News Letter January 2024
Spring Term
News Letter January 2024
Spring Term
February Half Term
Adult Drop ins
If there is a time/day that you would like to attend a drop in, please let me know and we will try to include in our next programme.
Club Closure
Easter Camps
Forth Coming Attractions
Parent & Junior Fun Tournament
This is an event whereby an adult plays with a junior. Junior must be a full court player and 17 or under. It is doubles format with tiebreak scoring on a timed basis. Names are drawn out of a hat, pairs are matched up, handicap applied if required and everyone plays to the whistle. Scores are recorded against each individual player. There will be prizes, tea and cake! Be good to get as many members involved as possible to end the season on a high before we go into refurb mode!
Quiz Night
Following the hugely successful family quiz night this summer, we have managed to rebook the talented Carol, Quiz Master extraordinaire! Put the date in your diary and be prepared to be entertained, fed and watered and have your brain tested to the limit………who ever knew that the word ‘splooting’ would become a regular expression in our house!?
If you have any questions about anything, please do not hesitate to call or email me any time!
Best wishes
Sally Bentley
Head Coach & Club Manager
News Letter December 2023
As everyone is revving up to various seasonal activities, the Avenue's coaching team is revving up to a holiday, so here are the plans for the junior programme and adult drop ins from now until January 2024, plus a few exciting dates for your diary next year!
Junior Programme
Thursday 14th December
Saturday 16th December
The New Spring Term
BLACK FRIDAY
February Half Term
Adult Drop ins
Tuesday 09.30 - 10.30 - on hold until January 9th 2024
Tuesday 19.30 - 21.00 - on hold until January 9th 2024 (Team Training)
Tuesday 19.30 - 21.00 - on hold until April 2024 (Beginners)
Thursday 08.00 - 09.00 - on hold until January 11th (Spanish Drills)
Friday 14.00 - 15.00 - on hold until January 12th
Sunday 17.00 - 18.00 - To Be Confirmed
If there is a time/day that you would like to attend a drop in, please let Sally know and we will try to include it in our next programme.
Club Closure
Easter Camps
Forth Coming Attractions
Quiz Night - Saturday 20th April
Summer BBQ - Sunday 15th September
Philip's Matchplay!
Seasonal Greetings
Best wishes
Sally Bentley
Head Coach & Club Manager
News Letter September 2023
Half Term Junior Tennis Camp
In short Monday 23rd - Friday 27th 10.00 - 15.00 - full week bookings only until 16th October, when you will be able to book individual days if the camp is not full.
121 Private lessons
Sam has one space on Thursday at 17.00 - 18.00.
Sam charges £35 an hour.
James has one space on Thursdays at 4pm 16.00 – 15.00.
James charges £35 an hour.
If you are interested in one of these slots, please let me know and I’ll link you up with the coach. You must be a member of the Avenue Tennis Club to have private lessons, but you are invited to try one as a non-member first paying the additional £5 guest fee.
Finchley Matchplay
It is open to all genders and ages, and he will guarantee 3 competitive matches with minimal waiting around! If you don’t have a doubles partner, just send Philip toledo.philip99@gmail.com a message saying you are interested and he will match you up with someone of a similar level.
It will be £20 per pair to enter, there will be prizes, as well as food and drinks on site! The last one that Philip arranged was very successful and lots of fun.
Places are limited so book soon! This is the link to enter:
https://competitions.lta.org.uk/tournament/c53566e4-645a-4b75-af23-77f3004894bb
Sally Bentley
Head Coach & Club Manager
News Letter August 2023
It is time to buy your tickets for the Avenue Tennis Club Finals
& BBQ Day
Sunday 10th September from 09.30am
Adults £10
There will be meat and vegetarian burgers, sausages, halloumi and lots of salads, strawberries and cream all included!
There will also be a raffle on the day with some exciting prizes, and a little bar of PIMMS, wine/beer, soft drinks & Ice creams……….ALL proceeds will go towards the club’s next big project…… read on!
In a drive to make the club more sustainable, we have been working towards converting our floodlights and clubhouse to run on solar power or convert everything to LED. Once completed we hope to be able to offer members free floodlights – but installation costs are high and to achieve our goal of free floodlights this winter, we must first raise as much money as we possibly can at this event, so even if you are unable to attend, perhaps you would like to buy some raffle tickets or make a donation? (contact Sally)
The day starts at 09.30 with the Men’s singles and the Ladies singles finals. These are followed by the Ladies and Men’s doubles, the U12 finals and Teenage girls and Teenage boys finals.
The exact timings for above will be sent out shortly once all the semi-finals have been played, but there a few deciding matches still to be completed.
There will also be an U8 mini tournament on the day starting at 12.00. If you have a member who is UNDER 8 – that means that they were born in 2015 or later, they can enter this little event, for which there will be a cup! Please email me ASAP
Under 9 has already been played and won, but the prize giving will be on Sunday 10th September.
The Autumn Term
There is a 4 day camp next week from Tuesday to Friday with about 4 places remaining, so if you would like a place, even for a couple of days, here is the link for that too: Tennis Holiday Camps
Sally Bentley
Head Coach & Club Manager
News Letter July 2023
Save the date!
Quiz Night
Autumn Programme for Juniors
Summer Camps
Adult Drop ins through the Summer
Monday 09.00 – 10.00 – stays the same
Tuesday 9.30 – 10.30 – STOPS until September
Tuesday evenings 19.30 – 21.00 for Beginners and Team Practice – remain
the same
Friday 14.00 – 15.00 – moves to 15.00 – 16.00
Sunday 17.00 – 18.00 – stays the same
Happy Summer Holidays everyone!
Sally Bentley
Head Coach & Club Manager
News Letter June 2023
Open Day
Club Championships
As we do not run an U8 and U9 draw, we are holding 2 little mini events for players of these age groups, before the end of the Summer and will have the finals on 10th September with the rest of the finals.
If you have a red player (U8) who would like to play in the Red event for 8 years and under, please let me know – the date will be Saturday 8th July from 12.00 – 14.00. We will play some fun games as well as some little matches, there will be refreshments and prizes for all! I will also be running a similar event for Orange U9 on Saturday 17th June from 12.00 – 14.00. Please let me know if you would like to enter someone! These 2 events are completely FREE for members.
Girls Team Challenge
This is a collaboration that was brought about by the LTA and Prime Video following Emma Raducanu’s success in America. There is a minimal charge for this event of £2 and you need to sign up here to enter. The girls will be put into teams on the day, and they will play a series of fun games and matches. (If they have a team of 4, you can let me know and I’ll make sure that they play together)
It is a gentle introduction to competing, and will be a fun festival, but I’m afraid ONLY for girls this time! Here is the link: The Avenue LTC / Coaching / Class (lta.org.uk)
T
his is for ALL GIRLS AGED 4 – 16years, they don’t need to have played before here at The Avenue, or even played tennis before – this will be a little introduction for them! Hopefully lots of the Prime Video girls will come!Booking is live for the summer camps and you can book here using a card: Tennis Holiday Camps - Avenue Tennis Club, Finchley Central
If you wish to use Child Care Vouchers, just tell me and I will register for you.
Any questions, please do not hesitate to call
Sally Bentley
Head Coach &
Club Manager
News Letter - April 2023
Junior Programme
Note:
Membership
New Coaches
Sam
Sizya
I am arranging Sam and Sizya’s programmes filling their time, firstly with the players who were coached by Vlad. Once I have completed that, we’ll know what else is available. Let me know if you are interested in 121s with either coach. Sam charges £35 an hour and Sizya £40. I will add their contact details to the notice board in the clubhouse.
Annual Tournament
The matches will be played throughout May, June and July with the BBQ and Finals day being held on Sunday 10th September. This is a great family day out! Put it in your diary NOW! More details in May!
Adult Drop ins
Monday 09.00 – 10.00 – Social play – 1 hour (Sizya)
Tuesday 09.30 – 10.30 – Social play – 1 hour (James)
Tuesday 19.30 – 21.00 – Team Training (Team members
only) – 90 minutes (Philip)
Tuesday 19.30 – 21.00 – Beginner/Improvers/Rusty
Racquets – 90 minutes (Sizya)
Wednesday 08.00 – 09.00 – Spanish Drills – 1 hour
(Philip)
Friday 14.00 – 15.00 – Social play – 1 hour (3pm – 4pm
during holidays) (Philip)
Sunday 17.00 – 18.00 - Beginner/Improvers/Rusty
Racquets – 1 hour (Sizya)
Family Quiz Night
Saturday Mix & Match
If you have any questions about the club, the membership or the adult or junior coaching programmes, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Sally Bentley
Head Coach & Club Manager
News Letter - 2nd January 2023
Here are a few dates for your diary!
Short First Aid Course
First 20 members will be accepted and there will be a waiting list in case people cancel. The course is for all adult and Junior members who are 14 years or over. Junior members can only be at the club without an adult once they are 14.
Junior Brainstorm
I would strongly advise all junior coaches and tennis leaders to attend both events, so please book soon!
Drop Ins
Wednesday 08.00 – 09.00 – Spanish Drills with Philip
Friday 14.00 – 15.00 – Social play drop in with Philip
Sunday 17.00 – 18.00 – Beginner/Improver/Rusty Racquets with Vlad
Tuesday 19.30 – 21.00 – Beginner/Improver/Rusty Racquets with Vlad
Wednesday 19.30 – 21.00 – Men’s Team Training with Philip (When there is no match scheduled - First Team Training will be 4th January)
Monday 19.00 – 20.30 – Ladies Team Training with Philip (When there is no match scheduled - First Team Training will be 16th Janaury)
Philip or I will put a note on the club’s WhatsApp Group when the training is ON to remind everyone.
Junior Coaching Programme
If you wish to use Child Care Vouchers, please let me know and I will register your child for you.
Club Annual General
New Members
Happy
New Year everyone!
Sally Bentley
Head Coach & Club Manager
News Letter - 22nd January 2022
Junior teams for 2022
These are the age ranges:
Under 8 Red – 2014 or later
Under 9 Orange – 2013 or 2014
Under 10 Green – 2012 – 2013
Under 11 Yellow – 2011 or 2012
Under 12 Yellow – 2010 – 2011
Under 14 Yellow – 2008 – 2011
Under 16 Yellow – 2006 – 2011
Under 18 Yellow – 2004 – 2011
If you have a player in your family who would like to part of a team this summer, please let me know. Some of your children will fit into 2 categories, in which case they need to decide which age that they prefer to represent.
The home matches are on Sundays at 12.00 – 14.00. The away matches are on Saturdays and Sundays at the time requested by the opposition. The matches run from April to August, there are usually about 6 matches per team, so not every weekend by any means.
I will enter teams of the ages/colours where there is enough of a squad to make it work. Teams consist of 4 players. Being part of a team means commitment and dedication of both the player and the transporting parents, so please consider carefully before saying yes to this! All players must wear Avenue Hoodies and T shirts and these can be purchased at the club.
If you have someone who would like to be part of a team please reply to this email with their name, preferred age group AND their DOB.
Each team requires a parent captain and teams without a volunteer parent captain, will not be entered. For the older players, exams may play a part in their decision making, so please bear this in mind now and not in May!
If you have any questions that will help in your decision making, please do not hesitate to ask, anything at all, no matter how small, or insignificant you may think it!
Best wishes
Sally Bentley
Head Coach & Club Manager
News Letter - 17th January 2022
Free Tennis Lessons for You
Just select the day and lesson that you think would suit your ability and schedule and come along. You do not need to book, just turn up, we will even lend you a racquet! There are 7 sessions from which to select!
Monday 09.00 – 10.00 - £8 – Intermediate and Advanced
Tuesday 19.30 – 21.00 - £12 – Intermediate and Advanced
Tuesday 19.30 – 21.00 - £12 – Beginners
Wednesday 08.00 – 09.00 – £8 - Spanish Drills – Advanced - Great for fitness
Friday 14.00 – 15.00 - £8 – Intermediate and Advanced (15.00 – 16.00 during school holidays)
Saturday 08.00 – 09.00 – Spanish Drills – Great for fitness (08.45 – 09.45 from April 2022)
Sunday 17.00 – 18.00 – Improver Beginners
Junior term time coaching programme
February half term tennis camp
If you have any questions, please do give me a call
Best wishes
Sally Bentley
Head Coach & Club Manager
News Letter - December 2021
New Coach
I will be putting him in touch with all of his 121 lessons, and he will start very soon.
He will be running the Monday 09.00 – 10.00 adult drop this Monday 13th December and next Monday 20th December, then there will be a break for 2 weeks and that drop in will be back on 10th January 2022.
He will restart our beginner drop in on Tuesday evening in January from 11th and the Sunday improver drop in from 9th January. Come and meet him and say hello!
Junior Programme
Social Play and Bookings Courts
If you are new to booking courts, the booker app is called ClubSpark Booker App, or you can get into it via our Home Page. You MUST log in or you will see those pesky little padlocks on each court! Let me know if you have any problems; it does tend to have ‘bad hair days’, but nothing is insurmountable – I’ll sort it!
Happy Christmas
I would like to wish everyone happy holidays. Whatever you celebrate,
stay safe, safe warm and think of others less fortunate than us at this
time of the year.
Best wishes from the coaching team!
Sally
07958 758580
News Letter - 6th September 2021
Welcome back after the holidays! No doubt you all have new pencil cases and clean shoes! (Oh, and a blazer that is too big!)
We are so lucky that our first week of ‘term’ will be bathed in sunshine, so here is a quick of round up of activities this week!
Mondays:
Tuesdays:
Wednesdays:
Fridays:
Saturdays:
Sundays:
SATURDAY 11th SEPTEMBER – Tournament & BBQ – 2pm
This will be followed by a little BBQ and have a minimal charge of £5 for a ‘Burger and a Beer’ (or veggie equivalent/glass of wine/soft drink)
I think we may even have some PIMMS too. You can pay your fiver directly into the club’s bank account, please reference BBQ.
Please sign up in the clubhouse on the notice board so that Philip and I have an idea of numbers for catering and tournament format.
All yellow ball playing junior members are invited to join in too. We will run something separate on the Junior Court for the additional little family members, to keep them busy as well!
Team Training starts tonight
Mens Team Training - Thursdays
Both - Mondays for the next 6 weeks (7 if we get lots of rain!)
19.00 – 20.30 Payment will be drop in style - £12.50 PAYG.
The Coach will be Paul. Paul is Head Coach at Stormont, and a seasoned doubles player still competing at a very high level.
Paul has kindly agreed to help out on Mondays whilst Mondays is Philip’s day off. He is available for 121 lessons during the day here from 08.00 – 21.00, but only has 10.00 – 16.00 still available. So, give him a call on 07958 903 021 if you are free on Mondays and want a lesson with him. He charges £40 an hour.
Sally Bentley
Head Coach
News Letter - June 2021
As we near the start of Wimbledon, we know that our own annual Avenue tournament must be near! Indeed, it is! 4th July from 09.00 – 18.00 will see the first round of the new ‘Timed Tennis’ format.
If you have not confirmed your start time with me, please do so this week. The U8 and U9 timings will be published in the next 24 hours as soon as I have some volunteers to help! Any parents of junior members, who can offer an hour of assistance would be most welcome.
I, and my team provide a comprehensive programme for your children and as a consequence, we have a thriving Junior Section, so any Mums & Dads out there, come and meet us and help run the event on 4th July or 18th July, and enjoy the environment in which your children are loving their tennis! (In particular we could do with a couple of BBQ experts!)
Sunday 18th July - Annual Finals and BBQ event.
T
here will be vegetarian options for the BBQ, but not Kosher. We will also be serving Strawberries & Cream.It would be great if members would volunteer to bring some salads. Many of you have special family favourites and they would be warmly welcomed. There will be a bar serving PIMMS, wine, beer, soft drinks and ice creams (all for donations)
The cost for the BBQ is:
We have a raffle as usual and there are lots of exciting prizes
including:
£25 John Lewis Voucher
Bottle of Champagne
2 hours of GCSE Maths tuition
A FREE week of tennis camp
An adult Babolat racquet
5 x FREE adult Drop ins!
All the proceeds are going towards updating our garden furniture; some sun sails to protect us from the sun and some new wooden tables.
If every family donated £20, we would cover these costs with ease! Here are some ways that you can help and donate:
Buy raffle tickets
From a committee member.
The tickets are £5 for 5.
Attend the event
By Donation
Timetable for the 18th July
For those new to the club, I would strongly recommend that you put this in your diary, it is always a lovely family event and since we didn’t manage it last year, we are overdue a good party!
Best wishes
Sally & The Committee
(The unseen people who make this club the happy place that it is!)
Patricia, Lisa, Claudia, Jo F, Kay
News Letter - 25th May 2021
16 boys between the age of 11 and 14 played on Sunday 23rd May in the first round of Road to Wimbledon.
This is an LTA Sanctioned tournament where clubs play the first round in the comfort of their own home!
The winner of the internal tournament goes through to the county final and then the county winners go to play the final in SW19 on the famous All England courts that we know as Wimbledon!
Our winner was Leo LW. I started coaching Leo when he was about 5 setting the foundations for his winner spirit and tenacious play! Leo, will now go through to the Middlesex County finals this Summer in his bid to get to Wimbledon.
It is a fun event and the first time that we have run it at The Avenue, but definitely will not be the last, as we were totally oversubscribed and it was a great day of fun! Leo met Charlie P in the final who though was very tired having played 3 matches in a row, never stopped smiling! It was a close final.
Y
ou can see that half of the boys didn’t get the memo about wearing the Avenue kit! #Rebels!
Sally Bentley
Head Coach
News Letter - 25th March 2021
After 3 months, we are finally back! From 08.00 on Monday 29th March The Avenue Tennis Club will be open!
Junior Programme
A table detailing the new schedule is on our Spring Bookings page.
Every day is different and runs throughout April, May and June without breaks other than the following:
The only days that will not run are:
Good Friday
Easter Sunday
Easter Monday
May Day Bank Holiday 3rd May
Spring Bank Holiday 31st May
The Adult Drop In Programme starts on 29th March
Monday 09.00 - 10.00 (Running on Easter Monday)
Tuesday 19.30 - 21.00
Wednesday 08.00 - 09.00
Friday 14.00 - 15.00 (Running on Good Friday)
Sunday 08.00 - 09.00 (Running on Easter Sunday)
Covid Rules
The club house remains closed other than to use the toilets.
All equipment will be cleaned after every use.
We are still practicing social distancing and request that you do the same.
Teams and Tournaments
Joining the Club
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to give me a call
Sally Bentley
Head Coach
News Letter - 4th January 2021
From midnight tonight 04/01/21 the club will be closed. It is very sad
but we have no choice. The lockdown is set to last until mid February
but I am hopeful that tennis, like before will come back earlier.
I will let you know as soon as I know anything.
Stay safe!!
Sally Bentley
Head Coach
News Letter - 1st January 2021
More Tier 4 useful information
Essentially it says:
1. Singles is possible between people from different households.
2. Doubles can be played by people from one household.
3. Group coaching for under 18s will continue as normal.
4. 121 private lessons are allowed.
