Elliswick LTC Newsletter – September 2023
Dear Members,
Welcome to our September Newsletter.
The Junior Tournament was a big success again this year. A big thank you to our Junior Secretary Pierre Olivier and his team (Amy Martin and Ken Michie) for organising the hectic day. The standard of play was excellent and the wonderful BBQ by the Beasleys made it the perfect day. Unfortunately, the rain came down before the end of the tournament, so we had to postpose the finals for the U12 Boys and U14 Boys to the following Sunday. We would like to say a big thank you to all of the fabulous volunteers who willingly stepped forward to help with the scoring, the Beasleys catering team for keeping us all fed and watered and to all who helped to make sure it all ran so smoothly. It was a wonderful day for our tournament players and spectators. A lot of hard work, but much appreciated by over 80 people who enjoyed great tennis.
SAFEGUARDING
The LTA safeguarding Officers have recently visited our venue and completed an Unannounced Health Check. We are pleased to announce that all of our safeguarding protocols were identified as being IN PLACE at the time of the Unannounced Health Check. If you wish to discuss any safeguarding matters, please do not hesitate to contact our Welfare Officer, Andree Haxton on 07900006526 or email her at [email protected]
CLUB NIGHTS & SOCIAL TENNIS
The autumn season is underway now. The summer club nights (men’s, ladies, mixed and juniors) have all come to an end now that the evening light has faded. The floodlights are available to use for members nightly until 9:30pm. Please book your court in advance (the booking system allows up to two weeks advance booking) as the courts get booked up quickly. However, our morning social tennis sessions are still running. Ladies mornings are on Tuesdays from 9am. Social Mixed in are on Thursdays from 9am and Saturdays and Sundays from 10am. Please do keep our social tennis alive by supporting them by attending the sessions. All abilities are welcome. Just turn up and play.
JUNIORS
Junior Tournament
Congratulations to the following Winners and Runners Up whose names will soon appear on the board at the clubhouse.
U8 Mixed ~ Winner Noah Feldman ~ RU Theo Dodd
U9 Mixed ~ Winner Tomas James ~ RU Sebastian Pickett
U10 Boys ~ Winner Ethan Sutton ~ RU Charlie Jacobs
Boys U12 ~ Winner Hugo Nicholas ~ RU Oishin Brocklebank
Girls U14 ~ Winner Auden Oliviere ~ RU Amber Philips
Girls U16 ~ Winner Emily Gardiner ~ RU Charlotte Tweddle
Boys U14 ~ Winner Henry Martin ~ RU Toby Isted
Boys U16 ~ Winner Alex Sweeney ~ RU Ollie Hunt
League Tournaments
We have entered 3 teams into the Herts National Winter League (U12 Boys, U14 Boys and U16 Boys). Good luck to all the teams and thank you to the Team Captains.
Junior Night
Friday 29th September was the last Junior Night for this year and we will return in the Spring 2024.
GROUNDS & CLUBHOUSE
- The work to stabilise the roof support post at the corner of the clubhouse has been completed.
- There have been several instances of blocked toilets in the past few weeks, which have resulted in the need to call out specialist contractor Draincare. The blockages are caused mainly by large amounts of toilet paper deposited in the bowl – please ensure that if a blockage occurs while using the toilets, you attempt to clear it using the plunger that is stored in the gents cubicle. If that fails, please immediately contact a member of the committee to advise them of the problem.
- The annual floodlight maintenance visit by Abacus will take place on Tuesday 3rd and Wednesday 4th October. Courts 4 & 5 will therefore be unavailable for play on the 3rd October, and courts 6 & 7 will be unavailable on the 4th October.
- The committee have agreed the spec for the installation of solar panels and battery storage, which will be undertaken by Deeks Electral. The plan is for scaffolding to be erected round 3 sides of the clubhouse on Friday 27th October, with installation work commencing on Monday 30th October and being completed by Friday 10th November. Disruption is expected to be minimal but please be aware that contractors will be moving around the site during this period.
FLOODLIGHT PLANNING APPLICATION
This has now been submitted. St Albans planning department have confirmed receipt. We hope to receive validation of the submission by end of next week if their usual timescales are met and we will then be given a planning reference number. At this point we need as many members as possible (especially those that live near the club) to submit a letter of support for this application. Ideally numbers in the hundreds to show the planners that these new floodlights are essential to the club due to the current lights being unsustainable with redundant parts. I will send a separate note for all members summarising the reason for our submission once we have our planning submission reference and details of how to log support.
We hope that a decision will be made within the timescales of 8 weeks however this may take longer.
TEAM TENNIS
Ladies Tennis
Herts summer Leagues have now completed and well done to both teams. Winter vets dates are all arranged or near to arranging and captains should then reach out to their teams for selection. As a reminder we have 1 team in 40’s and 60’s and 2 teams in 50’s.
Men’s Tennis
The summer seasons (Herts League and Hot Rackets) have now concluded. Many thanks to fellow captains for their time and effort spent arranging the fixtures and finding players to represent our club. Also a thank you to all those who played in the matches which we hope you all enjoyed.
Autumn / Winter Vets matches are now underway so best of luck to all our teams taking part in the over 45, over 55 and for the over 65 age categories.
And finally, another big Congratulations to the Herts League 1st team for being promoted into the ‘Championship’ division! A fantastic achievement! Well done to the whole squad.
Mixed Team Tennis
Team tennis is transitioning from summer to autumn and winter leagues. The mixed Datchworth league is in full swing now. The East Herts Winter Mixed will commence in the beginning of November.
SOCIALS
Our last supper night was a great success. Many thanks to Jon and Marianne Carr for a great curry that was enjoyed by everyone who attended. Our McMillan Coffee Morning was also a great success and we managed to raise over £350. Thank you all for your generous donations.
12 members enjoyed a theatre to trip to Hamilton in the West End this month, benefitting from a 25% group discount on ticket price. Watch this space for more theatre trips!
We have some fun social events to look forward to until the end of the year, such as Quiz Night on Saturday the 7th of October and Jazz Night on Saturday the 11th of November. Our Annual General Meeting is to be held on Saturday the 25th of November at the clubhouse at 10:30am. Not to forget our Ladies Charity Christmas lunch on Tuesday the 5th December. Please put all those dates in your busy diaries. Our Social Secretary, Jane Bisseker is also planning another Pub Night Out in November. Details to follow.
LOST PROPERTY BOXES
Please look through the lost property boxes (clothing, racquets, water bottles) in the clubhouse as the boxes will be emptied at the end of this week and we will donate the contents to local asylum seekers in Markyate.
CHARITY APPEAL
One of our members is collecting antiques/ things of value that people no longer need. They can be dropped off at: 10 Holly Bush Lane, Harpenden AL5 4AT on Wednesday 8th November between 10.30am and 8pm. They will be auctioned at Tring Auctioneers and all profits will help to bring clean water to Kyangala, a village in Kenya.
Kind Regards
Elliswick LTC Committee
PS, Don’t forget to keep up to date with events at our website http://www.elliswickltc.co.uk and follow our Facebook page as well.