with lots of prizes including vouchers, subscriptions and coaching. If you have not yet bought tickets and want to, please see Shelia or Steve Colver, Sue Lester or Rosie O.Connor. The draw will take place on Sunday.
Finally I hope to see you at our Tinsel Tennis event on Sunday and can I take this opportunity to wish you and your family a Merry Christmas and a prosperous new year.
British Tennis and Wimbledon Opt-in
If you have recently joined the club and have not yet signed up with British Tennis, could we ask that you do so as soon as possible. It’s free and can be done at https://www.lta.org.uk/members/join/ The box to click is on the far left. Please add Oadby Granville as your club. If you need a code it’s LEI 045. You will get a British Tennis Number (essential for all match players), LTA newsletters, special advanced booking for some tennis events etc.
It is now a requirement that everyone who might want Wimbledon tickets OPTS IN via the LTA site. This needs to be done by the end of January.
2014 Committee
Please find a list of contact numbers for the 2015 Committee at the end of this newsletter. A list is also on display in the foyer. If you need to raise a concern, please contact the appropriate committee member or e-mail info@oadbytennis.co.uk and it will be forwarded to them. Thanks.
Membership News from Rosie O’Connor
Smiles all round after a busy 2014 for OGTC. We have our second highest membership in the club’s history, at 389 members!! This is 45 more than last year and just 10 short of our highest ever total of 401 in 2007.
With 2015 just around the corner, it is now time for membership renewal. Good news: for another year in a row, membership rates will remain the same, as mentioned by Katie. Don’t forget the early bird discount rate for all of us who renew in January.
Detailed information on fees, payment arrangements, discounts etc. can be found online/or on the forms enclosed. Spare forms are available from the club.
Volunteering time as a helper is essential to keeping a club like ours ticking, it also means you are eligible for a membership discount. Helper roles include – Committee member, Team captain, Social (Louise), Bar (Rosie) and Grounds (Tim). If volunteering your time is something you would like to do next year, then that is wonderful, please let us know by indicating this on your membership form.
As always, any questions, queries or ideas re: membership to me at the club or contact me at ogtcmembership@gmail.com and I’ll get back to you as swiftly as possible.
Rosie J
Tennis Update
Competitive tennis is now largely over for 2014, apart from a couple of rain delayed winter league matches. A BIG thank you to all our captains for their time and effort in organising us and making sure we all get to where we’re supposed to be on time. The winter league has proved especially difficult this year in terms of availability and weather, so a special thank you to the captains who run our six winter teams.
The club can lay claim to winning two titles this year – Men’s Vets Division One (retained from 2013) and Men’s Division 4B (Men’s 3rdteam). Trophies will be presented at the Tennis Leicestershire Awards Night in February – to which all those from the winning teams are invited. All BT members will have received an invitation to this event, direct from Tennis Leicestershire.
Courts in winter
As in past years, can we please remind members that we do not advise playing when the courts are frosty/icy. If there is snow, we request that the courts are left to clear naturally to avoid damage and/or removal of sand. Courts 1-3 will be closed for all play during any snowy weather to preserve the recent rejuvenation work.
Social News from Louise
Diary Dates
Date
|
Time
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Event
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Notes
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Saturday 20th
December
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10.00am-12.30pm
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Coffee and Christmassy cakes
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All welcome. In aid of Glenfield Heart Centre
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Sunday 21st
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10.15am – 2pm
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Tinsel Tennis
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Tennis from 10.15am, Sign up in advance, please
Christmas drinks from 12 noon – 2pm
Raffle and 100 Club draw
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Wednesday 7th
January
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6.50pm
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USA Tournament
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Sign up in foyer please
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Saturday
31st January
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1.30pm
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Aussie Open
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Junior Tournament – details to follow – or speak to Ben
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Sunday
1st February
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1.30pm
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Aussie Open
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Adult Tournament – details to follow
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Tinsel Tennis is a fun festive tennis tournament, no partner required. £1 to enter. Please arrive for a start at 10.am, with play until about 12.15 pm. Sign up in Club house - partners allocated on the day, festive clothing if possible!! The kitchen will be open from 10.00am serving tea, coffee, mince pies, bacon and sausage rolls. This will replace the usual Sunday morning social mix in with 5 courts in use. For those not playing, please pop along from 12 noon to join us for a festive drink and food. Family and friends very welcome.
Also, a reminder that when renewing your memberships, don’t forget to sign up for social duties - I need your help!! J
Can’t believe we heading into 2015 - another year has flown by. Please let me know if you have any suggestion for any social events – we are always on the lookout for new ideas
Tuesday and Thursday mornings group
Another successful Christmas buffet lunch enjoyed on Tuesday. 39 existing, old, and new members attended. Nice to see. Many thanks as usual to Christine and Angie for arranging the tables, Roz for the greenery and Dorothy for helping me in the kitchen. I would also like to say thank you all again for the gifts I received. Here's wishing you all a very Happy Christmas and All the Very Best for 2015 with plenty of tennis.
Shirley.
Junior News from George Milne
Coaching sessions are being well attended despite the cold weather. Our younger players now have indoor sessions at Beauchamp College. We have had several new juniors join us over the last few weeks and we offer them a warm welcome to the Club.
Junior Winter League matches have been completed by our 10 and under “A” team who won all their matches to win Division 2, well done Oli and Jack. Our 14 and under boys have also completed all their matches and at the moment are top of Division 3 but we are waiting on the result of Charnwood’s match against Market Harborough to find out who will win the Division. Our 10 and under “B” team have one more match to play. Our 14 and under girls have four of their five matches still to play.
We will once again be hosting an LTA Grade 4 Junior Tournament during the February half term week.
2014/5 Committee Contact Details
Chairman
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Katie England
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0116 2714655
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07986121935
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Vice Chair
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Gary van der Byl
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07803136348
| |
Ex Officio
|
n/a
| ||
Treasurer
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Paul Handford
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0116 2404377
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07710673904
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Secretary
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Sue Lester
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0116 2718891
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07708883147
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Tennis Secretary
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Vacancy
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Katie
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As above
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Membership
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Rosie O’Connor
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07724586527
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Juniors
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George Milne
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0116 2883815
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07872348421
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Bar
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Vacancy
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Rosie
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As above
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Social
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Louise Mehmet
|
07711736038
| |
Grounds
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Tim Greenwood
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0116 2128618
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07746655196
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Premises
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Dave Cooper
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0116 2848210
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07812186271
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Grants/funding
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Alex Brown
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07920406206
| |
Other contacts
| |||
Clubhouse Hire
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Angela Bewick
|
0116 2704606
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07969672524
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Newsletter
|
Sue Lester
|
As above
|
As above
|