Junior Programme
If you want to pay by credit transfer or Child Care Vouchers, let me know and I will register your child manually.
Court Booking
If you need floodlight tokens, you can buy them here The Avenue LTC / Membership / Packages (lta.org.uk) and collect from a coach this week.
If you need a set of keys, you can pay for the refundable deposit here The Avenue LTC / Membership / Packages (lta.org.uk) and collect from a coach this week.
Clubhouse
If you have any specific questions that are not answered in the LTA link, please do not hesitate to ask me. I will do my best to resolve, however the LTA guidance document is very detailed and should supply most solutions.
Warmest wishes from everyone at The Avenue Tennis Club
Sally Bentley
Head Coach
News Letter - 4th November 2020
Covid Lockdown
Despite the LTA and tennis community making a strong case to Government, we can confirm that the new restrictions mean that tennis activity in England is not permitted for the duration of the national lockdown, as a result of the closure of all outdoor and indoor facilities.
The only exceptions to this are for elite tennis players, and for tennis activity in schools, colleges and other educational establishments as part of education.
Whilst we are disappointed with the outcome, it is totally out of our hands now and sadly the club will be closed until 2nd December, except for some school activity, whereby we will meet our existing obligations to a local school.
Our Junior programme has 4 or 5 weeks outstanding this term (Depending on the day) This will continue from 2nd December and run for 3 weeks before Christmas and 1 or 2 weeks after Christmas. There will be more details on this to follow next week.
The Tennis Club is thriving at the moment and never been so vibrant, so it is very sad to close our doors for a month, but hopefully this hard lockdown will bring down the R rate and we will be back before you know it!
Stay safe........see you in December
Sally Bentley
Head Coach
News Letter - 29th August 2020
I am writing to you with a request from our neighbours that is strongly supported by the Committee.
Members parking cars on Sylvan Avenue blocking driveways and causing traffic jams in a very small space is causing understandable frustration.
There is extraordinarily little available parking even for the residents, and we receive endless complaints about our members and visitors dropping off children with comments of 'I'll only be a minute'
There is lots of unrestricted parking at the north end of the Avenue 'walkway' and we are asking you to please use this area and walk down the Avenue.
Directions to the club have been changed on the Contact & Location page.
Please can you take the time to use the walkway instead of Sylvan Avenue and help us to show some respect to our neighbours.
Your co-operation in this matter is appreciated.
Sally Bentley
Head Coach
News Letter - Late July 2020
Maintenance
August Drop Ins
Tuesday evening at 7.30 – 9.00 on August 4th
Friday afternoon 2.00 – 3.00 on August 7th
Friday afternoon 2.00 – 3.00 on August 14th
Saturday morning at 8.45 – 9.45 on August 8th
Tuesday evening at 7.30 – 9.00 on August 11th there will ONLY be a drop in for beginners. The other 2 courts will be available for you to come and mix in with others if you were planning to come to the regular drop in.
Friday afternoon at 2.00 – 3.00 for 21st and 28th August, will be at 3.30 – 4.30pm
Tennis Camps This Summer
There will be courts available in the morning, at lunchtime and from 3.30. (If you book the 9am court in the morning you can keep it until 9.15 and if you book the 4pm court in the afternoon, you can have it from 3.30.
Mid-Week Members
Stay safe
Sally Bentley
Head Coach
News Letter - July 2020
Court Maintenance
The second part of the maintenance, the jet washing process, will be carried out during the week of the 27th July. This will mean that court availability will be extremely limited from 8 am until 3pm each day that week. Apologies, but the jet washing is essential and has already been delayed.
The third part of the maintenance will be carried out during the week of 31st August. This will mean that the Junior Programme will not restart until 7th September and the Junior Court will be closed for 7 days, but all other courts will be open.
Guest Fees
Court Booking Etiquette
Using hand sanitiser and washing your hands
The coaches are diligently dispensing the sanitiser before and after
lessons, but it has been noted that members coming to play with family
and friends are not using the sanitiser nor washing their hands. Even
though you are using your own equipment, you still need to touch the
door to enter the club and leave the club. Please be considerate in
this respect to other club members, and use the soap or sanitizer
provided.
NEW Beginner / Improver / Rusty Racquets drop in
I hope that this finds you well and that you are enjoying your tennis, particularly if you are new to the club! If you are new and have questions or would like to meet others, please let me know and I’ll connect you.
Stay safe
Sally Bentley
Head Coach
News Letter 16th June 2020
Mix & Match – Saturday 20th June at 2pm – all adults welcome!
All you have to do is tell me that you want to play, give me your name and mobile and just turn up at 2pm on Saturday. The reason that I am asking for your mobile, just on this occasion, is that I am going to give the 12 people who play a list of the other players with contact numbers. I will then send this to you all, and all you will have to do is remember the names of the people you played!
I will arrange 3 rounds of doubles; these could be mixed or single gender. As I do not know the standard of play of everyone as we have so many new members, please bear with me; it should be fun anyway.
Saturday morning Adult Drop - In
Ladders
We will also run doubles ladders if there is the interest. Also tell him about that too!
Booking Courts
Summer Tennis Camps
Stay safe
Sally Bentley
Head Coach
Return to Restricted Play Tennis - 1st June 2020
Following updated guidelines from the LTA and Government, LTA Guidelines over the weekend, the club will now open up some more playing opportunities for you!
Doubles
Sanitizer
Adult Drop Ins
There are only 8 places at each of the drop ins, which will be played over 2 courts. First come first served, just turn up. Teenagers who play for adult teams are also welcome to attend these sessions.
If these drop-in sessions become oversubscribed, we will add more. Alternatively, you could arrange your own 4 players and book a lesson with a coach and share the rate of £35 between you!
Junior Coaching Programme
The LTA guidance states that groups must be no more than 5 players plus the coach. We will be maintaining this level or below to adhere to the social distancing rules.
No Younger Red/Blue Groups
Court Time
The Clubhouse
Return to Restricted Play Tennis - 14th May
The government has given the green light for the ‘Return to Tennis’ and the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) guidance has now been published. The committee have produced a plan for reopening based on these guidelines. The principles are as follows:
When
Membership
You can renew your membership via our Membership Page.
As we will be on restricted play for a while, with only singles play, the Committee is generously offering a 2 month discount on the annual membership.
If you had already paid your membership, you will be entitled to a partial refund. Please contact our Treasurer, Sandra Rapley sandra.rapley@btinternet.com for more information.
A parent can join the club as ‘Non-Playing Parent’, this is a new membership for non-members to play ONLY with their children. If this membership is abused, it will be rescinded.
Juniors
Court Booking System
Please use the book button further down this page to book a court.
Please only come to the club if you have a confirmed court booking.
Coaching
Coaching will be limited to one-on-one. There will be no group coaching.
Lessons will be booked in 60-minute slots, but your coach will be finishing the lesson after 55 minutes in order to allow a buffering time between bookings.
During coaching sessions, only the coach will touch the balls. Players must roll balls toward the net with their racquet. If you wish to work on your serve you must bring our own ‘marked’ balls.
Singles Only
Doubles not currently allowed
Clubhouse unavailable
Hand Sanitiser
Marked Balls
Keys
Then collect the keys from one of the coaches. Let Sally Know when you can come to the club to pick them up.
Please do not remain at the club after play
Court Booking
Stay safe
Warm wishes
The Avenue Tennis Club Committee
News Letter 1st April 2020
Thank you for your booking for the Summer Term's tennis at The Avenue Tennis Club. The term was due to start after Easter and Passover on Monday 20th April. Sadly, this will not happen now due to the Coronavirus Pandemic.
It is my hope that we will begin the term as soon as the lockdown is lifted. As you will know tennis is one of the exercise activities that was recommended by the Government right up until the Lockdown date of the 23rd March.
The Department of Culture, Media and Sport had specifically advised us that tennis is one of the best examples of social distancing in practice, and so should be encouraged if the guidance permits. At present the guidance does not permit us to play and the club locked.
As soon as we receive new guidance, we will commence the Summer Term Junior Programme. We will run for as many weeks as is feasible considering school holidays etc. For example, if we started back on 1st June, we would do 7 or 8 weeks and then rollover the remaining 4 or 5 weeks to the Autumn term. If lockdown continues through the whole of the Summer term, the whole term will rollover to the Autumn term.
If guidance dictates that we can run camps and/or provide private lessons, we will but this is much further down the line and cannot be decided for some time.
None of this is ideal, and I thank you for your patience and continued support of the Avenue Tennis Club, that will continue to thrive as one of the best family clubs in North London, when this is all over.
Stay safe
Warm wishes
Sally Bentley
Head Coach
Coronavirus March 25th 2020
Dear members,
As some of you may already be aware, following the latest guidance from the LTA we are closing the tennis club completely until further notice.
If there is any change we will of course let you know.
Hope you all stay well , take care of yourselves
Regards,
The Avenue Tennis Club Committee
Coronavirus March 24th 2020
Last night (23/03/20) the Government instructed us as a nation to stay at home for 3 weeks considering the Coronavirus Pandemic. The point that is most relevant to us, as tennis players is this:
“One form of exercise a day will be allowed – for example a run, walk or cycle – alone or with members of your household”
In light of this, on behalf of the committee, this will be the way forward for the next 3 weeks, up to and including Monday 13th April:
1. The club will not lock it's gates to you the members.
2. You are still able to play singles or doubles if, with members from your own family.
3. There will be no coaching until further notice.
We are going to set up a CV WhatsApp group, so that we can ‘rota’ who is playing and safe people coming to the club and finding the courts full.
Our Club Secretary, Lisa is going to get this going for us. Her email is lbutterworth@uk.imshealth.com Please email her or me (we will both be administrators of the group) with your mobile number and we will add you to the group. Please then use the WhatsApp to tell others when you are planning to play. Please be courteous to others and only play for one hour if others are waiting.
As you know there is now a ‘non playing parent’ membership for only £40 for the year, so why not join and come and play with your children if you are not already a member. Existing members, your membership expires next Tuesday 31st March.
Please use this link to renew your membership https://clubspark.lta.org.uk/TheAvenueLTC2/Membership/Join
Please do not go into the clubhouse, bring your own balls.
Stay safe
Sally Bentley
Head Coach
News Letter 23rd March 2020
It is timely that the sun has come out this week, as tennis memberships become due. We are lucky that tennis is a unique sport which has many benefits, the main one being health and wellbeing. We are encouraged by the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) and the Government to take part in physical exercise that can take place at a safe distance from others and playing singles is ideal!
Please do not forget that your membership is for the 12 months and is due before 31st March. If you decide to delay re-joining, please note that our membership subscription is not altered until 1st October, when it is reduced by 50%. Up until 30th September the club has always kept its subscriptions the same, as the first 6 months of the tennis year are considered to be the best.
Everyone who has paid their subscriptions before 1st April will go into our club’s Wimbledon Draw. The All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC) have not cancelled this year’s Championships, (which have never been cancelled since the 2nd World War). It is perhaps worth noting that The French Open which is usually held in May has been postponed to the end of September; this may well happen to the Wimbledon Championships too. However, only those having renewed their membership by 1st April will be eligible for our draw. We have 22 pairs of tickets.
If you are a non-playing parent of a child who is a member, we now have a new membership especially for you. It allows you to come and play as many times as you like throughout the year with your child.
During the difficult times we find ourselves this week, you will already know that we are trialling some additional adult drop-in sessions, so now you have the choice of 7 drop in sessions; each one will be played over 2 courts and a maximum of 4 players. They are for adults and teenagers who play in league teams, and only cost £8 (£13 for non-members if you wish to bring your friends)
Monday 12.30 – 13.30
Tuesday 12.30 – 13.30
Wednesday 12.30 – 13.30
Thursday 08.00 – 09.00
Friday 14.00 – 15.00
Saturday 09.00 – 10.00
Sunday 09.00 – 10.00
For those of you working from home, you may find that you find more opportunity to use the club, more than you have in the past.
Stay safe
Sally Bentley
Head Coach
Coronavirus March 19th 2020
The Avenue Tennis Club Committee is constantly monitoring advice on how to react to the news on coronavirus.
As the advice changes, our approach is likely to have to change with it. As of Thursday 19th March, the following sets out our position.
Until yesterday the LTA had encouraged the continuation of usual tennis activities. Following the changed advice from the government yesterday, the LTA have suspended activities ‘delivered by the LTA’. (This includes coach education, competitions and leagues that they run where large numbers of players/coaches gather) While the LTA has suspended its organised activity, it points out that the Government have currently indicated that recreational exercise taking place at a safe distance from others is safe. It also notes that tennis as a non-contact sport is a good form of outdoor exercise and exercise is a key component of keeping well. For the full LTA advice, go to https://www.lta.org.uk/.
Middlesex Tennis meanwhile have suspended all league games, so all our tennis league fixtures are suspended until further notice. We have set up most of our Junior and Adult fixtures and will revert to them as soon as we are able.
Tennis coaching activities are continuing with extra precautions. (please read on for these)
Otherwise the club’s present approach is to leave it to each member to decide what is appropriate in the light of government advice, but with the following requirements:
1. There should be NO social gathering other than the minimum required to play. This means that the club and tennis pavilions should be used only for access to the toilets and wash facilities.
2. If it rains, don't gather in the pavilion, go home.
3. With social distancing in mind our coaches will be feeding and coaching keeping players 2 metres apart.
4. No one will be asked to touch balls, either in serving or ball collection. Balls will only be touched wearing gloves.
5. It will be COMPULSORY for players to carefully wash hands on arrival at the club, before playing and before leaving.
6. No handshakes.
7. Do not attend the club if you are feeling unwell.
8. Do not attend the club if you have a family member in isolation.
9. Term time junior and adult programmes are running until Sunday 22nd March, and possibly until 29th March if we are not in lockdown.
10. Easter and Passover camps are cancelled. If you have already paid, you will be refunded.
11. The Summer term programme will start as soon as we are able to get it started; we will update as we are able.
We have stepped up the level of cleaning and disinfecting all the door handles and surfaces in the clubhouse.
The Committee and everyone involved with the club’s organisation wish all members well. It is and it will continue to be a very difficult time; we can only hope that sport is allowed to continue, to provide respite for those for whom it is appropriate, but we will have to see what advice is forthcoming.
Stay safe
Sally Bentley
On Behalf of the Avenue Tennis Club
News Letter March 2020
The Avenue Tennis Club is taking the Coronavirus threat seriously and are taking some measures to prevent the spreading.
We are asking everyone who comes to the club to wash their hands, on arrival. The hand towels in the washrooms are now being washed in a hot wash several times a week as we are unable to buy single use paper towels.
Our hot taps are the wall mounted taps. Please use these; the hot water takes a minute or two to come through, but please be patient and wash your hands with soap and hot water on arrival at the club. If your child borrows one of our racquets, there will be a dedicated box of racquets available from Monday, that have had their grip sanitized daily, and no one can borrow one without washing their hands first. The pool ques, the football table handles, table tennis bats and door handles will all be sanitized several times a week.
Our governing body, the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) is in communication with the Government and other relevant organisations regarding the coronavirus and has been advised there is presently no reason people should stop doing their daily sport and physical activities as they normally would. This applies to tennis, and so tennis activities in Britain can continue as normal. Should that position change or further advice and guidance be provided we will share the information with you. We are fortunate that our sport is a non-contact one and played outside in the fresh air with minimal risk of infection.
We will continue to run our junior and adult programmes, as well as the junior camps at Easter and Passover.
Memberships are also due now and if you want to go into our Wimbledon Ballot, you need to re-join here by 1st April.
The draw will be on 4th April at 5.00pm after a fun American Tournament starting at 3pm. Save the date! Sign up in the club house or let me know and I'll register you.
This Sunday, 15th March we are starting a new additional drop in at 09.00 - 10.00. This is following the success of the one that Blair runs on a Saturday morning at 09.00 -10.00. Like with all our other adult drop ins, no need to book, just turn up! Blair's Boot Camp is guaranteed to revive you after Saturday night's festivities and set you up ready for Sunday lunch! Bring your children; they can play on another court, the junior court or table tennis inside or outside!
All for now, but if you have any questions please do not hesitate to call or email.
Best wishes
Sally
Head Coach
07958 758 580
News Letter Mid January 2020
As promised, we have a busy schedule for the first quarter of 2020, and here it is!
JANUARY
Sunday 19th January - Mix & Match - 10.00 - 12.00 - sign up in
the clubhouse or tell me.
Saturday 25th January - FREE Coaching afternoon from 15.00 - 16.30. Ladies only, sign up in the club house. This is the 'Meet the Coach' session for the Ladies to sample a taste of Blair's coaching for free!
FEBRUARY
Saturday 1st February - Mix & Match - 15.00 - 17.00 -
sign up in the clubhouse or tell me (please bring £1.50 to cover the
cost of the lights. This is necessary in November, December, January and
February)
Wednesday 5th February - from 7.00pm - Men's 'Welcome to the New Year' Tennis evening. Play until 9pm, like Mix & Match - food and drink arrangements TBD, but sign up in clubhouse and bring £3 for floodlights on the night.
Saturday 8th February - FREE Coaching afternoon from 15.00 - 16.30. Men only, sign up in the club house. This is the 'Meet the Coach' session for the Men to sample a taste of Blair's coaching for free!
Wednesday 12th February - from 7.00pm - Ladies 'Welcome to the New Year' Tennis evening. Play until 9pm, like Mix & Match. Bring £3 for lights and sign up on the noticeboard and add what you would like to bring. There will be a list (cheese/salad/bottle of wine/dips & veg etc).
Thursday 27th February - Thursday 2nd April - Men's Team Training - 7.30 - 9.30pm(Only 8 places) Book via Paco pacovaldelvira@gmail.com £66 for the 6 - week programme, if you cannot make one week you can 'sell' your slot to someone on the waiting list. The first hour will be drills and skills with Paco & Blair, then the second hour will be match play. If it rains one week, there will be a rollover at the end of the 6 weeks.
MARCH
Monday 2nd March - Monday 6th April - 7.00 - 9.00pm.
(12 places) Book via Blair
blairobrien1@gmail.com £66 for 6-week programme, if you cannot make
one week you can 'sell' your slot to someone on the waiting list. The
first hour will be drills and skills with Paco & Blair, then the second
hour will be match play. If it rains one week, there will be a rollover
at the end of the 6 weeks.
Any questions, please give me a call.
Best wishes
Sally
Head Coach
07958 758 580
News Letter January 2020
Happy New Year, I hope you have had a good break and are ready to get
back on court!
We have added some exciting new elements to the programme this year.
Mix & Match
There will now be 2 Monthly Mix & Matches from now on and the January
ones are as follows: Saturday 4th January at 3pm - please let me know if
you want to play - so far I have 4 ladies, come on chaps, where are you?
Sunday 19th January at 10am - please let me know or sign up in the
clubhouse Particularly if you are new to the club, you should come along
to the Mix & Match sessions as you will meet other members, plus you
only have to tell me that you are coming and I do all the arranging, you
just turn up!
