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Message from the chairman, Sue Whitty
I write this after the wettest June since records began which is not good news for us tennis lovers! The season started so promisingly with wonderful weather in April that saw record numbers of members attending club sessions and scenes reminiscent of years gone by I’m told, with the “peg” system being re-introduced to indicate whose turn it is to play next! The Wimbledon American tournament & BBQ & draw in May also saw record numbers with 20 people playing, which has never happened before – and more than 30 at the BBQ and in the draw. The weather was very kind to us, which helped to make a truly successful day. Many thanks to Tim Shelton who slaved over a hot bbq assisted by Nick Trout, also to all those who contributed in other ways, providing puddings etc.
The following members were the lucky ones whose names came out of the hat in the Wimbledon Tickets draw: Michael Heeley, Claire Pierce, Richard Reynolds, Nick Trout, Tim Shelton, Phil Nash, Sue Tucker, Peter Ballard. I hope the rain didn’t spoil everyone’s enjoyment too much. If you were unlucky to see less than 2 hours play, then please return your tickets to Ann Lines as the Club can apply for a full or partial refund. At least the sun shone the for the Wimbledon finals weekend and the signs are good for B.B.H.T.C.
Our membership numbers are already up to almost last years total which is very encouraging indeed and the take-up of coaching has been extremely good this year and we had to have 3 groups to fit everyone in (2 junior and 1 adult group). Lets hope for the sun to shine for the rest of the summer now so we can all get on court and keep playing.
You are advised to book the courts to play, as we have had some complaints from members of the public who have paid to hire a court and then found members with no booking on court who have prevented them from playing.
CLUB SESSIONS
Attendance at Sunday morning and Wednesday p.m sessions have been excellent although the changes to Friday evenings have had mixed results. The junior sessions have not really worked, so the juniors can now play any Friday evening between 5 and 6.30, so the Friday evening sessions will now be 1 Friday – ladies, 2 Friday – men’s, and all the rest, mixed. If you haven’t ventured down to any of the club sessions yet, do give them a try as they are great fun. Hope to see you soon.
TENNIS BALLS
New stocks of Dunlop Fort “Duck” tennis balls have arrived. These are available at the new lower price of £3.50 per tube or £10 for 3 tubes.
CLUB TOURNAMENT
This should now be in full swing, but the weather seems to have put a damper on the momentum in more ways than one! Don’t forget that all the matches have to be played by early September and with holidays in between there’s not that long to go! So GET BOOKING and PLAYING THOSE MATCHES!!! Make sure you all put the date for the finals on your calendar – Saturday 8 and Sunday 9 September –it’s always a great occasion and there are Pimms and strawberries on offer on Sunday if the high quality are not enough!
N.B. Since I started this newsletter there has been quite a lot of discussion as to whether we should postpone the finals but we think we will leave them as arranged and see how the weather is over the next month so do try to get your matches booked up and keep our fingers crossed we can play as arranged! It would be great to see lots of you at the finals supporting the finalists. There were a very good number of entries for the tournament with an unprecedented 15 in the men’s singles! These have been split into 3 groups in order to reduce the number of matches for the players – especially those in doubles as well. The finalists for the men’s singles will be chosen by a semi-final between 4 players i.e. the 3 group winners, plus a 4 from the 3 runners-up in each group, who will play each other in a first to 10 match.
Just a correction about the scoring of matches – on the bottom of the sheet below the men’s single table it should read “Points – 1 point awarded for each set won”
DITCH
We have asked the Environment Agency to investigate the ditch that runs behind the courts as it is very smelly. They have done tests and we are awaiting the results. However we are very concerned so DO NOT retrieve balls from the ditch as it seems likely it is contaminated in some way.
VISITORS
If you take a visitor, then do please remember to pay the visitor fee of £2 adults or £1 juniors per visit.
DIARY
8 & 9 September Club Finals Weekend
29 September American Tournament 2.00pm