Wimbledon Draw
I know, it is that time again! If you want to go into our club's
Wimbledon Ballot you HAVE to OPT IN with the LTA. You can do this on
line via your British Tennis Membership or just call them on 0208 487
7000 option 1, give them your name and DOB and you are done! Takes 5
seconds! Do it, because the more people to 'OPT IN', the more tickets we
will get as a club and that will enhance your chance of going to SW19!
New Adult Drop In
Is starting this Saturday at 09.00 - 10.00 with our new coach Blair; £8
for members, £13 for non members, but ONE FREE session if you are a non
member parent of a child on our junior programme (Blair's mobile is
07774 308 586 if you want to set up some private lessons)
Junior Programme
The Junior Programme restarts on Monday 6th January. Here is the link if
you have not yet booked though most of the teenage groups are full, but
there are places for Under 8,9 &10. If you are not sure which is the
best group for your child, just give me a call, always happy to help
Spring_Term_Bookings
Adult Team Training
Just to give you the heads up, that Adult Team Training will start on
Monday 24th February at 7pm - 9pm for the ladies, and IF the men are
keen, theirs will be on Wednesday OR Thursday (26/27th) from 7.30 -
9.30. The courses will be for 6 weeks, but more details towards the end
of this month.
All for now, looking forward to another great year at The Avenue Tennis Club
Best wishes
Sally
Head Coach
07958 758 580
News Letter December 2019
REBO Wall
When you next come to the club you will see that we have a practice REBO
wall! After 2 years of fundraising and the warm generosity of our
members, we raised enough funds to install it earlier this month. Thank
you everyone who donated! The wall is free for everyone to use on a
first come first served basis. However, as I discovered with my teenage
squad, you can play with 12 players at the same time! Try it, be
creative and share your games, it is so much fun!
Junior Programme
The Junior Programme has finished for the year now and we restart on
Monday 6th January, if you have not already booked, follow this link for
all the information that you need:
Spring Term.
Adult Coached Drop In
In 2020 we will be introducing a new Adult Coached Drop in on Saturday
morning at 09.00 – 10.00. It will be a drop in for everyone of all
standards and will hopefully encourage all those parents waiting for
their little tennis stars who are being coached on other courts, but
open to everyone. It will cost £8 an hour with a £5 guest fee for
non-members, however there will be a reduced guest fee for non-members,
who have a child on the Junior Programme! (AND if you have a child on
club’s junior programme on any day of the week, remember that you can
come to a drop in once a term FREE!)
Sunday Mix & Match
2020 will also see the introduction of a NEW Monthly Sunday Mix & Match
from 10.00 – 12.00, you can sign up on the notice board like usual for
the Saturday ones. Saturdays at 15.00 – 17.00 will still run on the 1st
Saturday of the month and the Sundays will run on the 3rd Sunday of the
month. January’s dates are Saturday 4th and Sunday 19th but I will
remind you at the beginning of the month regardless! But DO look at the
noticeboard and sign up! These sessions are for all adult members
irrespective of their ability is totally free! Junior’s who play for
adult teams are also welcome to the Mix & Match .
New Coach
And finally, we have a new full-time coach joining the team! His name is
Blair and he is from New Zealand where he has coached for the past
twenty years. He has coached all levels from beginners right through to
players competing internationally. His coaching style is high energy,
fast paced and fun; he loves working on the tactical side of tennis but
is very technical with an eye for detail. If you would like private
lessons with him, or a shared lesson, please let me know and I will
arrange. I am sorting out his schedule in December to assist with a bit
of juggling!
It has been a great year at The Avenue Tennis Club and I’m looking forward to 2020 with you all. Happy holidays everyone, stay warm and safe and keep hitting those balls!
Sally
Head Coach
07958 758 580
News Letter July 2019
Finals Day winners
Ladies Singles – Jo Katz
Men’s Singles – Danny Leboff
Ladies Doubles – Patricia & Claudia
Men’s Doubles – Danny & Dylan
Mixed Doubles – Patricia & Geoff
Under 8 – San Jun Wan
Under 9 – Jaylesson
Under 12 – Leo Levy Wade
Teenage girls – Jenny
Teenage boys - Danny
Raffle Prize winners
Tennis Camp – San Jin Wan
Phoenix Cinema Tickets – Sandra Rapley
Hair Dressing Voucher – Laura Pincus
Champagne – Patricia Moore
Wireless Earphones – Danny ‘or’ Dot (Jury is still out about who’s
ticket won!)
Dinner for 2 at the White Bear – Noam Levy
Babolat Tennis racquet – San Jin Wan
Fundraising
Thank you to everyone who supported the event either by attending,
buying raffle tickets or simply making a donation. Huge thanks to all
those who helped on the day, and meant that we raised £1300.00 this
year, the most that we have every made! Let’s hope that the wall will
be with us soon!
Maintenance Project
You will have noticed that we are looking very much smarter than we
were! However, there is still a vital piece of the gate missing. The
part that makes the gate close automatically; this should be in situ
early next week. There are 2 areas of re-painting to be completed.
Around the entrance and in the Junior Court, which will be done in
August. This week all the courts are being jet washed and with our
brand new nets (International championship quality), new fence and
refreshed garden, I think you will agree, we are in pretty good shape
for a small club!
August Mix & Match
But more importantly, lets get everyone on court! August 3rd 2.45 –
5.00 is our next Monthly Mix & Match. Juniors are invited too (Must be
yellow ball team standard). Please sign up on the notice board or let
me know and I will add your name to the list. The one after that will
be Saturday 7th September 2.45 – 5.00
Summer Camps
From next Monday, the Summer camps start in earnest, so just a quick
reminder if you want to play during the day. There are courts available
until 10.30 in the morning, then again from 12.30 – 13.30 at lunchtime
and from 14.30 in the afternoon.
Happy holidays
Best wishes
Sally
Head Coach
News Letter June 2019
You will see that we now have a brand new fence running across the back of all of the courts. The old was in a bad state of repair because people leaned on it. May I ask everyone to refrain from even touching it! It was very expensive and we want this one to last!
As part of our court maintenance plan, the courts will be sprayed with herbicide tomorrow morning, Wednesday 26th June, first thing in the morning and we are advised not to use the courts during the day.
Next Monday, 1st July should see the beginning of the new gate installation. It should only take a couple of days, and it is hoped that it will not be too disruptive. Fingers crossed.
We have had a couple of key issues lately and everyone should really
have a set of keys per family. There is a refundable deposit of £15,
which can be paid via this website.
As soon as you pay the £15 I will be notified and will give you a set of
keys.
Looking forward to seeing you all on Finals BBQ day, 7th July. I will send out a time table for the day early next week, just as soon as all the semi finals have been played. The courts are available from 3pm on Saturday and until 12.30 Sunday lunchtime. This Sunday sees the last of the junior matches, and Sundays will be fully back in action from 14th July following the finals on 7th.
Best wishes
Sally
Head Coach
News Letter May 2019
This Sunday 19th June is the last day for first round matches to be played. Unless you have told me that you have booked a time to play in the following 2 – 3 days following 19th, I will be tossing that coin to decide your fate!
If you need contact details of your opponents, please refer to the list of members that Lisa Butterworth sent you about 10 days ago.
No-one has played in the Under 12 competition yet. Shall I scrap this competition?
The Summer league matches are now in full swing. Please check the club calendar on this website here to check if there is a match being played to avoid coming disappointment and coming to the club only to find that all courts are busy.
Junior matches are played on Sunday afternoons and home adult matches are played on Monday and Wednesday evenings. All are on the calendar.
Times (in addition) to daytime, when there are courts available for your
matches:
Thursday evening from 19.30
Friday evening from 18.00
Saturday afternoon from 15.00 – 18.00
Sunday morning up until 1pm (This weekend the U9 match at 12.30 has been
cancelled so there will be courts available until 3pm)
Mondays from 18.00 when no match
Tuesdays from 19.30
Wednesdays all afternoon and evening when no home match
Save the date Sunday July 7th – BBQ & Finals day from 10.00.
Best wishes
Sally
Head Coach
News Letter March 2019
2 Day Teens Tennis Boot Camp – 8th and 9th April starting at
11.00
This is a 2-day intense training programme for those teenagers
who want to sharpen up their play. There will be a mixture of fierce
fitness training, intense technical drills, a serve clinic and we will
round up with match play ((ingles & Doubles) They will only get 30
minutes for lunch, there will be no time for social media! It will be
full on! But because we understand teenagers at The Avenue, we will not
start until 11 am, (we know how they like their beds!) and will finish
officially at 3pm but they can play on socially until 4 under
supervision. This is not for beginners. The regular camp that runs
along side this, will cater for beginners in very small groups of
carefully prepared coaching programmes.
Here is the link if you wish to book. There are only 6 places as it is
a new programme and we are trialling it this Easter. If it is popular,
we will add it into our regular camp programme, and I will be asking for
honest and frank feedback from you and your teens in order to develop it
further.
Coaching Camp
Easter and Passover Camps
These will be running as usual for 3 weeks; 8th April for 5 days, 15th
April for 4 days and 23rd April for 4 days. These camps run from 10.00
– 15.00 with early drop off at 09.00 and later pick up at 16.00. You can
book via this website.
Summer Term 2019 for the Juniors
Is filling up fast! If you have not booked, you need to do it now.
(Saturdays and Mondays only have one place remaining!)
If you are unsure of which group to go for, please message or call me,
very happy to help!
Best wishes
Sally
Head Coach
News Letter February 2019
In the next 24 hours you will receive an email with a link to renew your membership. All memberships renewed between now and 31st March, will be charged at this year’s rate. From April 1st there will be a slight increase. Here are the NEW rates; to avoid paying the new increased rate, you need to pay before 31st March 2019
Adult (peak) £240
Adult (off peak) £150
Family £485
Couples (peak) £360
Couples (off peak) £230
Student £90
Junior 2 (9 – 17yrs) £80
Junior 1 (4 – 8yrs) £40
A few dates for your diary in the new tennis season.
Monthly Mix & Match:
March 2nd, April 6th, May 4th, ALL at 14.45. Sign up in the clubhouse or
message me,
sally@avenuetennisclub.co.uk
Family Quiz night:
Saturday 18th May at 18.30 – 22.00. Save the date! More details to
follow.
Annual tournament finals and BBQ: Sunday 7th July 10.00 – 18.00. Save the date! More details to follow.
Best wishes
Sally
Head Coach
News Letter September 2018
This is a quick note to let you know that we have now reduced the annual subscriptions of The Avenue Tennis club by 50%.
For example, an adult membership is now only £115 (off peak, which is a mid-week membership is only £75) and a family membership (which is for 2 adults and up to 3 children) is only £230. These rates will take you up to April 2019. The weather is set to stay sunny and warm so why not join now and make the most of it!
If you would like to ‘Try before you Buy’ you are invited to come and play at one of our coached drop- in sessions. You may visit up to 4 times before buying the whole membership.
The sessions are:
Tuesday morning 10.00 – 11.00 - £8 + £5 for guests
Tuesday evening 7.30 – 9.00pm - £11 + £5 for guests
Friday afternoon 2pm – 3pm - £8 + £5 for guests
No need to book, just turn up!
October half term camp 22nd – 26th October
Is now live on this website and available to book. You can select the
whole week or individual days, early drop off and extended hours to help
with working parents. with discounts for existing members.
Best wishes
Sally
Head Coach
News Letter August 2018
Summer Camps
Some members may still be on holiday, but if you are back and need
something for the children to do, there are places in the last 2 camps.
Week commencing Monday 20th August and the 4-day week commencing Tuesday
28th August.
Summer Camps
Adult Team Training
If you are thinking about your training in September, we will be running
2 x 6-week adult Team Training sessions on Mondays and Thursdays from
19.30 – 21.00
Men’s Team Training – starts on Thursday 6th September
– book here – only 8 places:
Men's Team Training
Ladies Team Training – starts on Monday 10th September
– book here – only 8 places:
Ladies Team Training
Junior Coaching Programme – Autumn
Many of you have booked for the Autumn Term and nearly all of Saturday
is now full and Monday is completely full, but some places on most other
days. If you want to a place, here is the link. If you do not know
which group is best for your child, just email me and I will help.
Junior Autumn Term
Parent & Child Saturday Family Fun Tennis – Is back!
If you know any adults who are thinking of joining the club, the
subscriptions will be reduced by 50% at the end of September and I will
be running a new Parent & Child programme on Saturdays from 8th
September for 4 weeks, for those potential new members. Perhaps your
children are members already and you have played tennis with them during
the holidays, and would like to give it go properly yourself? The
sessions will be at 2pm – 3pm, with the adults on one court with me and
the juniors on another court with one of my junior coaches. The course
will only cost £20 and you have to pay for it using this link. (The
children are FREE!) Maximum of 10 players
Parent & Child Saturday Family Fun Tennis
Best wishes
Sally
News Letter July 2018
Thank you to everyone who supported the club’s annual championship and BBQ event on Sunday. It was a lovely hot summer’s day, with lots of first class tennis and pretty good PIMMS too!
The championship winners were:
Ladies Singles – Patricia
Men’s Singles – Robert
Under 9 – Oz
Under 12 – Adam G
Teenage Girls – Jenny
Teenage Boys – Zak (Judd retired injured)
Ladies Doubles – Benedicte & Di
Men’s Doubles – Richard & Dylan
Mixed Doubles – Christine & Robert
The raffle prize winners were:
Dinner for 2 at Chicken Society – San
Jin Dinner for 2 with wine Bald Faced Stag – Lisa Butterworth
Portrait by Tamara – Sona Patel
£100 voucher for John Lewis – Steve Smith
Manicure at Perfect Nails – Alison Gold
Free lesson with Paco – San Jin
Goodie bag from Sweaty Betty – Thomas Ollier
Free Tennis Camp – Victor Kypocheva
Bottle of Champagne – Pincus Family
Paintballing party – Judd Blass
The event raised £975! A big thank you for all your support. This is only £25 off our target of £1000 towards to the practice wall………….just another £7,000 to find!
Tennis camps start next week – 16th July. Book now. Some camps are nearly full and will be closed at the weekend.
Special Reduction in Subscriptions
If you know anyone who is thinking of joining the club, we have a 20%
discount on all adult memberships whilst there is still a British player
playing at Wimbledon……..today we still have 5! Heather Watson, Jay
Clarke, Harriet Dart, Jamie Murray (just, it was a close one last night)
and Dominic Inglot! So time may be running out. Join today!
Barnet Tennis Club Open Tournament
A coaching colleague, John Hall has sent me this. It is an open
competition for everyone from Under 8 up to adult, singles and doubles.
Why not give it a go? You pay on the day £15 but you must enter via
this link first!
https://www3.lta.org.uk/Competitions/Competition/?ctn=1-EI2HEIU
Enjoy the weather, enjoy the tennis, enjoy the footie – is it really
coming home?
Best wishes
Sally
News Letter April 2018
Welcome to the Avenue Tennis Club if you are new and welcome back all the ‘oldies’! Just a few notes and reminders.
Annual Club Championships
If you wish to play in this year’s Club Championships, you need to sign
up by emailing me now AND you must have already paid your subscription
for this year. The categories this year are:
1. Under 12 Mixed
2. Teenage Girls & Boys
3. Ladies & Men’s singles
4. Ladies & Men’s & Mixed doubles
The first round needs to be played by 13th May. Finals day & BBQ is Sunday 8th July – SAVE THE DATE – it is a lovely family day out! EMAIL ME NOW TO REGISTER if you have not done so yet. The draw will go up tomorrow, and then no one can be added.
Funded Coaching for Adults – 4 lessons for £20
If you want information on this, please email me asap. Saturday at 2pm
– 3pm is full. Wednesday at 10.00 -11.00 is full, but we have just
opened one on a Monday at 10.00 – 11.00. If there is interest, we will
do a very early Thursday morning one 8.30 – 9.30. Let me know your
thoughts.
New Coach
We have a new coach called Matt. He is a newly LTA accredited coach and
is available during the day up until 3pm, all day Friday and some
Sundays. He only charges £25 and this is his number 07957 633 355, give
him a call!
Summer Camps
These are now live on this website, extended hours available for only
£5. Summer Camp Booking
SAVE THE DATE
Sunday 8th July Finals & BBQ – put the date in your diary now for the
whole family.
Junior Matches
Have started and are on Sunday afternoons. Please check the website
calendar if you are planning to come and play. All courts are used for
junior matches from 13.00 – 17.00 but they are NOT on every Sunday.
(There is one exception on Sunday 29th April, when the match will start
at 12.00 noon)
Tuesday evening drop in
Don’t forget, it is first come first served. Only 12 places, and it was
full last Tuesday! (£19.30 – 21.00 £11)
All for now, best wishes
Sally
Head Coach
News Letter March 2018
Membership Renewal
Just a reminder that your membership renewal is now due. You need to
re-new your membership via the link that was sent to you via Clubsparks
on 28th February. It will ask you to set up a Direct Debit which will
then take the funds from your account within a few days and you will get
notification 3 days before it does so. If for any reason you cannot
find that email, let me know and I will resend it to you.
Wimbledon Draw
If you wish to go into the club’s Wimbledon Draw, you need to have paid
your membership via Clubspark on the website NO LATER than 10th April.
Renewals received after 10th will not go into the draw, which will be
done on Sunday 15th April by the Club Committee. The direct debit
Clubspark system can take up to 3 days to complete, and for the funds to
arrive into the club account, so the 10th April is absolutely the last
day that you can renew to be in the draw on 15th April
Annual Club Championship
If you wish to play in this year’s Club Championships, you need to sign
up in the clubhouse now. The categories this year are:
1. Under 12 Mixed
2. Teenage Girls
3. Teenage Boys
4. Ladies & Men’s singles
5. Ladies & Men’s doubles
6. Mixed Doubles
The Under 8 & Under 9 competitions will be held on one day before the official finals day of Sunday 8th July. Dates to be advised.
The sign-up sheets for these championships will be taken down on 15th April, so sign up ASAP. The draw will be up a week later and emailed to each player, so that you can arrange your matches. The first round needs to be played by 6th May.
If you are new to the club, you may not have all the latest information
about when the courts are free etc, so we have put a document on the
subscriptions page with lots of information. You can read it here:
Avenue Tennis Club Information pdf
Parking
Last but by no means least, I have been asked to convey to you the
nuisance that is being caused to our neighbours by inconsiderate
parking. The Committee request that you do not park over our
neighbour’s driveways, even for a couple of minutes, because it always
takes more than a couple of minutes to drop off your children; there is
plenty of free parking on Lichfield Grove & Manor View. As you know the
parking on Sylvan Avenue is very limited.
Best wishes
Sally
Head Coach
News Letter February 2018
Just a couple of things:
JUNIOR TEAMS - SUMMER 2018
I have registered the following junior teams for this year:
Under 8 - Red
Under - Orange
Under 10 - Green
Under 12 - Boys
Under 14 - Boys
Under 16 - Girls
Under 18 - Boys
Preparation for these teams:
There will be an Under 8 Red tournament held on Sunday 25th February at
12.30 - 14.00, and an Under 9 Orange tournament held on Sunday 4th March
at 12.30 - 14.30. Both run by coach James jamesmlevy@hotmail.com £10 to
enter each. Please contact James asap to get a place. There will only
be 12 places for each. If you have friends outside the club, they can
enter too paying £12.
All the other age groups will have box leagues to play over the next two months. They will be on the noticeboard by Tuesday 13th February, at the latest. The results of these leagues will be uploaded to the LTA and therefore count towards ratings. If I have not spoken to you or your child about playing in these, please let me know and I will add them to the boxes now, as they will form the squads for this summer.
WIMBLEDON DRAW
If you wish to go into the Wimbledon Draw this April, you need to have
'opted in’ If you have not opted in by 16th FEBRUARY, you will not be
able to even go into our draw. We usually get lots of tickets and every
family usually gets a pair...............but so few of you have opted
in, so far this year that we may not get many tickets.
This is what to do:
Call the LTA 0207 487 7000 option 1 - just tell them that you want to
'opt in' - give them your British Tennis Membership number OR your DOB
(Easier to remember!) and they will do it.........30 seconds! DONE! And
you could be on your way to SW19 in the Summer!
Best wishes
Sally
Head Coach
WIMBELDON BALLOT
It may seem like ages away but if you wish to go into the
club’s Wimbledon Ballot you MUST ‘OPT IN’. This is what you do: Log in
to your British Tennis Membership. If you have not got a membership
number, get one now.
It is FREE – join here https://www.lta.org.uk/member/ just make sure that you add your ‘place to play’ as The Avenue Tennis Club, Finchley N3 2LE. There are lots of Avenue Tennis Clubs in the drop-down menu, so make sure you that you tick the correct club. Then go into your membership and on the home page, there will be a Wimbledon Ballot Opt in button. Just follow that link. Or you can just call the LTA on 0208 487 7000 and they will do it for you and all your family members at the same time. If you do not opt in you cannot go into the club’s ballot. You have to opt in by February, but our ticket allocation is determined by the number of members who have opted in before Christmas. So far, out of 159 eligible members ONLY 17 have opted in. That is likely to only yield us one pair of tickets. For the past two years, we have had nearly 20…………so get opting in now!
CHRISTMAS MIX & MATCH – SAVE THE CHILDREN – CHRISTMAS JUMPER
EVENT
The club's regular Saturday Mix & Match on Saturday 16th
December at 3pm will be suspended to support the Save The Children
Christmas Jumper Day. Everyone is invited to come and play tennis,
mixing in as usual, except that you MUST be wearing a Christmas Jumper
(CJ) and make a small donation to the fund. If you do not have a CJ, you
can buy one very cheaply from Matalan etc, or wear something 'christmassy'
in support - a reindeer antler headband would suffice! There will be a
prize for the best dressed player! Note: Matalan have the best CJ
selection every year, but they sell out by December, so plan ahead!
Please sign up on the notice board in the clubhouse so that we have an
idea of numbers, for the mulled vine, and Christmas nibbles. All on the
house just to say, ‘Merry Christmas’ from The Avenue Tennis Club. If
you are injured at the moment (and there are a few of you around), just
come for the refreshments!
The club's regular Saturday Mix & Match will be suspended today to support the Save The Children Christmas Jumper Day. Everyone is invited to come and play tennis, mixing in as usual, except that you MUST be wearing a Christmas Jumper (CJ) and make a small donation to the fund. If you do not have a CJ you can buy one very cheaply from Matalan etc, or wear something 'christmassy' in support - a pair of reindeer antler headband would suffice. There will be a prize for the best dressed player! Note: Matalan have the best CJ selection every year but they sell out by December, so plan ahead! Sign up on the Club's notice board. If more than 12 people want to play, Sally will arrange some KOTC and around the world on a couple of courts. The more the merrier!
Best wishes
Sally
Head Coach
News Letter October 2017
Competing and Playing at The Avenue Tennis Club this Autumn
Ten – Teens Box Leagues
Yellow Box Leagues are now on the notice board and everyone has been given the contact details of the players in their box. Let’s get those teenagers on court and off their computers for an hour! Always courts free on a Sunday
Under 8 (Red) Competition is on Sunday 12th November at 14.00 – James is arranging it. There is a £10 entry fee for members, and a £12 entry fee for non-members. If you have not registered, email James now Jamesmlevy@hotmail.com
Under 9 (Orange) Competition is on Sunday 19th November at 14.00 – James is arranging it. There is a £10 entry fee for members, and a £12 entry fee for non-members. If you have not registered, email James now Jamesmlevy@hotmail.com
Adults Ladders – this is an opportunity to play singles; you simply challenge players above you and if you win you take their place, rules will be on the noticeboard with the ladders – the ladies is being organised by Francesca francesca.romita78@gmail.com
The men by Daniel
dggtenniscoaching@gmail.com
Let them know if you want to get involved.
9th 10th 11th October – Sukkot camp – if you still want a place for one day or all three, not too late to book on this website
23rd 24th 25th 26th 27th October – Half Term camp, also bookable on this site.
Sunday 14th October 14.00 – 16.00 Open Day
An opportunity for all you parents who pay for your children to be
members of the club, this is an day for you to come and play and have
some FREE coaching as a thank you for being part of The Avenue. If you
are interested in joining the club yourself, the subscriptions are now
half price as we are half way through the year. A full adult membership
is now only £115 and an off-peak adult membership only £72.50. No need
to book, just turn up next Sunday 14th at 14.00 – we can even lend you a
racquet!
Saturday Social
Remember that on a Saturday you do not need to arrange a game, you can
just turn up at 3 and there will always be someone for a hit. The
coaches will stay and make up numbers if needed for a set of doubles.
Sundays
All the courts are free on Sundays so plenty of opportunity to arrange
games, ladder matches, box league matches; you should always get a court
Rusty Racquets (RR)
Is currently at 19.00 – 20.00 on a Sunday evening and will be at this
time until the 22nd October. There will be no RR on 29th October (Half
term, no lessons) and from 5th November RR will be at 15.00 – 16.00 on
Sunday afternoon. Even if you are not a member you can come along, it
costs £8 and as a non-member you pay a guest fee of £5. You can play as
a guest for up to 4 times as part of our ‘try before you buy’ scheme.
Happy Hitting
Enjoy the sunshine
Sally
Head Coach
News Letter September 2017
Autumn Camps
Our next two tennis camps are now bookable via this website:
Sekkot – 9th 10th 11th October
Half Term – 23rd – 27th October
Camps can be booked by the day or the week. You can also book early
drop off and/or extended hours.
Two New Daytime Groups for Juniors
TOTS TENNIS – Wednesdays 14.15 – 15.00 – email
sally@avenuetennisclub.co.uk if interested – starting 27th
September.
8 – 12 year old Junior beginners group – Wednesdays 13.00 – 14.00 great for home educated children - email sally@avenuetennisclub.co.uk if interested – starting 27th September. If we have enough players of two different age ranges, we will run two groups.
ADULT DROP IN SESSIONS
Tuesdays 10.00 – 11.00
Fridays 14.00 – 15.00
Sundays 19.00 – 20.00
Small Groups. All £8 for members and £13 for non-members. Just turn
up.
OPEN DAY
Sunday 15th October 14.00 – 16.00 – free afternoon of coaching and
social play for non-members – in particular, parents of children who are
members, where the parents are not members. This is a small thank you
to you for choosing the Avenue Tennis Club for your children’s tennis.
REDUCED SUBSCRIPTIONS
This week the subscriptions for the club will be reduced by 50%, and
last until April 2018. So for an adult full membership it will only be
£115 and a mid-week membership, it will only be £75. If you are
thinking of joining, there could not be a better time. These can be
bought via the website. If you know anyone who may be interested, tell
them to go to
www.avenuetennisclub.co.uk
Best wishes
Sally
Head Coach
News Letter August 2017
Just a few mid-summer notes.
If you have not registered your children for the autumn junior programme
yet, here is the link:
http://www.avenuetennisclub.co.uk/autumn_term_bookings.html
Please note that some sessions on Saturdays and Thursdays for the older age groups, (Under 10 and above) are now full. There are still a few for Under 8 and Under 9.
There are places for the last week of camp, the 29th August which is a 4-day camp. Link for camp here: http://www.avenuetennisclub.co.uk/holiday_camps.html
Table Tennis Table
A huge thank you to all of you who supported the summer finals day and
BBQ, when we were raising money to buy the external Table Tennis Table.
We raised sufficient funds to be able to install a top of the range
table which now fills the ‘no man’s land’ space next to the bin! The
bats and balls for this table reside in the kitchen draw and should
always be returned after play. They must not be left outside.
Drop In & Team Training Programme from 11th September
There will be a 6-week pre-paid team training programme on: Tuesdays &
Wednesdays 19.30 – 21.00 Ladies - £66 inclusive of floodlights. Book on
line here:
http://www.avenuetennisclub.co.uk/adults.html
With 3 floodlit courts, there should be plenty of places for everyone to choose their preference Thursdays 19.30 -21.00 Men - £66 inclusive of floodlights: Book directly with Daniel here: dggtenniscoaching@gmail.com
In addition to the team training, these will be the drop in sessions at
the following times:
Monday 19.30 – 21.00 - £11 (Please note that this will
only run if the demand is sufficient. Usually during the team training,
the demand for an additional evening drop in subsides – please let me
know your thoughts on this)
Tuesday 10.00 – 11.00 £8
Friday 14.00 – 15.00 £8
Sunday 19.00 – 20.00 £8
The only drop in that will continue for the next two weeks is Friday at 15.00 – 16.00. After 1st September there will be none again until Monday 11th September, after which time all the drop ins will resume, as above.
Tennis Leaders Course Sunday 17th September 11.00 - 16.00
This is a course that I run for 14 year olds. It is the LTA pre-cursor
to the Level 1 coaching assistants course, for which you have to be 16
years old. The Tennis Leaders is a 5-hour course and takes place partly
on court and is partly classroom based. The Leaders learn how to
support coaches, run warm ups and run competitions; After the initial
day they have 6 hours of work experience working alongside me or one of
my coaches, after which time, they can assist on lessons and camps. In
their eyes it is a great pocket money earner, and your eyes, it is great
for the cv! It costs £35. Let me know if you have a teen in your house
that would like to come along, and I will give you more information.
Courts Out of Action for Maintenance
The courts are going to be resprayed. This is an expensive but vitally
important element to our maintenance programme. It will commence on
Monday 4th September and the courts will be out of use until 11th
September. Even though they may look like the work is complete by
Saturday 9th September, they are not to be used as the paint needs
several days to cure.
Floodlight Tokens
We are getting to that time of the year, where you may need tokens after
20.30 in the evening. The lights go off automatically at 21.00, so if
you put in a token at 20.30 expecting to get an hour, you will be
disappointed as we have a curfew that kicks in automatically. The
tokens can be purchased from me or Debbie Gispan (Debbie lives on the
corner of Sylvan Avenue & Lichfield and kindly keeps a supply) Her
number is 07956 910 459. Tokens cost £6 an hour. Note that if a token
runs out, the lights will require 15 minutes to warm up again, so if you
intend to play for more than an hour, you need to ‘feed the meter’ in
advance. When you have 4 minutes left of time to play, the coloured
light will come on to warn you to either put in another token or start
picking up balls. Once the lights go out there is another light that
comes on to allow you to clear the court. You cannot play under this
light and it goes off after 10 minutes. The meters are behind the
kitchen and are clearly marked. The new court is court 3 and court
3meter has been installed out of sequence. So please look carefully at
which meter/court you are feeding. We also request that if you are the
only / first players using the lights, please use the middle court,
court 2 as this is farthest away from our neighbours and should cause
least light spillage for them.
Apologies, for such a lengthy newsletter, but all very important pieces
of information.
Best wishes
Sally
Head Coach
News Letter July 2017 Flood Lights
New Flood light installation, remedial work to the courts and respraying this summer
Please note the following:
Friday 14th July – Tuesday 18th July – NO USE OF COURT 3
Wednesday 19th July – Friday 2st July – all three adult courts are being jet washed from 8.00 – 15.00.
So NO USE OF ALL ADULTS COURTS AT THESE TIMES, therefore there will be NO coffee morning next Friday as previously advertised.
The next club night will be August 4th at 6.30 – 8.30. Please note the timing – this is different to our usual evening programmes.
The next Coffee morning will be Friday 8th September 9.30 – 11.30
Adult drop in programme for the Summer will continue as usual, just with a slight tweak on the timing on Tuesdays and Fridays from 25th July – 1st September, it will look like this:
Sunday 19.00 – 20.00 £8
Tuesday 10.00 – 11.00 £8 (From 25th July – 29TH August 09.00 – 10.00)
Tuesday 19.30 – 21.00 £10
Friday 14.00 – 15.00 £8 (From 28th July – September 1st 15.00 – 16.00)
The junior tennis camps start on Monday 24th July – September 1st. whilst we use all the courts, if you want to play during the hours of 10.00 and 15.00, we will always move over for you to have a court. Note that until about 11.00 in the morning, we rarely use all courts, so if you are planning to play, try to come before 11 or after 15.00, but as I say, we will always accommodate if we can. Possibly text me as every week has different ages and we use different courts.
It is all down to Jamie now – no pressure J!
Best wishes
Sally
Head Coach
News Letter 10th July 2017
On behalf of the committee, I would like to thank everyone who came to the BBQ and Annual Club Championships Finals yesterday and helped to make it the huge success that it was.
The sun shone, whilst we watched 9 finals, barbequed, drank PIMMS and ate strawberries! This event is run annually as a way of bringing the families together to join the Avenue Tennis Club community. It always makes a little bit of money that goes towards the upkeep of the clubhouse. However, this year, we made a special effort to try and raise some money to buy a table tennis for outside. I am pleased to announce that we made a few pounds short of £1000. This is far more than we have ever made before and definitely our best year ever! Thank you everyone who supported with buying raffle tickets, selling raffle tickets, donating puds and salads, cooking on the BBQ (Big shout out to Geoff’s Dad and Max – kings of the BBQs) and everyone who helped in so many different ways. The support this year was phenomenal, the product of the best family tennis club in North London!
The winners of the comps were:
Men’s Singles – Rob beat Geoff
Ladies Singles – Noa beat Lisa
Men’s Doubles – Geoff & Rob beat Dror & Shai
Ladies Doubles – Mia & Noa beat Sophie & Neena
Mixed doubles – Geoff & Patricia beat Rob & Chris
Under 14 Girls – Noa beat Jenny
Under 12 Boys – Filip & Adam will play this week. Due to a car accident
Filip was unable to get to the club, but thankfully was unhurt.
Under 12 Girls – Camille beat Mor
Under 10 Boys – Leo beat Kobi
Under 8 mixed – Oz beat Gabriel
The winners of the raffle were:
£100 Voucher for John Lewis – Astle Family
Paintball/Lazer party – Jonathan Sulenski
Manicure – Victoria Hall
Dinner for two – Kay Shepherd
Set of latest DVDs – Thomas Ollier
Summer Tennis Camp - Starr Family
Portrait – Ashley Philips
Mini Tennis net – Ruzansky family
The winners of the flower raffle (entry a tray of bedding plants for the garden), were Ray & Eric Astle, who will receive a free tennis lesson from Luke
There will be pics posted on this website to mark yesterday’s lovely occasion. Please send me any pics that you took so that I can include a good cross section representing our lovely ‘Avenue Tennis Club Family’
Enjoy the second week of Wimbledon – still 3 Brits in! (Lost Marcus Willis today) If you are going to SW19 this week, and you got your tickets via the club, and you use any form of social media, can I ask you to tag @sally_avenue #avenuetennisclub
Best wishes
Sally
Head Coach
News Letter July 2017 BBQ Finals
Lots of updates and reminders for this weekend:
Tickets for the Day
Lots of people have not paid for the tickets yet and you need to do this
on line via the club bank account:
The Avenue Tennis Club
60-08-20
37483218
£10 adults
£5 children
Please reference your payment with name & BBQ, if you wish to pay on the day, you can, but it will cost: Adults £12 Children £6
The adult finals will start at 11.00 with both men’s singles and ladies’ singles at the same time. This will be followed by the Men’s doubles and Ladies’ doubles at the same time. Then the adult mixed doubles will be played. The BBQ will be lit at around mid - day and the food served from 13.00 onwards The juniors will start at about 14.30 Prize giving and raffle approximately 16.30 – 17.30.
There will be a raffle with lots of amazing prizes. For just £5 you can
get 5 chances to win one of these; please buy tickets to support your
club.
£100 voucher for Paintball party or Laser party for 5 players
A portrait in mixed media of you worth £300
Manicure worth £15
Dinner for two at local restaurant
Waitrose Voucher
Latest DVDs
John Lewis Voucher
Mini Tennis Net worth £400
Summer Tennis camp worth £145
Special edition, Junior Tennis Racquet in GB colours. (you cannot buy
them!)
If you cannot get to the club to buy tickets, you can make a credit transfer to the bank account detailed above and tell me and I will add the required number to the pot!
We will also be doing the ‘free lesson’ with Luke flower raffle, so not too late to bring a plant too!
There will be a ‘by donation’ bar of wine, beer, soft drinks and PIMMS! Meat & veggie BBQ, lots of salads (please donate!), puds and strawberries & Cream.
Please note that the adult drop in on Sunday evening will not be happening and neither will the 18.00 – 19.00 Junior group which will roll over to the 23rd July.
Hope to see you all on Sunday
Sally
News Letter 15th June 2017
Floodlight News
Our 3rd set of floodlights will be installed this summer following the
final consent for planning permission being granted yesterday by Barnet
Council. This is the result of 2 years of our Chair, Patricia weaving
her way through the planning red tape with precision, care and attention
to detail. She had already secured £20,000 via the London Marathon
Charitable Trust earlier this year to pay for the lights. This is a
milestone for the Avenue and our warm thanks go to Patricia for all her
hard work and perseverance.
Finals BBQ – 9th July
The day will start at 11.00 with the adult finals, food will be served
from 13.00, and the Junior finals will run after the adults. Full
timing details will be published at the end of June. Tickets for the
BBQ will be sold in advance and cost £10 for an adult and £5 for a
child. You can buy your tickets via Sandra Rapley and Sally now!
Raffles
Finals day raffle tickets will be on sale at the club from the end of
June – only £1 and amazing prizes! Flower raffle for a free private
lesson – bring your bedding plants this weekend – just one tray and your
name will go in the raffle. Could be a spend of as little as £3.99!
Mid Season Update
Ladies 1 is top of their league, but the team at number 2 is only 17
points behind and a game in hand. Men’s 1 and Ladies 2 both roughly
joint 2nd in their leagues, so all a bit nip & tuck – every set counts
gals & guys! Ladies 3 are holding their own – well done everyone!
And the sun is shining – happy hitting this weekend – Go The Avenue!
Best wishes
Lisa Butterworth
Secretary
News Letter 26th May 2017
Spring Bank Holiday Newsletter
A couple of reminders:
There is a small tennis camp next week Tuesday to Friday – only the
junior court and one other court will be required at most so you can
come and play. If you want your children to come along for a day or
more.
Today is the deadline for the first round of the club championships. If you have not played by the end of this weekend, we will flip a coin as to who goes through to the next round.
If you are doing your baskets and bedding plants this weekend, please buy an extra tray for the club and go into a raffle for a free private lesson with Luke or Daniel or win a club T shirt or Hoodie. All you must do is bring the plants/tray/pot to the club – LABEL WITH YOUR NAME, leave by the bins. Or a bag of soil, or £5 in an envelope with your name and ‘flower raffle’ on it. We will do the draw on finals day. We need lots and have only had 3 donations so far. You do not need to spend a fortune!
The subsidized day time programme will not be on during half term, but will continue again on 6th June for 4 more weeks. If you want any information about this please contact luke@avenuetennisclub.co.uk.
There will be no adult drop in on Tuesday 30th May nor Sunday 4th June.
Sally
Head Coach
News Letter 1st May 2017
The new daytime programme will start on Tuesday 16th May and run for 6 weeks (omitting half term) on 4 days a week at the following times; each session is only £5, and lasts 1 hour and 15 minutes. Whatever your standard, come along at the time that suits you and we will adapt the lesson to the players! (Bring your friends - spread the word!)
Tuesday 10.00 - 11.15
Wednesday 09.15 - 10.30
Thursday 14.00 - 15.15
Friday 14.00 - 15.15
Also do not forget that the Tuesday evening drop in is on again from 19.30 - 21.00 £11 PAYG
The Adult matches start in earnest next week so please check the club calendar on the website; most Mondays and Wednesdays are populated with these matches from 18.00 and therefore courts are not available. But NOT every week.
The Junior matches are well on the way on Sunday afternoons from 13.00 - 18.00 for the months of May and June - again check the website calendar for exact details and timings if you wish to play on a Sunday afternoon.
Junior Club night is alive and well - any juniors who play full court should come and join in - no cost - 16.30 - 18.00 every Wednesday.
Club Championships are on the notice board. First rounds MUST be played
by 25th May. Any round robins need to be played at one match a week
until July. Please look a the noticeboard. Any questions regarding the
club championship, please contact
Luke@avenuetennisclub.co.uk
07729 672 965
Happy hitting
Sally
Head Coach
News Letter 21st April 2017
I will be closing the entry to the club championship on Sunday 23rd April so that I can arrange the draws ready for play week commencing 2nd May. Therefore, it is imperative that you get yourselves and your juniors all signed up this weekend on the notice board. If you do not understand the age groups for the Juniors please ask!
Then save the date for Finals and BBQ day - Sunday 9th July. It is always a lovely family day so clear your diaries for the whole family!
Remember that the adult team matches start early in May, and the home matches will be played on Mondays and Wednesdays, thus rendering all 3 courts out of use from 18.00 on those evenings. Please check the website for dates of fixtures.
The Junior matches start this weekend and the home matches will be played on Sunday afternoons from 13.00 - 18.00, usually using all courts, but check the website calendar for actual dates and times.
Also on Wednesdays from 16.30 - 18.00 we have started the Junior Club Night. This is for all FULL court playing junior members only. It is not coaching, there is nothing to pay, just let them come and play socially against their friends. There will be an adult member to look after them.
Plus the adult drop - ins on Tuesdays from 19.30 - 21.00 (£11) and Sundays from 19.00 - 20.00 (£8) are now back in full swing so just turn up and start practicing for the Avenue Trophies!
All for now
Happy Hitting!
Sally
Head Coach & LTA Middlesex Coach of the Year 2016
News Letter 1st April 2017
Welcome to the new tennis season at The Avenue Tennis Club. There are lots of things happening and here are some for you to ‘Save the Date’
1. NEW Adult Club Night
On the first Friday of the Month – run by Luke. There is no
booking, just turn up. 18.30 – 20.30 May 5th, June 2nd, July 7th, August
4th, September 1st, October 7th. There will be a minimal charge of £6
and this will include prizes each month! Put the dates in your diary
now! You will be playing a mixture of singles and doubles depending on
the numbers. Lots of fun matchplay – be there!
2. Club championships
Registration for all sections from Under 8 to Adult Mixed Doubles is now
on the notice board. Closing date is 28th April, with the first round
to be completed by 25th, second round by 15th June 3rd round by 30th
June. Please sign up as soon as you can especially for the Juniors. If
you do not know in which age category your child falls, just ask me.
3. Finals Day and BBQ Sunday 9th July
The adult finals will start at 11.00 am and the junior finals will
follow. Tickets for the BBQ MUST be bought in advance so that we can
cater accordingly. They are £10 for adults and £5 for children.
4. Serve Clinic – two more dates for your diary
Monday 24th April 19.00 – 21.00 £8 for one hour of serve coaching and
one hour of floodlit playing afterwards. Saturday 6th May 15.00 – 16.00
£5 for one hour of serve coaching, after which everyone is encouraged to
stay and play.
5. Quick reminder of the Adult Social Times
Saturday from 15.00 – 18.00 & Sunday up until 13.00. During this time,
we encourage everyone to simply turn up and mix in with together. There
is no coaching at this time, but there may be one red match on one
Saturday at 4.30.
6. Quick reminder of the Adult Drop in Times
Tuesday 19.30 – 21.00 £11 – just turn up – from Tuesday 18th April -Team
standard Sunday 19.00 – 20.00 £8 – just turn up – from Sunday 24th April
– Beginner & Improver standard.
7. Junior matches
Will be on the website calendar before the end of Easter. All HOME
junior matches are on Sundays afternoons. Please check the website
before turning up to play. They should all be played in May and June.
From July, the courts on Sundays will all be free again all afternoon.
8. Adult HOME
Matches are on the website calendar now. They are held on Mondays and
Wednesdays and the courts are required from 18.00. Not every Monday and
every Wednesday but most! So again, do check before you go to play.
9. FREE MEN’S TEAM TRAINING!
On Thursday 20th April, Luke is going to hold a free team training
session from 19.30 – 21.00 for all those men who would like to play in
the men’s team this season. Luke is then going to run a 5 week
programme after that leading up to half term. Please contact Luke
directly if you like to join this programme and come to the first FREE
session next week - luke@avenuetennisclub.co.uk
– only 8 places, so book in now. Luke will be our men’s captain this
year and will play in the team if needed. So, someone could be
partnering the coach each match!
10. Junior coaching programme
Restarts on Tuesday 18th April, and is virtually full. If you have not
yet booked your children, and want to keep the place that you had last
term, please do it ASAP.
All for now. Happy Hitting. Welcome all the new members. See you on
court very soon.
Best wishes
Sally
Head Coach & LTA Coach of The Year 2016
News Letter 10th March 2017
Dear Members
Four pieces of important and exciting news from the committee and me:
1. Your Membership renewal & The Wimbledon Draw.
Firstly, the committee has asked me to give you this link to renew your
membership.
https://clubspark.lta.org.uk/TheAvenueLTC2/Membership/Join
There are 21 days to renew. When subscribing as a family, please add in all the email addresses, for everyone in your membership who is over the age of 12years. Remember if you are not a member by 1st April, you cannot enter the Wimbledon ballot which is on April 1st at 2pm. If you cannot attend, you can write to Lisa, the membership secretary lbutterworth@uk.imshealth.com with details of someone who will attend in your place as proxy.
Proxy voters must be adult members of the club, and your request must be in writing before Thursday 30th March. You will get an acknowledgment from Lisa regarding your proxy. Therefore, if you have not heard from her, re-email her. Proxy voters can only be a proxy for one other member. Therefore, you cannot send one member of the family for a family of 5. Only Juniors 9 years and over by 1st April are eligible to enter this draw.
2. New coach
I am delighted to announce that I have just engaged a new coach. One who
will be the club's Assistant Head Coach, working very closely with me to
build participation and involvement for the Men's section of the club.
We have a thriving female section, and would like to foster the same
level of engagement from the chaps!
Luke will captain the men's team and play in it if needed. He will also be focusing on day time tennis and getting some new initiatives going on those fallow hours between 9.00 and 3.00 mid-week. Luke will be full time and starts from 27th March. I will give you his details to contact him then, once I have sorted out his regular schedule.
Luke has played competitive tennis for his county Lincolnshire, and has been coaching tennis for 10 years both in the UK and as a Tennis Manager abroad. Most recently he has been a lead coach at Service Line Tennis Management company, coaching in schools, private houses and clubs across Sussex and Kent. He has a wealth of experience in coaching county juniors at a high level and has vast breath of coaching all standards of adults and juniors. He is very excited to join The Avenue tennis club. As indeed I am looking forward to welcoming him aboard later this month.
3. Junior Club night
We are reinstating the junior club night for players 9/10 years+ on a
Wednesday evening from 16.30 - 18.00. There will be no charge for this,
no booking, it will be turn up and play, and there will be at least 2
courts available. This will be a great opportunity for them to either
arrange to play a box league match, a club tournament match, play some
table tennis or just to hit and hang out with their friends. I would
like to engender a 'youth club' atmosphere and environment.
We will have the tuck shop open and the kids can buy a drink or a snack. It will be organised by parents and initially run by Benedicte Forde (mother of Jacques, Betty and Luc) and Denis Lecocq, (father of Louie and Lucas). Ben and Denis will be looking for more parents to take a turn in coming to the club to chaperone the children. These are their emails; lecocq.denis@yahoo.co.uk; benedicteforde@gmail.com; please contact them if you would be happy to assist. Obviously, players who are 14 years and older can come and play on their own. Our insurance does not allow us to have those under 14 on the premises without a guardian. The first night for the Junior Club Night will be Wednesday 19th April and will run for the summer term until mid-July.
4. Tuesday evening drop in
Is being 'dropped' until further notice. The committee feel that whilst
there is team training running on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, we
need to keep Tuesdays free for members to turn up and play. The team
matches will start at the beginning of May and have been scheduled for
Mondays and Wednesdays, and all courts are needed from 6.00 on those
evenings.
Best wishes
Sally
News Letter 9th February 2017
Dear Members
I sent you all the details yesterday regarding the new Team Training that is starting on Monday 20th February. However I forgot to say that it will be at 19.30 - 21.00 in the evenings. Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.
Tuesdays will become the day for the drop in which will take the place of Mondays, same time 19.30 - 21.00.
Monday 13th February will be the last Monday. Tuesday Drop in will start on Tuesday 21st February.
If anyone is keen to come to the Doubles Tactics sessions on Friday mornings , who is not already registered, please let me know and I will add you to the 'doodle' as that is the only way to book for these sessions at 9.00 - 10.00, 10.00 - 11.00 and 11.00 - 12.00 - only FOUR players per session.
Sundays from 12.00 - 1.00 continues to the Beginner/Improver group and you can use the PAYG system,, paying £8 a session or pay for 6 in advance at £6 a session. This is an on going, programme. and you can book with Nicola nicola.guzowska@gmail.com
Best wishes
Sally
News Letter 12th January 2017
Dear Members
Just two things:
1. Wimbledon Ballot. Only 36% of our membership has 'opted in' to the ballot for the Avenue's allocation of tickets in the club ballot.
Just to explain:
A. You cannot go into the Avenue Ballot unless you opt in. Our ballot will be held in April - more details will follow.
B. The LTA allocate the number of tickets to clubs based on the number of 'opted in' members each club has BY 17TH FEBRUARY 2017.
All you need to do to 'opt in' is go to your LTA/British Tennis profile and use the 'opt in' button. If you cannot find that or do not remember your password, just call the LTA 0208 487 7000 with your name and DOB - they will do it for you.
Just remember you have to be 'in it to win it' - so just OPT IN now!
2. And the second thing is this. I am always being asked for Avenue hoodies - I am about to order some this week, so if you would like one, please let me know asap and what initials you would like on it. (most people use their own! :)
They cost £26 including P & P and come in royal blue and all sizes. In particular I will be insisting that the junior team members wear them, so may as well get it now!
All for now
Sally
News Letter 8th January 2017
Dear Members
Happy New Year - let's hope that 2017 is going to be as good for The Avenue Tennis Club as 2016 was for Andy Murray!
Firstly, to remind you that Saturday afternoon from 3pm is social play time and you can just turn up at the club and mix in with whoever is here. To help those of you who are new to the club and may not know many other members yet, I run a monthly 'Mix & Match', and in January, February and March, I am running 2 per month. These are the dates:
January
Men's Mix & Match - singles and doubles - 10 places - Sunday 15th at
10.00 - 12.00
Ladies and Men's Mix and Match - doubles only - 12 places - Saturday
28th at 15.00 - 17.00
February
Ladies and Men's Mix and Match - doubles only - 12 places - Sunday 5th
at 10.00 - 12.00 Men's Mix & Match - singles and doubles - 10 places -
Sunday 25th at 15.00 - 17.00
March
Ladies and Men's Mix and Match - doubles only - 12 places - Sunday 5th
at 10.00 - 12.00
Men's Mix & Match - singles and doubles - 10 places - Saturday 11th at
15.00 - 17.00
I will pin sign-up sheets to the noticeboard and you can add your name to the ones that you can attend; come to them all if you can. I will then put you all into sets of doubles and singles according to the players on the list, and the type of M & M (doubles or singles). This is how it works: you all turn up at 3, play a short set and then switch to the next set with new players and partners, when one court reaches 6 games. It means that you come to the club without the need to arrange partners etc. and get a minimum of 3 sets with different players. I will try to match people as best as I can, and hopefully this will forge some new friendships and hitting buddies. The first one is NEXT Sunday at 10 am for the men only.
Monday evening drop in - 19.30 - 21.00
This is restarting again tomorrow 9th January - Marcus will be taking it
and it costs £11 on a pay as you go basis. (In the summer, it is £10,
but the extra pound is to go towards the lights, the cost of which falls
to the coach) Please come along and join in - always a fun session.
New coach
I am delighted to welcome a new coach to my team and to the club. She is
called Nicola, is Polish and has played to a very high national level in
Poland. Nicola is here to improve her coaching experience, her English
and is taking a degree in Sports Business and Coaching. She is in her
first year and plans to be with us for 3 years and hopefully beyond. She
has significant Polish coaching qualifications but wants to learn from
the British system too, so I am going to mentor her through her Level 3.
She will charge £25 an hour for private lessons, but as an introductory
offer for January only, will only be charging £20 an hour. So here is
her mobile and email:
nicola.guzowska@gmail.com 07874 171 107. Some days she is at Uni but
I know that she is free on Monday and Tuesday mornings, all day
Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. First come, first served if you want a
regular slot!
Floodlights
Remember that you can buy tokens (£6 an hour) from Benedicte, Debbie and
myself. Suggest that you buy in batches of 4 or 5, so avoid needing one
urgently and not being able to get hold of one of us. Remember that if
you are feeding the metre you must put in the second token BEFORE the
first one runs out - you can gauge this by the red and green warning
lights on the courts (When they come on you have 4 minutes to add
another token) - if you do not get there in time, and the lights go out,
they will take 15 minutes to re-heat and therefore you lose 15 minutes
of your hour...... you have been warned!
Awards and Rewards
I am very proud to tell you that I have been voted Middlesex LTA Coach
of the Year 2016 and one of our new Level 1 coaches, Harvey McKellar has
won the Middlesex LTA Young Volunteer of the Year 2016. Well done
Harvey! Without wishing to sound like I am at the Oscars, or making an
Andy Murray acceptance speech of another trophy or title, I do want to
thank my team; coaches and committee alike. The committee who work
tirelessly behind the scenes has trusted my judgement, giving me a free
reign to facilitate the growth and development of the club, to allow us
to be where we are today. I am going to receive the award at Queens Club
in February and am accepting it on behalf of us all - thank you
Committee - without whom none of this would be possible! (Oh dear that
did sound like Oscar night speak! But true!)
All for now, if you want me to write up your name for some of the Mix & Match sessions, just email me back and all will be done! Happy Hitting!
Best wishes
Sally
News Letter 10th November 2016
Dear Members
Message from Under 8 Red Coach Captain, James Levy:
Would your under 8 player like to take part in an internal mini red tournament at the club on Sunday 27 November 2016 at 9am? Depending on numbers, it should last for 2 hours, although you could leave earlier if you do not qualify from the group stages. Each player will play three or four matches in two groups and the winners and runner ups will go through to the semi- finals and finals. I will go through the rules at the start and give some tips and strategy for match play. The children will play matches up to 10 points, and I wil ask parents to umpire matches? I will provide score sheets to make it easy.
It's £10 entry on the day and I will enter all your players results into the LTA website, which will help them get a rating. This will help them to compete elsewhere. However, you will need a British Tennis Membership number(BTM) for the LTA website to recognize you. To get a BTM number, you can sign your child up for free with British tennis at https://www2.lta.org.uk/Login/ making the Avenue LTC your place to play. Once you have joined British Tennis, please bring your BTM number with you on the day so that I can enter your results. Please reply to me, James Jamesmlevy@hotmail.com if you would like to enter. This is a great way to put all the coaching into practise.
Monday 5th December will probably be the last Monday evening drop in before Christmas and everyone starts getting their tinsel out in earnest! Therefore we thought we would add a little Cheese & Wine to that evening as a bit of festive cheer!
The timing of the play will be slightly earlier and it will be a 'cardio-style' evening. Therefore lots more than 8 can be on the court at once. We will start at 7pm and run until about 8.15/8.30. The cheese and wine will be set up and available from 7.00 so you don't even need to play, just come straight from work and have a glass. The cost will still only be £10, so why not come along?
I am hoping that lots of members will come, especially new members, beginners and improvers. It will be fun on and off the court. If cannot make the on court session, it will only cost £5...........go on put it in your diary now!
And just a quickie, you can start opting in for the Wimbledon ballot now! So as soon as the LTA email you, do it! Or go to your British Tennis Membership and opt in - if you want to go to Wimbledon next summer and watch our brilliant Brits perform, you have to 'opt in' via the LTA to go into our club ballot! 42 of you have already done it, which means I will be hassling the other 158 until you do!!
Happy Hitting!
Sally
News Letter 28th October 2016
Dear Members
Just a couple of things:
We need to make a decision on the fireworks party and have about 24 people interested but need 50 - 60 to make it worth while, so if you are still keen can you let me or Lisa (lbutterworth@uk.imshealth.com) know ASAP so that we can make a decision in the next 48 hours. It will be on Saturday 5th November from about 6.30 - with supper included in a family ticket for £25 - fantastic fireworks courtesy of the Hall School.
This weekend is half term weekend for the junior coaching programme so there is no coaching tomorrow morning - there is no rain forecast so why not make the most of the free courts? Ideal opportunity to play ladder and box leagues matches - juniors and adults.
Now that we have stopped the adult team training, we are just running the following adult programme:
Friday morning - private groups of up to 4 players - bookable by doodle - if you want the link please let me know. This has been set up instead of the drop in to accommodate different timing requirements and keep groups small and focussed and the cost of the lesson is shared amongst the players (1 player £30, 2 players £15, 3 players £10, 4 players £7.50) There is one lesson at 9 - 10, one at 10 - 11 and one at 11 - 12.
Sunday evening - 17.00 - 18.00 Beginners and Improvers. There is a 6 week programme starting this Sunday 30th, which will cost £8 on a drop in basis or £40 for all 6 lessons if you pay for them all on Sunday. Ollie and Marcus are driving this programme - please contact them directly if you want to book a place. They only have one place remaining I believe for this next 6 week programme, so get in touch now! (Ollie-gan@hotmail.co.uk; marcusgan@hotmail.co.uk)
Monday evening 19.30 - 21.00 Adult Team standard drop in. £10 PAYG. This has not been very well attended so far. It is coached by Marcus. We are giving it one more week - 31st October and if the response is low, we will probably adopt the same system as Friday mornings. So if you want to keep the Monday night drop in alive for the next 5 or 6 weeks (It will not run in December), you need to come along this Monday and encourage others to do so.
Don't forget to change your clocks this weekend! The autumn has arrived! If you want tokens for the lights, they cost £6 and you can buy them from me, Ollie, Marcus, Benedicte or Debbie
All for now
Best wishes
Sally
News Letter 23rd July 2016
Dear Members
The sun is shining and the courts are empty! If you have not gone on holiday, come and play - Monday 25th is the last team training session until September and the junior coaching programme has finished. Therefore there are pretty much courts available all the time. There is no coaching now on Sunday mornings - all the courts are yours to meet and play socially or start some ladder matches. Lets make the most of the summer.
If you look on the adult notice board, I have put up a 'Ladies Doubles Challenge Ladder' sign up sheet. This is something that I am starting now for the summer and the autumn to get the ladies to try out some new doubles partnerships and/or consolidate some existing ones. Just sign up with or without a partner - if you do not have a regular doubles partner but would like to play, either ask one of the ladies, or put your name up and I will match people of similar standards together. Then once the ladder is up all you do is challenge a pair up to 3 levels above you, and if you beat them you take their place - its like snakes and ladders - you go up and they go down! If you are not the victors, you just stay where you are.
The men already have a singles ladder, but if you want a doubles one, it can be arranged.
SAVE THE DATE - Saturday 17th September - The Avenue Family Quiz night - from 6pm with Supper. You can book a family table or a kids table and an adults table, bring family and friends etc. Just put the date in your diary and watch out for more information on the notice boards this week.
Under 14s - please remember that if your children are under 14 years old, they are not allowed at the club on their own. Our insurers do not allow them to be at the club unaccompanied, unless they are having coaching. Please do not ask the coaches to 'look out' for them, as we are not insured to do so.
Also please remember to take away all your belongs. From now on, the lost property box - far right hand corner of the club next to the big fridge - will be emptied once a month into the bin or the local charity shop!
The junior coaching programme for September is rapidly becoming full and
in fact some squads are full. So, if you have not booked yet, here is
the link - do it this weekend - especially if you want a Saturday
lesson!
http://www.avenuetennisclub.co.uk/autumn_term_bookings.html
All for now - enjoy the sunshine
Happy hitting
Sally
News Letter 17th May 2016
Dear Members,
I wanted to talk to you about the club championships - sent earlier - separately so that you would all listen! Lisa, our Club Secretary will be sending out a full up to date list of members shortly, so that you can contact each other for the club championships - and don't forget to put the 3rd July in your diary for the BBQ and finals.
So here is the rest of the news!
On Sunday 29th May, Lucy is starting another 6 week beginners course from 9.30 - 10.30 - if you know anyone who would be interested. It is £36 for the whole course if you book and pay up front - amazing deal - or on a one off basis it is £7 for members and £8 for non-members. The usual improvers from 10.30 - 12.00 just carries on like normal, as do the other drop ins to which we have added 9.30 - 11.00 on a Tuesday - just turn up! Please contact her directly to book a place - lucy.o.dean@googlemail.com for the beginners group - that must be booked in advance.
The men have asked me to set up a ladder so this is now available. I have made a bit of a Blue Peter affair, but I think it does the trick for now - if anyone can think of a better way of doing it then please let me know. It is for singles only and you simply challenge the person above you and if you win you change places with them - so chaps, get challenging! (best of 3 sets - 3rd one championship tie break to 10)
Hitting Coach - some of you may remember Adam Chan, who worked with me last summer. Adam is a young very talented tennis player who won a scholarship to collegiate tennis in the US. He played at a National level with a career high of 12 in England when he was 16, just a few years ago. He is working with me again from next week and would be very happy to give some hitting sessions for £15 an hour. These sessions will not be coaching, just hitting and letting you try out some of the techniques you learn in your squads and 121 training. The days that work for him, mainly at the moment, are Monday, Wednesday and Friday - just because they are the days that he will be working for me and as he lives in Uxbridge, he would like to concertina his time. Therefore I am going to ask you in the first instants to contact me to set up your hitting and then you can exchange numbers with him and sort things out between you.
Open Day - The LTA are running something called the Great British Tennis Weekend and we are holding one such afternoon on 18th June from 3.00 - 6.00 -if you know anyone thinking of joining a club or taking up or returning to tennis get them to sign up to this day - here is the link - they need to register to come - its FREE https://clubspark.lta.org.uk/OpenDays/TheAvenueLTC2/067df156-6b49-4900-8b39-3f7960f27d68
The next Mix & Match is Sunday 19th June 2.40 - 5.00 - if you have not signed up, there are still 4 places - have a look on the notice board.
Also if you are thinking about holiday camps for your children, we are running one at half term 31st May - 3rd June - book here http://www.avenuetennisclub.co.uk/camp_bookings.html Plus a two day Shavout camp on 9th and 10th June. You need to book quickly for both.
Best wishes
Sally
News Letter 1st January 2016
Dear Members,
There is a lot of information here, so if you do not have time to read it now, print it and read on the train! – but don’t ignore it!
I hope that you have all been playing during the holidays, but if you haven’t and you are raring to get back on court, you have no excuses now; everything is back to normal from THIS weekend!
From Saturday 2nd January
Saturday – social – 3.00 – 5.00 – just turn up and mix in
Sunday – drop in 10.30 – 12.00 – adult group coaching
Sunday – social – 2.00 – 4.00 – just turn up and mix in
Monday – drop in 7.30 – 9.00 in the evening – adult group coaching
Wednesday – NEW drop in – 1.30 – 3.00 early afternoon – adult group
coaching
Thursday – NEW Men’s Team Training – 7.30 – 9.00 (only 8 places, 7 are
booked, just one remaining)
Friday – drop in 9.30 – 11.00 – adult group coaching
Junior coaching programme restarts on Monday 11th January and runs for 10 weeks (Monday to Thursday) and 9 weeks (Fri – Sun) Due to Easter
However the Saturdays squads 10 o’clock, 11 o’clock and 12 o’clock all have a ‘make up day on Saturday 9th January
Easter Camps
I will run camps this Easter and will operate the ‘bring a
friend for free’ offer, however which weeks I will do is still in the
lap of the Gods! The Catholic schools are on holiday from 18th March,
the Barnet schools from 1st April and the Jewish schools from 22nd April
– and there may be more connotations in there too! So I think I will
probably do the weeks commencing 4th April, 11th April and 25th April –
if anyone would like something else, just let me know and I will do my
best to accommodate. I will post these on the website next week for
bookings as many of you have already asked me – sorry for my tardiness!
Sunday 10th January – I will be running a Tennis Leaders Course
This is for all those teenagers who are 14 and over. It is a 5
hour course which acts as a precursor to the LTA Level 1 Assistant
Coaches course which can only be taken at 16. The LTA introduced the
Tennis Leaders course as a way of keeping teenagers engaged in the
game. It is indeed a great thing for them to do. Some use it for Duke
of Edinburgh, and it is great for their CV and pocket money – the latter
seemingly holding the most attraction! They have to do the 5 hour
course followed by 6 hours on court practice/experience with a coach.
The hours are supposed to be free (But I ‘cover their expenses’). The
cost for the course is £35. It will be from 10.30 – 3.30. (They need to
bring their lunch!) Part of it is classroom style and part of it is on
court. They will learn how to organize warm ups, assist the coach in
rotation, feed different balls for different drills, and run and score
in competitions of all ages. It is a fun 5 hours, promise! Let me know
if you have anyone who would like to join this one. I know that we have
lots of 13 year olds who are going to turn 14 in the summer next year
and so I will run another one before the end of the summer term. To
register I need your child’s British Tennis Membership number and their
DOB, and T shirt size – small, med or large – I will get more
measurements on that shortly – they get a book, certificate and T shirt
from the LTA – wow isn’t this just getting better!
Going into the New Year, if you know anyone that is thinking of joining a club, The new Chandos on East End Road is £575 a year – The Avenue on the other hand is £60!! (Until April 2016, and a fraction of that for the whole year!) I will attach the reduced subscriptions for all of the subscription categories. The 2016/17 subscriptions will be announced in February and you will renew your membership next year ONLY via the website using the LTA Clubspark system – This will mean that you can only pay by credit or debit card – there will be no option for credit transfer, cash or cheques. I will be putting this system onto the website in January with the reduced subscriptions, so that we can give it a trial run, but this is how everyone will now pay their subs.
The Wimbledon Ballot
We will be holding the club’s ballot on May 8th 2016 at 5pm in
the clubhouse. Things you have to do:
1. Opt in on line or call the LTA 0208 487 7000 and give them your name and DOB and they will do it for you.
2. If you do not know your British Tennis Membership number, ask me and I will give it to you, you will need it to enter the draw.
3. Have paid your subs for 2016 by 1st April
At the moment 86% of our members have ‘opted in’ – you have to do this NOW – tomorrow – 31st December is the deadline !!! It is only to all members 9 years and over at the end of February 2016.
Ladies days
I have been asked to run two afternoons for the ladies to have
some match warm up practice before their evening training begins. The
two dates are Saturday 27th February and Saturday 5th March from 2.30 –
4.30. Apologies that it is on two Saturdays, but for a myriad of
reasons these were the only two afternoons that we could use. (They are
both on the club website calendar) – please look at the calendar on the
website; I do keep it up dated weekly. There will be a sign-up sheet on
the notice board next week. If the men would like to do the same,
please let me know and I will arrange the same for you. Would you
prefer Saturday or Sunday? You only have to say and you can consider it
done!
The men’s Team Training
Is starting another 6 week programme next week starting on
Thursday 7th January – there are 7 men signed up and therefore one place
remains. Please let me know if you are interested, there is a cost of
£48. If you would like to go on the reserve list and just do a couple,
there are always people having to cancel and therefore you are likely to
get last minute chances – so do let me know that as well.
The Ladies Team Training
Will restart after half term (Tuesday 23rd Feb) on Tuesdays and
Wednesdays from 7.30 – 9.00 again only 8 places available on each
evening so I will talk to you all about that in January – my plan is to
have 1st Team Training on Tuesdays and 2nd Team Training on Wednesdays –
if you don’t know in which squad you sit, please ask. We will
definitely do 5 weeks this term, maybe 6 depending on who is away or
not. In the meantime, I will redo the Ladies SLAMS and send you the
details tomorrow or Friday with your new partners and opposition to play
in January – Then I will do one more round in February. If you didn’t
play in the last round and would like to, please let me know – it is not
too late to add you into the January round.
Court Usage – January 2016
You will see that social time on Sundays is now 2.00 – 4.00 and
there is NO coaching during this time. Saturdays is 3.00 – 5.00 and
likewise there is no coaching in this time.
Tokens for lights
These are £5 for an hour – I suggest that you buy 4 at a time
and keep them in your tennis bag. You can buy them from me, Debbie
Gispan and Benedicte Forde. They both live very near the club and are
always around. (and copied into this email) But as you know I am there
every day and can sell them anytime. I am coaching this Saturday and
have a space at 12 – 1 if anyone wants a 121 lesson – just let me know,
as I have a space.
I think that is all for now.
Get that kit out and get on court – the days are already getting longer!
Best wishes
Sally
News Letter 14th December 2015
Dear Members,
During December I have been working on the court usage so that there are more playing opportunities and social playing times for the members. Things that I have added to or changed are:
1. Wednesday Adult drop in 1.30 – 3.00 – this starts on Wednesday 6th January.
2. Sunday – I have changed the timing of the junior coaching programme to accommodate an earlier social play time – 2.00 – 4.00 affording members 2 hours of play before the lights are required on ALL three courts. (Saturday will remain the same) but during BST and from the first day of BST (Sunday 27th March) BOTH weekend social play times will be 3.00 – 6.00 – again on ALL three courts.
However I urge you to look at the website calendar which I update weekly with any activities, such as:
1. Junior matches which usually happen on Sunday afternoons.
2. Adult matches – home matches are usually always on Wednesdays from 6.30 – occasionally these may happen on other nights to accommodate other clubs, but my ‘rule’ is home matches on Wednesdays so that you, the members, know what to expect most weeks.
3. The hiring of the clubhouse – these are mainly children’s parties which render us £100 a time and since we need circa £3 - £5K p.a. to run the club, these little events are vital to us. I also use these events as a way to market the club to other local families to grow our membership.
Here is a link to the club calendar http://www.avenuetennisclub.co.uk/calendar.html I update it as soon as I know about events.
In January the men’s training will restart on Thursday 7th January from 7.30 – 9.00. Because the lights will be needed at this time, the numbers are restricted to 8. I have had enquiries from 10 members for this so it will be first come first served. The dates are:
January 7th, 14th, 21st, 18th,
February 4th, 10th,
My plan is to get in 6 weeks before half term – if one week is rained off, it will be on Thursday 18th February (notification of this wil be on the weather status on the website within the hour before the lesson is due to begin)
The
cost for this course is £48
Ollie and Marcus are the coaches.
The only way to book is to pay £48 up front. If you cannot make one week, you can ‘sell’ your week to someone else on the waiting list!
Please let me know if there is anything else with which I can assist.
In the meantime, please remember that Pedro is still looking for Guinea Pigs for his assessment lessons and has spaces in all the groups on Saturday and Sunday 2nd and 3rd January.
All for
now – Happy Christmas everyone
Best wishes
Sally
News Letter 6th December 2015
Happy Seasonal Greetings everyone.
I always say that I will not discuss Christmas until December, and we’ve arrived, so here is what is happening over the next month:
1. Monday 7th December there will be no evening drop in as I am taking my team out for dinner – we may be on the bubbly as Ken is in the final of a National Tournament today in Brighton – I will let you know how he does.
2. Friday 11th December is the last Friday drop-in 9.30 – 11.00 followed by Cappuccino and Minced Pies! I am running a parental inter schools fun tournament – St Theresa’s vs St Mary’s vs Akiva – don’t worry if you don’t have a child at one of those schools, you can sub for the school that has the least representation! Just let me know if you are planning to come so that I know how many minced pies to buy (there will be a veggie option too!)
3. Sunday 14th December is the last official day of the junior coaching programme for this term. However there are 3 make up days:
1. Saturday 19th December – all ages groups from 9 - 1
2. Saturday 9th January – all age groups from 10 - 1
3. Thursday 17th December – 4 – 5 and 5 – 6. There will be no fitness on this day so the Under 12 match play session will finish at 6
4. On Monday 21st December I am running a teenage fun competition day for all our teens – see attached – my plan is to set up a regular teenage session monthly to get these kids on court more! If you are with me on this, please sign them up for the 21st 11 – 1 or 1 – 3 depending on numbers, but am hoping that it will be a day that they will play pool and table tennis in between matches (so far I don’t have many of the older age groups signing up, so I may change the time for everyone from 12 – 3, so do please let me know for sure if your teenager is joining us – they need to sign up on the junior notice board with their DOB.
5. The Spring Junior Programme restarts on Monday 11th January and will run for 10 weeks on M – T and 9 weeks on F – S – This is due to Easter.
6. The Spring Adult Programme restarts early in January and I will give you exact information later, but the men’s team training will definitely restart on Thursday 14th January.
7. And lastly and completely unrelated to all of the above – The Wimbledon Ballot! 40% of you have not signed up. You need to ‘opt in’ with the LTA 0208 487 7000 with your name and DOB to have any chance of going into our club Wimbledon Ballot in March 2016. You MUST ‘opt in’; BEFORE 31st December. JUST DO IT! If you are unsure as you whether you have done it or not, ask me as I can find out easily! But it is one phone call and you only need to know your DOB!
Happy Holidays
Sally
News Letter 30th September 2015
Dear Members
Quiz Night
Firstly we seem to have chosen a bad weekend for the quiz night as so
many of you that wanted to come seem to be away………….so it is postponed
until the Spring, I will give you another date soon.
Wimbledon Ballot – VERY IMPORTANT INFORMATION
We have been contacted by the LTA to ask our members to start the ‘opt
in’ system for the Wimbledon tickets. We have also been notified that
some juniors who won tickets in the ballot did not attend the
Championships. Tickets for the ballot are won on the basis that the
named winner attends. They can take a non-member and this guest can
also be a non-British Tennis Member, but juniors, for example cannot
give their tickets to their parents. If juniors cannot be taken out of
school to attend in their own right with a parent, then that family must
return the tickets to the club for a re-draw. The LTA take this issue
very seriously and it is our responsibility to adhere to the rules.
Non-compliance will mean that the club will lose its allocation next
year and for the following 2 years.
So although it might seem a tad early but, as of now, it's possible to opt in to the 2016 Wimbledon Ticket ballot. As a result of the number of us that opted in last season we got the highest number of pairs of tickets allocated to the club: We have never had so many tickets as we did in 2015. Opting in is needed to participate in the ballot, so please opt in now and you won't have to think about this again. Either login to the LTA website and opt in from there or else call British Tennis on 020 8487 7000. If you phone, you can get all your family members who will be 9 or over by next April opted in as well. It would be best to have your BT number(s) to hand.
Juniors under 14
We just want to remind everyone that Juniors Under 14 are not allowed at
the club unsupervised. We are just not insured for this. It is
difficult for me and my coaches to tell juniors that that cannot play,
but we are under instructions from the committee to do so. Therefore
may I request that you do not send your children to play at the club if
you cannot be with them.
Men’s Day
There are 9 players booked 10th October – 2.30- 4.30 – Pedro will run
the afternoon and you will play lots of matches – 3 places remaining!
–Sign up or email me today.
Ladies day
There are also 9 players booked 17th October – 2.30 – 4.30 – I will run
the afternoon and you will play lots of matches – 3 places remaining! –
Sign up or email me today.
Serve Clinics
Sunday 18th October 3 – 4 and 14th November 2.30 – 3.30 – Just turn up –
cost £5 for an hour of pure serving tuition! Then stay and play with
each other.
Social Drop in times
Just to remind everyone that the social drop in times on Saturday and
Sunday afternoons from 3pm – 5pm are for you to turn up, mix in and play
with whoever else turns up. Juniors can join these sessions if they are
full court players of a good standard – please ask me before turning up
– Adults have priority at both of these times. Also there is no coaching
during these two hours, so if you risk having a lesson during these
times and a member wants the court, you will have to terminate your
lesson. The coaches will not be booking lessons during these times from
now on.
Floodlight Tokens
They are £5 each and you can buy them from me, Benedicte and Debbie
Gispan who lives on Lichfield Grove, number 76 - it is on the corner of
Sylvan and she is happy for you to knock on the door for tokens. I
generally advise members to buy 4 at a time.
Best wishes,
Sally
News Letter 10th September 2015
Dear Members
This Sunday 13th September 3pm – we have our very own US Open final! The Gans verses the rest of the world!
Ollie and Marcus are taking on Ken and Pedro in an exhibition set of doubles. It will be a great opportunity for you see how it is really done. Ollie and Marcus got to the final of a national tournament two weekends ago – they are playing very well and this is an opportunity to see them for free!! (one day you will probably have to pay!) Ken also is having some great results on the same circuit playing in the singles and Pedro’s pedigree goes back to his championship days in Portugal as a teenager. So it will be QUALITY all round on Sunday!
As it is UP Open finals day and we are very hopefully of having a Brit final I thought it would be good to make a bit of a party of the event. All the children too young to want to watch the boys battle it out, will be entertained on the junior court by one or two of my team and there will be prizes for everything! I have pens, key rings, little medals, teddy bears, colourful grips and all sorts so need lots of little recipients!! Bring them no matter how young, we will entertain them!
I am also asking people to bring cakes for us to sell in The Avenue Café – the café turned into a tuck shop during the summer camps so there are lots more goodies on offer now.
After the match I will be doing the draw for the free lesson in exchange for the plants donated to the club this summer. If you have not told me that you brought a plant, tell me NOW or your name will not be in the hat! Also it is not too late, to bring something evergreen to climb over one of our bare walls – please donate now!
October Activities - Two dates for your diary
10th October – Gentlemen’s day – 2.00pm – 4.30pm – Fun
mix in tournament – suitable for all men and full court playing teens.
17th October – Ladies day - Fun mix in tournament –
suitable for all ladies and full court playing teens.
Teens should check with me first that they strong enough for this – it is really an adult event, but strong full court teens will be permitted!
Please put this in your diary, sign up on the notice board so that I can get an idea or how many people are attending and what sort of tournament I should run.
Happy Hitting!
Sally
News Letter 24th August 2015
Dear Members
I know that people have been away and so I am sending you a few updates in no particular order!
Summer BBQ & Finals
Firstly here is a somewhat belated link to the news about our
BBQ and finals day on 5th July –
there are many more photos in the gallery.
Adult Drop ins
Due to coaches holidays we are not able to run the Monday drop in again
until 7th September when Pedro will be back and the session will restart
– 7.30 – 9.00 – only £7 (This will go up to £8 as soon as we start to
use the lights) The day time drop ins will return on Tuesday 8th
September. Here I have some news!
The timing of the Tuesday drop in is changing to 10.00 – 11.30 – it will
also cost £7 and £12 for non-members. However I am sponsoring a FREE
session to any one NEW to club – no coaching fee and no guest fee for
their first visit. So if you know anyone that would like this, please
give them this information – I will be printing some leaflets this week,
if you have a school/shop/library/synagogue/church who would be happy to
display some please let me know and I will get some to you.
THIS OFFER IS ONLY FOR TUESDAYS 10.00 – 11.30 AND ONLY FOR THEIR FIRST
VISIT.
The regular Friday drop in will reconvene on Friday 11th September 9.30 -11.00
And remember if a drop in is cancelled there will be a message on this website, just click the green umbrella to the left.
Members list
There is a new members list, please contact me for a copy.
Things to look forward to!
Sunday 13th September at 3pm
Four of my wonderful coaches are going to put on an exhibition match to
show us how to play doubles! Marcus and Ollie will take on Pedro and
Ken in a one set match. The exchange partners for another! Bring the
children. The Avenue Café will be open and we will be selling a wide
variety of cakes, teas and coffee, probably followed later on by a beer
and a glass of wine! (so bring your wallet)
Saturday 3rd October
The committee will be running a family quiz night from 6.00 ish so that
all the children can attend. We will be serving food and running a
small bar. Lisa and Steve are kindly doing the questions and the
evening promises to be fun! We will be asking members for donations of
puddings – so put that in your diary! Tickets will be on sale for this
in September.
7th November at 6.30
We will be holding the, now, annual fireworks evening. This was a huge
success last year. A great one for all the family with supper served
too. Tickets for this will be on sale in October.
Court usage
Please see the new
court usage schedule that shows the court usage from September.
Adult Team Training
This starts on Tuesday 8th and Wednesday 9th September for the ladies
and Thursday 10th for the chaps. There are only 8 places for each
evening. I have one space on Wednesdays available for the ladies and 3
places on Thursdays for the men. Even if you are new you may like to
join the men’s training – we need more men! This winter we are running
2 ladies teams and 1 men’s. I will get the fixtures in September and
the home matches will be on Wednesdays starting from October. More on
this nearer the time.
Guest Fees
May I remind everyone that you are welcome to bring guests to play at
the club – but there are a few rules!
They MUST sign the visitors book and pay £5 – this applies to all players adult and juniors – the only guests who pay £2 are the under 10s. If a junior is using a full court, they pay a full guest fee. It is an honesty system – you write in the book – put your money in the money box – new white one in kitchen.
Guests are not allowed to play more than 4 times – after that we expect them to join.
Subscriptions
We have reduced the subscriptions now as we are half way through the
year – please see the Membership
Subscriptions page for full details, £150 for full membership until
April 2016 – a very good deal – tell your friends.
I look forward to seeing you all on court soon. This week is the last our summer holiday camps but if it isn’t raining the courts are free from 3pm so do come and play. If you have a child booked onto the Autumn Term and have not paid yet, you will lose the place if it is not paid by the end of this week. I have a waiting list for several of the squads and will release the places this weekend BEFORE I go away on 1st September! Don’t say I didn’t warn you!
Best wishes,
Sally.
News Letter 10th May 2015
Dear Members
Welcome to the Avenue Tennis Club, whether you are a new or re-joining member, welcome to the club.
Lots of exciting things happening at the club this year, starting with the Annual Club Championships, there are several categories and there is something for everyone from Under 8 singles to adult mixed doubles. Please sign up yourself and your children in the next 2 to 3 days so that I can put up the draws and you can start playing. The Adult competition is knock out, so runs just like Wimbledon (naturally I’m hoping for similar standard of play too – especially if you are coached by me or one of my ‘boys’!) The junior competitions will probably have 2 rounds – a round robin and knockout but I cannot make that decision until I see the numbers, so please sign up asap – if you are not at the club in the next few days, just email me and I will add your name or your child to the appropriate draw. If you are in any doubt about which age group to play your child, please just ask. Usually it goes by the colour of the ball – Red Under 8 – Orange Under 9 – Green Under 10, then there is a yellow Under 12 and a teenage for all the rest of the teens.
This tournament culminates in a finals day event with a BBQ – this is on Sunday 5th July from 1pm – all the family is welcome irrespective of their membership status, and we will be selling tickets in advance with a family ‘deal’. We always cook vegetarian and if requested we will have a Kosher BBQ too. I hope that you will all put this date in your diary now.
There is a new court usage programme for the summer that starts in June. The ONLY difference being that the Monday adult drop in sessions returns on 1st June from 7.30 – 9.00. This will be with Pedro.
If you are the parent of a junior member, we warmly invite you to come and play with your child. However guests are only allowed to play 4 times before we would expect them to become a member. There are two things that the Club Committee insist upon and that is that you play in tennis shoes (ie flat soled shoes, not chunky trainers as this is bad for our new court surface) and that you sign the guest book and pay £5 guest fee (£2 for children). We run an honesty system, there is a money box in the kitchen in the shape of a pound painted with a union jack – just put your money in there. If you do not have change just write in the visitors book IOU and give it to me, one of the coaches or a committee member when you see us.
I have left a hoppa on wheels in the clubhouse with some old junior balls – so if you come to play and do not have junior balls, please feel free to use these – however you must return them to the hoppa after use. Adults you need to buy your own balls – sports direct - £3.99 a tube!
Also the kitchen is well equipped with tea and coffee – again help yourself and pop a small donation in the money box – there is a list of the prices but it is something like 50p for tea. This just covers the cost of buying it and keeping soap and loo rolls in the loos! On Saturday morning, Benedicte runs a small café with other snacks and drinks.
After Tuesday I will send you a full and updated list of all the members their mobiles and emails so that you can arrange matches and social play.
One last thing – It is that time of year where I am looking for bedding plants to keep the club looking pretty – much thanks must go to one of our ladies Helen, who looks after the plants and the garden which is looking lovely. However the winter pansies will go soon and we want to replace with bedding plants and more shrubs. So if you bring a tray of plants or a bag of peat free soil or a tub, I will put your name in a hat and you go into a raffle for a free lesson with Ollie or Marcus or I will give you a free summer tennis camp – so for a tray of petunia’s you could get a camp worth £135! Or an hour on court with one of my lovely twins – so for every tray you bring, your name goes in the hat – 5 trays = 5 chances! We badly need soil and BIG pots – they don’t have to be fancy, just big so that we can plant some bigger shrubs this summer. I have bought a lovely outside two way clock to put on the clubhouse wall, but I need a volunteer to put it up – my usual handyman is away for 10 days and I really want to get it out there as soon as possible. So any volunteers? I think it is all about raw plugs and a drill!
All for now, happy hitting – and for those Murray/Nadal fans – they are playing in the Madrid final tonight at 6!! I have an under 12 match starting at 3, so to my Under 12 team - boys you’ve got to play fast – I want to be home for 6!!
Sally
News Letter 18th September 2014
Dear Members
Lots of news and information so in no particular order!
New Members
I would like to give a very warm welcome to the Gispan family (Kfir and Debbie and their three children) returning from Nigeria and live on Litchfield. Also The Alexander family (Erik and Adriene and their three children) also living on Lichfield. Also Sal Shapiro and Mateus Mario (parents of existing junior Jack Florea), and three new juniors, Alexander, Dominik and Rosie, and Christina (new lady – welcome – must get you in the Team!), and the Bryden family, Natacha and Ian and their two daughters Juliette and Emilie.
And last but by no means least Michael Cohen – another Lichfield resident! They are taking over! On behalf of the committee, we would like to welcome you to the club – I will be attaching a list of the adult and Teens members to this email, so I hope that other members will be in touch and get you all involved – Read on – Saturdays at 3 especially – this is for you!
Winter Teams
We have entered 3 Teams in the Middlesex leagues; Ladies, Men’s and Mixed – The captains for the winter are Lisa Butterworth lbutterworth@uk.imshealth.com Jonathan Summers jonathanmsummers@hotmail.com and Heather and Bernard Gross for the Mixed bgross@winstongross.co.uk hmgross54@hotmail.com .
There are only 4 players needed in the winter league matches, but you still play 4 sets. They start in Early October and go through to October – there are only about 6 matches per team and 3 in each are home matches – all home matches will be played on Wednesdays, though there are two afternoon weekend matches at Mercury as they don’t have lights.
The winter league is all about fun and keeping your eye in for the tough stuff in the summer. The fixtures will be published this week and I will be working closely with our new captains to get you all involved. But in the first instance, if you are not already embroiled in team play and would like to be, please let me know.
Team Training
The ladies have got off to a good start and the group is fully booked – however occasionally someone is ill or unavailable for various reasons, so if you would like to be on the reserve list when this happens – please let me know – the session is from 7pm – 9pm and the lights are fab!
If you come just for a one off it costs £11 – that includes the lights. Those who have booked the course in advance, got a much much lower rate including one free session – so get in early next time.
The men’s programme has been slower to get going – there are only 4 players booked – and there are 8 places, so if you want to come to a one off please let me know, and you can pay Marcus £11 on the day. Then ladies if you want to come on a Thursday if you miss a Tuesday you can for no charge; if you want to come in addition, it will only be £7 as you have already made one commitment.
Social Saturdays
Where have they gone? In an effort to re-invigorate this social play session and to welcome all our new members, the coaches and I will be there this weekend and next weekend to give you a little encouragement! And make up the numbers if needed. So if you fancy a social hit and a couple of sets on Saturday afternoon, come along on Saturday at 3pm.
Social Sunday
Then on Sunday 27th we are going to have a little ‘tennis and tea’ session again from 3 – and there may be some ‘left over’ matches from the summer tournament being played too – so maybe we can drift into celebratory tea and a few ‘pics and cheers’ as the sun gets over the yard arm!! Put that one in your diary!
Floodlight Tokens
They cost £5 an hour and we are selling them at £20 for 4. No point in messing around with £5 here and there. You can buy them from any of the coaches, me, Patricia, Richard or Jonathan. Remember that they go off at 9 in the week and 8 on Saturday and Sundays. If you put in a token at 8.15 you will only get 45mins as there is an over-ride system and the lights will turn off automatically 5 minutes after you see a flashing light to give you time to collect your balls before you are thrown into darkness.
Leaving the club at night
Unfortunately we had an unwelcome visitor to the club after 9pm on Monday evening when Patricia had been left locking up alone. The guy was very threatening and made her feel most unsafe. She manoeuvred herself out of the building in safety, but she should not have been left alone to lock up. Can I ask that we leave the club in twos. The coaches will always stay if no-one else is around, but please don’t leave someone alone. It is a very dark space.
Court Usage
A new programme is now on the notice board and here on this website. Court Time Table
Adult Drop-ins
There are lots of these during the week, during the day and evenings. It is the best way to meet other players and improve your game with coaching - for only £7 (£5 on Tuesdays as that session is only 1 hour, all the rest are an hour and a half). No need to book, just turn up!
Cancelled Adult coaching
Just like the junior programme, If a lesson is to be cancelled due to rain, there will be a notice on the website on the home page under weather status. No message means the lesson is ON!
I know that was rather long – but all needed to be said!
Guys – Team training tonight at 7 – if you haven’t been before, come along tonight – Marcus is back!
Hope to see lots of you on Saturday at 3pm – bring your children, they can play on the junior court!
And don’t forget drop in tomorrow morning 9.30 – 11 – all welcome.
Happy Hitting!
Sally
News Letter 26th May 2014
Dear Members
Just had a couple of new members join - please welcome Oz Myerson (15yrs) great player - call him for a game! Emma Hazen - has new baby - just getting back into tennis - lovely player - get her on court before she goes back to work after her maternity leave!!
Remember its not long now until the summer junior tennis camps start, only £135 for the whole week of coaching for members. That is ONLY £5.40 an hour - small groups, same term time coaches - book now on line on this website.
Also remember that Cardio still has a few weeks to run - ALL FREE for everyone now whether you have been before or not - just come and play - bring friends - no fee, no guest fee!! 7.15 - 8.15 on the next 3 Thursdays. Remember if it is raining I will put a message on the website - home page under the Weather Status umbrella.
Also I have only had plants donated by 5 people and I have two free 121s up for grabs........... so bring your tray of bedding plants and tell me and I will put your name in the hat - bring 5 trays, get 5 chances to win the lesson!!
All for now,
Sally
News Letter 14th May 2014
Dear Members
The sun is shinning and hopefully the summer is on its way. If you are planning to play this weekend, please bear with us - the new junior court is nearly complete and all the builders debris will be gone in just over a week. There is a men's team match at the club tonight so all 3 courts will be in use from 6pm. However, tomorrow the free cardio session will definitely be on as the forecast is fine, dry and sunny - so come along, bring family, teenagers, anyone who would like a free aerobic tennis workout. If you have never been before, it is FREE for you - if you have been before, it is only £5, and guest fees are waived.
Flowers at The Avenue
This time last year we had a very successful appeal for members to donate a tray of bedding plants or a plant for a tub or hanging basket. This year I am doing revisiting this but with a raffle included. This is how it will work. If you bring a plant to the club, tell me and I will put your name in a hat. If you bring 3 plants to the club, I will put your name in 3 times. Once we have a good selection of plants, I will pull two names out of the hat and those two people will have a FREE lesson with Marcus or Ollie. The boys have kindly offered to do this to help my flower appeal. So when you are buying your bedding plants this year, just pop another tray in your basket and bring to the club, generally these are around £3.99, so it wont break the bank!
Balls
May I just politely remind members that I do not supply the club with balls. Match balls are put into a draw in the kitchen after matches and you are welcome to use them as long as you return them for everyone to use. There is always a couple of boxes of balls in the clubhouse - one full of my old coaching balls and one I call 'dog' balls - please feel free to use/take both. However I have discarded these balls from the coaching programme for a reason; it is not advised to play with old balls as it can cause tennis elbow. Therefore I recommend buying a tube and keeping them in your tennis bag. At Sports Direct a tube costs £3.99. However if you do not want to go there - and lets face it, no-one goes there unless they absolutely have to! You can buy a tube from me for £5.
Club Annual Tournament
The sign up sheets are all on the notice boards; they will be there for two weeks ONLY - get your name up today - Men's team - I shall expect to see your names up there tomorrow! The draws will be on the notice board at the end of May to allow 6 weeks for matches to be played; finals day is Sunday 13th July - when we will also be holding the summer BBQ.
Match Fees
I would just like to remind everyone that if you play in a match for the club, home AND away you have to play a £7 match fee, irrespective of whether you stay for the match supper. It would be appreciated if you give the £7 to your captain, Benedicte or Jonathan on arrival at the club. There are no exceptions for not paying this, and that includes juniors - if they play for the team they pay the match fee.
Looking after the clubhouse
In spite of my efforts to educate everyone on this subject, I still find myself constantly tidying and cleaning up the pavilion - we have a dish washer in the kitchen - please use it. When you have played table tennis please do not leave the balls and bats all over the floor - the same goes for the pool table - already one ball has been lost. When you leave the table please put ALL the balls back in the box.
Blue Avenue Hoodies
I now have a stock of these in Adult and Junior sizes - Adults are £22, Juniors are £15 - I think everyone should have one! - Especially team players - so if you have been waiting for one I will have them at the club from today.
Website
Can I urge everyone to have a look at the site and tell me if you think that there is anything missing - I try to keep it as current as possible - last weekend's junior match reports will be up tomorrow. But if there is anything that you think we need on there just let me know.
Keys
If anyone needs a set of keys, I have some - you just have to pay a £15 deposit.
Juniors playing without Adults
If your junior wants to play at the club without parental guidance, they must have a junior induction with me or the Child Protection Officer Jonathan Summers first. (This applies to 14 and 15yr olds - no one under 14 is allowed to be at the club unaccompanied) Please see Junior Induction Policy attached - This is also on the club notice notice board.
Sunday 10.30 - 11.30
Drop in Adults Coaching and social play afterwards - don't forget!
Well that was a much longer newsletter than I had intended - sorry - hope you got to here without too much skimming - there is lots of useful and important information here!
Best wishes,
Sally
News Letter 2nd May 2014
Weekend Reminders:
Saturday 3pm - social play - just turn up.
Sunday 10.30 - 11.30 - drop in adult coaching - no matter your standard please come along - Ollie is on duty this weekend - so come and keep him company!!
Sunday 3pm - 5pm - family 'beginning of season' fun doubles comp - again all standards welcome and full court playing juniors (There will be a small bar open at 5pm to toast the new lights! (Very reasonable contribution for all drinks - beer wine and soft drinks)
Sunday 5pm - Wimbledon Draw - let me remind you of the rules:
1 You have to be at the club to be in the draw
2. You have to be a member - some parents of juniors have put their names on the list - you cannot enter unless you are an Avenue member and a British Tennis Member
3. Juniors must have been 9 years old on the 1st Feb this year - again there are some under 8 names on the list - they cannot enter
4. One one pair of tickets can be one by one family. So if your name comes out of the hat and you want the tickets the rest of your family are out of the draw
5. You will then pay for your tickets directly and if you do not claim them we will give them to the first person on the waiting list. We will draw 3 more names for the waiting list.
We have 7 pairs of tickets.
See you all over the weekend,
Sally
News Letter 27th April 2014
Dear Members - we are officially floodlit!
Courts one and two have been floodlit and we hope that you will make use of them shortly. The tokens cost £5 and can be purchased in the first instance from me. They last for one hour and the meters are behind the kitchen wall where the tall fridge stands.
When your token is about to run out you will see a flashing light on the court, you have a few minutes to feed the metre. When the lights go out there is a small light on the court that will come into operation immediately allowing for time to find balls and belongings.
Please note that the lights can only be used until 8pm at weekends and 9pm during the week. Please also note that when they go out, they take 15 minutes to warm up and relight the court, so you need to make sure that you watch out for the green or red flashing lights.
The first official use of the courts will be Monday 7.00 - 8.30 for doubles training, so why not put that in your diary and be part of history!
In order to network the members of the club, I am going to send out on Monday a list of the names of the Adult members with their mobiles and email addresses. If you do not wish for your details to be distributed in this way please contact me and let me know BEFORE Monday. I hope that everyone will agree and you will all start playing tennis with new members.
See you on court,
Sally
News Letter 1st April 2014
Good Morning Everyone.
Today is the 1st April and what I am going to tell you is not a joke! We have just been awarded £50,000 funding from the Lord Mayor's Fund to build the junior zone which will be an Under 10s court to the side of the clubhouse.
This work will start on 21st April, the week after the lights are installed. By the end of May we will be completed by the addition of an outside table tennis table. So if you have not rejoined, there has never been a better time. Also do it today and go into the Club's ballot for a pair of Wimbledon tickets!
ADULT COACHING AND SOCIAL PROGRAMME - Starts NEXT weekend.
Saturday 5th April - 3pm - 5pm - New social drop in sessions begin. Just turn up at 3 and be guaranteed a game and to meet other members Sunday 6th April - 10.30 - 11.30 - New drop in adult coaching begins - £5 for members, bring friends for £10......... Followed by Social play from 11.30 - 1.30
Monday evening drop in coaching from 7.00 - 8.30, Tuesday evening club social play from 7.00 - 9.00 and Wednesday Team Practice from 6.30 - 9.00 ALL start after 14th April - I will give you further details in a week or two.
Also following the success of the Serve Clinic, we have decided to run this one weekend a month. So there will be a Saturday and a Sunday clinic once a month - I will confirm the dates shortly.
Please see the court usage timetable - print it and put in your tennis bag so that you know what is going on when.
See you on court soon.
Kind regards,
Sally
News Letter March 2014
Dear Members and potential new members
We have lots of exciting news to share and look forward to you all renewing your membership this month so that you can enjoy the new facilities. I will try and make this newsletter brief by giving you all the relevant attachments - all these attachments will be on the notice board this week - on the website next week (latest) and in a file on the table in the clubhouse for your to read but please leave it there for others.
Floodlights
The power has been installed and the actual lights and standards will arrive in the next ten days - so we should be alight by the end of April!
Junior Zone
We have been awarded £50,000 from the Lord Mayors Fund to build this new court and the work will start this month for completion by the autumn - more detail next month.
Subscriptions for 2014/15
We have made very small adjustments to the subscriptions for next year - with minimal increases for adults and DECREASES for Juniors - The LTA encourage us to make tennis accessible for all juniors so we are encouraging all the juniors on the coaching programme to become members this year instead of paying the guest fee every term. We are a members club and we want to encourage all users of the club to be a part of it. Please pay your subscriptions by bank transfer to The Avenue Tennis Club 60-08-20 37483218 referencing the payment with your name and 'Membership 2014'
Matches
Jonathan Hart is the mens captain -
jonathan@avenuetennisclub.co.uk
Benedicte Forde is the ladies captain -
benedicteforde@gmail.com
Please contact them if you would like to play in the teams
New Serve Clinic
This is a brand new session that I am setting up - just 4 hours of serve coaching - Ollie and Marcus will be running the session at the 4 following times - just turn up!
Sat 15th March - 3.30 to 4.30
Sun 16th March - 11.30 to 12.30
Sat 22nd March - 3.30 to 4.30
Sun 23rd March - 11.30 to 12.30
The sessions will all cost ONLY £5 for two coaches to sort out your serve - I am recommended that those wishing to play in the teams this season come to ALL sessions. The serve is THE most important part of the tennis game. Please come - I guarantee that you will have fun with the boys and then you can stay and play afterwards. However do not expect to play within this coaching hour - it is ONLY for serve coaching and at the moment these are the ONLY four sessions that we are doing pre-season this year. (not all courts will be used so please don’t let this stop you playing on the other courts.
Calendar of Events – see calendar page
Junior Summer Term Programme
The programme was nearly full this term so there will not be many spaces in the summer term, please book/confirm with me asap if you want your child's place – Junior page on website.
Summer Holiday Tennis Camps
Note that there is a 'bring a friend for free' week in August - book early - this week was oversubscribed last year with a waiting list – Camp page on website - note that the 'friend' MUST be new to the Avenue Tennis Club.
Passover/Easter Camp – See camp page on website
Guest Fee Reminder
If you wish to bring a friend please sign the visitors book (in the kitchen) and put £5 per adult and £1 per Junior in the Union Jack money box. If you do not have the correct change on you, please write an IOU in the visitor’s book and give me the money when you next see me and we can delete the IOU.
I hope that I have not missed anything.
See you on court,
Best wishes,
Sally
Head Coach
07958 758 580
News Letter 23rd April 2013
Dear Members
Guest Fees
From now on the adult guest fees will be £5 and each guest needs to sign and date the visitor’s book. This is kept in the kitchen. The member can then give the £5 to me or a committee member OR use the envelopes inside the book and the money can be put through Richard Stephen’s door. He lives at 109 Lichfield Grove. Guest fees are paid on an honesty basis and we hope that everyone will honour this. It is not fair on people who pay to be full time members, for guests to come for free. In Hendon Park a court for an adult is £6, so it is cheaper than playing in a park and far nicer, so co-operation in this would be appreciated.
Family Day
12th May from 2.30pm will be our next family fun day. I will arrange games/matches on two courts and a Tennis Leader will look after the children on the third court. So everyone will be entertained. There will be a sign up sheet on the notice board this week. Please sign up – entrance is by way of a garden plant, tray of potting plants, a hanging basket, a tub, a bag of peat, some bulbs, anything that we can use to make the club look pretty again after having had to cut down so many trees. At the end of the afternoon we will do the Wimbledon Draw and I am giving you all the details on that again below. There will also be a raffle after the Wimbledon Draw so bring your wallet!!
Wimbledon Draw
As a club we have 5 pairs of tickets for Wimbledon - they are on the
following days:
Day 1 - Monday 24th June - I pair for Centre Court
Day 2 - Tuesday 25th June - 1 pair for Centre Court
Day 3 - Wednesday 26th June - 1 pair for Number 1 Court
Day 4 - Thursday 27th June - 1 pair for Number 1 Court
Day 7 - Monday 1st July - 1 pair for Number 1 Court
If you would like to go into the draw, which will be held on Sunday 12th May after club time around 4.30/5.00, please sign up on the sheet on the notice board in the clubhouse.
There are certain stipulations:
1. You must have a British Tennis Membership number so please write that next to your name - if you do not have one, just Google British Tennis Membership and fill in the form on line - your County is Middlesex, your club is The Avenue Lawn Tennis Club N3 - please make sure that you click the right club - there is another club in Essex called The Avenue
2. If you have a family membership, all members 9yrs or over will be entered into the draw if you sign up. However families are not allowed to win more than one pair. It just means that families have a higher chance of winning a pair of tickets.
3. A junior is eligible to go into the draw if they were 9 years old on or before 1st February 2013.
ONLY PEOPLE WHO HAVE SIGNED UP WITH THEIR BRITISH TENNIS MEMBERSHIP NUMBER CAN ENTER THIS DRAW.
Cardio Tennis - 6 free sessions
If you have not already signed up to this, please let me know that you want a place. You can come to all 6 sessions or just one. They are Monday and Thursday evening at 7pm-8pm and will run every week until and including 2nd May.
Open Day
We also have another Open Day next Sunday at 2.30 if you know anyone who would like to join the club, invite them along to play next weekend.
Sally Bentley
Head Coach
News Letter 15th April 2013
Dear Members
Keys & Security
We are now using the new lock on the front gate, so if you have not collected your key from me, Jonathan or Richard you will not be able to access the club. If you have not paid £10 deposit for the keys, please do so when you collect the new key. In the interests of security, it is vital that everyone remembers to double lock the gate from now on Padlock AND lock.
Wimbledon Draw
As a club we have 5 pairs of tickets for Wimbledon - they are on the
following days:
Day 1 - Monday 24th June - I pair for Centre Court
Day 2 - Tuesday 25th June - 1 pair for Centre Court
Day 3 - Wednesday 26th June - 1 pair for Number 1 Court
Day 4 - Thursday 27th June - 1 pair for Number 1 Court
Day 7 - Monday 1st July - 1 pair for Number 1 Court
If you would like to go into the draw, which will be held on Sunday 12th May after club time around 4.30/5.00, please sign up on the sheet on the notice board in the clubhouse.
There are certain stipulations:
1. You must have a British Tennis Membership number so please write that next to your name - if you don't have one, just google British Tennis Membership and fill in the form on line - your County is Middlesex, your club is The Avenue Lawn Tennis Club N3 - please make sure that you click the right club - there is another club in Essex called The Avenue
2. If you have a family membership, all members 9yrs or over will be entered into the draw if you sign up. However families are not allowed to win more than one pair. It just means that families have a higher chance of winning a pair of tickets.
3. A junior is eligible to go into the draw if they were 9 years old on or before 1st February 2013
4. The draw will be held at about 4.30 on Sunday May 12th. This will be after the family day which requires a plant as your entrance to a fun afternoon or matches and games. Any sort of plant will do; it could be a tray of bedding plants, a bag of peat, a pot or a trough. Anything that we can use to make the outside of the clubhouse and surrounds green and pretty again. We will also we holding a small raffle at this event to raise some money to go towards an outside table tennis table, so bring some money too!
Cardio Tennis - 6 free sessions
If you have not already signed up to this, please let me know that you want a place. You can come to all 6 sessions or just one. They start this evening at 7pm-8pm and will run every Monday and Thursday until and including 2nd May.
And finally if you are a twitter user, please follow me Sally_Tennis (case sensitive) - I have set this up and linked it to the website for News and Updates. Everytime I tweet it will be on the website on the home page. This is NOT the same as the weather one which will ONLY give updates on weather for classes - for that you have to go to the weather umbrella on the website and my name for that is SplitSecWeather. Sally_Tennis will bring you useful updates of activities happening and reminders of what is going on at the club. If you do not want to have the messages come to your phone or you are not a twitter person, you can just look at the home page on the Avenue Website to see what is happening. I will keep this up to date almost on a daily basis, so the website looks fresh and active.
That's all for now folks - see you on court
Sally Bentley
Head Coach
News Letter 15th November 2012
Dear Members
Very exciting news for you!
Floodlights
We have been granted planning permission to put up the lights - they will have a cut off time of 9pm Monday to Friday and 8pm Saturday and Sunday. We will be erecting poles next summer (we already have the foundations completed), so this means that we will have the lights for winter 2013/4). Much thanks should go to Patricia Moore and the committee for all the technical work and negotiation that went on to arrive at this decision.
Saturday social tennis
The social club time on a Saturday afternoon has been very poorly attended for the past 6 months. Therefore it has been decided to open up this session to everyone for a 4 month trial period to encourage more members to come and meet and play with others. So these are the new rules. ALL full paying members are welcome to come and play (except complete beginners - if in doubt about this ask me) Also all juniors who play competently on a full court with a yellow ball. If you are in doubt as to whether your child fits this description, again please ask me. However for those competent juniors who can play with an orange or green ball, court three will be dedicated to them. So this now means that families can come and play on Saturday afternoon. Unfortunately this does not apply to juniors who are only playing on a red court with a red ball. For this scenario, the court is played 'across' one quarter of the court and this would not be suitable when others are playing on a full court on the next court. In the spring we will be building the Junior court and then ALL juniors will be invited on Saturday afternoons. Social play on Saturday is from 2pm - 5pm.
Christmakkah or the Hanukkahmassy (!)
This is an event I have devised for everyone to celebrate the festive season together! It will be held on Sunday 16th December at 2pm. I will organise some games for everyone and then we will have tea, cakes, minced pies and mulled wine. (As well as other religious delicacies and traditional foods for this time of year.) If you would like to come and bring a small plate of something to share please sign up on the notice board in the pavilion. I will be running a raffle so bring your money, to help raise funds for the club to finish off our massive redevelopment. More news on prizes next week and on the notice board. Ollie and Marcus will be playing tennis in Cambodia so will not be at this event but are looking forward to attending our next social event so that those of you who do not know them, can meet them. Hopefully James will be able to attend with his wife Sophie and little boy Gabriel so those who do not know him will meet him at this party.
Singles Ladder
I have now put up a ladder to the left of the Junior notice board. The rules are that you can 'challenge' somebody one or two places above you and if you beat them you move your up above them. You play the best of 3 sets. If you get to one set all, you play a championship tiebreak to 10. Everyone who has shown an interest is on the board and I have arranged the ladder quite randomly.................so get challenging (All mobiles are there)
Parking
Just because I put this subject at the end of this email, does not mean it is of lower importance. We owe it to our neighbours to park courteously around their houses. Basically there is no parking on Sylvan Avenue. You CANNOT park on the Avenue AT ALL. Please do not do it - this is an emergency route and we are constantly being contacted by the Council about you parking there. Please park on Lichfield or better still on East End Road - it is easy, free and then you spend 5/6 minutes walking through the park. Our neighbours are very patient with us - please respect their road particularly Sylvan Avenue.
Best wishes
Sally
News Letter 18th September 2012
Dear Members
Many thanks for all the emails and texts to say how much everyone enjoyed the Avenue's first quiz night. Everyone did seem to have fun and we made £450 into the bargain and thank you to everyone who made such lovely food! I will put the pictures of the evening onto the website soon.
Just to confirm that the raffle prizes were won by the following people:
Vicky Stephens - Spa Facial
LiJun Wan - The Restaurant Voucher
Peter Campbell - The tennis lesson
Korana Popovic - The Kindle
Lots of people won tennis balls!
The money will go towards shrubs and plants that will be planted this Autumn to rebuild our garden after the Junior Courts are completed in October.
Mix & Match
Dont forget that the next Mix & Match Family day is Sunday 30th September at 2pm. Everyone welcome - I will organise some games and matches and hopefully some more of the new members will come to meet others. We are also making this day into an open day so if you know someone that would like to join the club please tell them about this event.
Shed
We have had a shed bought for us to house the garden tools, (Kindly donated by Kay Shepherd - one of our long standing non- playing lifetime members) but we need somebody to erect it on a concrete base. Kay has also offered to pay for this - does anyone know a builder who would come and do this - it will probably only be one day's work.
All for now, see you on court,
Sally
News Letter 5th September 2012
Dear Members
Welcome back after the summer and what a summer we have had - the sun shone - Team GB were riding high and we have had 6 weeks of lots of tennis and fun and games at the Avenue. September is usually one of our best months weather-wise so here are some of the ways you can get involved and meet other members in the next few weeks.
Fun Quiz Evening to raise some funds.
Our first fundraising event is The Avenue Quiz Night on Saturday 15th September - 6.30 for a 7 o' clock start. Make your team (up to 5 members) and register your name on the notice board in the clubhouse. You may want to make it a family affair or your kids may wish to buddy up against you. All combinations accepted but their will be a prize for the best name! We have tried to make this financially acceptable to all, but please bear in mind that this is a fundraising event. The donation suggestions are £5 per Adult and £2 per child. There will be soft drinks, wine and beer available for a small donation per drink. And we are asking that each family brings a dish to share with everyone else. I will put add this to the sign up sheet on the notice board - for instants I will bring a healthy vegetarian cracked wheat salad and an unhealthy pud! (please state exactly what you will bring so that we dont end up with 16 tomato salads and nothing else!) Questions will be suitable for all ages. The money that we raise from this evening will go towards replanting some shrubs this autumn to rebuild our garden. Oh and btw Richard Stephens is the club's 'Director' of Fundraising - if you have any fun fund raising ideas please email him (foxstepfamily@gmail.com) Richard only accepted the job as he misread the job application - he thought it was Director of Fun!
Sunday 30th September - from 2pm
Following the great success of last weekend's family 'mix & match' day, I am going to organise another one on the 30th. Just turn up and I will organise everyone into mixed doubles, men's doubles, ladies doubles and some family fights (You know that one, when you are playing with your son and you put the ball in the net at match point!) There will also be competitions on the red courts and this will not be restricted to the under 8s - an opportunity to see just how good is your topspin - and we'll have some speed testing on your serve! Something for everyone (except I am afraid no singles until we get our junior courts completed). Entry for this is a smile and a pack of biscuits or maybe a plate of cupcakes - I will provide tea (various flavours, fresh coffee and milk)
Tuesday nights - play, pay and practice!
From next Tuesday for as long as we still have the light I am going to run a series of evening coaching/drills session. I will start it at 6.30 on Tuesday 10th September (needs to be early to get a full hour and a half). I will run some coaching drills and practice games looking at technique and tactics, then get some matches going for as long as the light holds. I will charge £5 for members and £8 for guests - so please bring friends to introduce them to the club.
Other Adult Coaching
The Friday morning drop in will restart this Friday 9.30 - 10.30 (£5/£8 members/non members) and the Tuesday drop in 10.30 - 11.30 (£5/£8 members/non members) will restart on Tuesday 10th September. Again please tell your friends, the club needs more members and this is a good way to start.
Other club news
The committee are working very hard to complete the redevelopment of the club. Towards the end of September/beginning of October the land to the side of the pavilion will be flattened and the junior courts will be laid. Depending on the space available (we have allocated 20m - we will be able to build 2 or 3 purpose built Red Under 8 courts). After this building work is complete, the main 3 Adult courts will have the practice wall added to court 3 and then they will be painted and we will have proper lines to replace the temporary ones. There was no point in doing the painting before all the messy work was finished, and now the end is in sight!
See you on court!
Sally Bentley Head Coach
07958 758 580