As you might be aware during April 2020, we asked our members to re-design WTC’s logo. The winner gets their design as our logo for 1 month (MAY). We asked either to email or post your epic designs on our social media platforms.

We have had lots of amazing artworks and creative designs. Thank you to all who have taken part in our competition. Our Chairman, Chris Maggs had the pleasure of choosing the winner. He mentioned how it was really hard to pick just one, so it was decided to have two winners under the categories: Artistic Creativity and Style. Each winner would have their logo design for 1 month (MAY & JUNE).

The Official Line Up:

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Congrats to Holly Willis your Artwork will be our logo for the whole of May 2020. Plus, Congrats to George & Ian Hughes your design will be our logo for the whole of June 2020.

Thank you for all the entries. Please keep an eye on our social media platforms for more competitions to come.

In 2019, we applied for a grant from the LTA within their Seniors Participation Scheme. We all know that tennis is a sport for all ages to enjoy and with help from the LTA we thought we could get the maturer generation to play tennis (even if its once a week) and even activate their competitive spirit.

We were awarded a grant of £120 from the LTA for the Seniors 35+ 2019 scheme. WTC would like to say a huge thank you to Jo Marks from the H&W LTA, who supported our application.

We thought long and hard about how we could maximise this grant. We decided to create a ‘Over 50’s Tournament’ where yes, you have guess it, you have to be over 50 years old to participate. We chose this age because we have a large number of members who are in this age group. Furthermore, we love feedback from our members. The main suggestion to our committee was: “it very hard to compete against our younger members is there something which you can do?” So we have listened and put plans in action.

We used the money to buy trophies for our new ‘Over 50’s Tournament’ which will now be an annual competition for our club. What’s more, we created advertisements purposely via posters around our local community to attract new maturer members for Adult Coaching Sessions and some drop-in taster sessions too.

If anyone is interested in joining in our Adult Coaching Sessions they are with our Head Coach, Alex Doffman. They run on Monday/Wednesday evenings from 8-9pm for just £5 per session (you can be younger than 50yrs old to join in too!).

At our Presentation Afternoon for 2019, we officially presented the Winners and Runner-ups with their medal’s and Trophy’s. Click here to view what happened.

The Stay at Home Challenge…

WTC has a challenge for you! Its important to keep active and motivated during these times, so we will be helping you to keep that competitive spirit going until you return to our courts.

First just a bit of fun… Can you beat our Head Coach, Alex??

🎾Target: 28🎾

Challenge: Bounce the Toilet roll on the edge of your racket and see how many you get? Post your videos on our social media platforms or email us, with your number.

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The LTA also has lots of information and fun activities for families to keep active together during these times. The LTA can help you support your child’s development both mentally and physically, on and off the court. You can improve your tennis skills any time, any place, with their Home Activities hub. It’s full of videos and games for the whole family, even “that” uncle who gets way too competitive. Click here to watch them…

Here at Wythall Tennis Club (WTC) we work alongside the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) to make sure our club welcomes adults and children of all ages and abilities to play tennis in a safe and fun way.

Sport England have selected the LTA to pilot the ‘Safe to Play’ campaign in a sports setting, with it being aimed at ensuring all parents, players and coaches are aware of the signs of abuse, how to report a concern and how to keep themselves, children and at-risk adults safe. Further information about this campaign can be seen on their dedicated website: www.safetoplaytennis.co.uk.

“Nothing is more important than the safety and wellbeing of those involved in our sport. We have made significant progress over the last few years with tennis now at the forefront of safeguarding in sport.  However, abuse can happen anywhere and at any time, and working with Sport England to lead and test an innovative campaign like ‘Safe to Play’ demonstrates our commitment to helping prevent abuse from happening.”

David Humphrey, Head Of Safeguarding at the LTA

WTC is Safe To Play:

WTC is a LTA registered venue, we were provided with pocket-sized cards to distribute to our members, including parents. These ‘Augmented Reality’ cards will act as pocket reminder guide, which when scanned using the camera of a smartphone will deliver a range of engaging digital resources. This includes:

• A dramatised video, telling one family’s story of abuse in sport.
• Video guides on how to identify the signs of abuse.
• Top tips on how to stay safe in sport.
• Questions to ask when selecting a coach.
• A quiz to help drive awareness.

You can find our ‘Augmented Reality’ cards underneath our welcome noticeboard for all to view.

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Our Safeguarding & Diversity page outlines the LTA policy’s we follow.

We will all miss the opportunity to play tennis together but the circumstances require this extreme measure for the good of all. Please stay safe and look after yourselves and those around you.

Chris Maggs,

WTC Chairman

Dear All, 

The Wythall Tennis Club committee have been considering how to respond to the current situation and are keeping in touch with the LTA’s advice in response to government announcements. We are not closing the club to those who want to play tennis and can do so safely but we would say:

• Be Sensible – If you have any symptoms or are in close contact with someone who does then avoid coming up to the club and passing it around.
• Be safe – If you are in a vulnerable category or are feeling uncertain either avoid coming up altogether or chose times when there are few others around.
• Be Active – It is important for ongoing health that you maintain physical activity and tennis is a good way to do this in an open environment.

Coaching

Kevin and Alex have cancelled junior coaching for the time being in line with LTA advice.

Social Club Tennis

The normal Club times on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday evenings and on Sunday afternoons are continuing.

Tournaments

The En-Tout-CAS tournament that is in process will continue for now but if anyone wishes to withdraw that is fine. Please let us know. Assuming there are enough people to continue we will proceed and have the final on the planned date but this is subject to change as the situation develops.

Our next Sunday tournament is due on the 19th April (Charity American) and we will review the situation at the end of March.

We will continue with the Over 50’s tournaments for now – the list is still up for people to enter. But we will be flexible over when games get played and there is no fixed date for the finals.

Wimbledon draw

It makes sense to arrange for only a small group of people to be present for the Wimbledon draw, which is also on 19th April.  If you have put your name down then please consider letting Deborah have a list of your preferences on the tickets available rather than being present in person.

Hygiene

Please be particularly thoughtful about hygiene during this time. Thank you to Deborah’s husband for installing paper towel facilities in the toilets rather than having a shared towel. Posters are around the club to encourage all members to wash your hands and to be vigilant. 

If anyone has any questions or concerns do get in touch.

​Kind Regards,

Chris Maggs

WTC Chairman

The latest Government guidance and information regarding the coronavirus can be found via the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-information-for-the-public

The 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 if further guidance is provided then the LTA website will be updated for you.

Please visit: https://www.lta.org.uk/coronavirus

Thank you and stay vigilant.

As you know WTC is open for sponsors and donations from all who want to promote tennis as a fun and exciting sport to play/learn. Recently, we have been in communication with Networld Sports, who deliver fantastic and high-quality sporting equipment. They have over 5000 products, 95% of which are their own brand. All over the world their products are helping clubs score better goals, swing better shots and hit better balls.

Networld Sports uses a brand called Vermont. They have a extensive tennis range including nets and posts, rackets and court equipment. Vermont tennis equipment is currently used at many of the worlds leading tournaments, including Wimbledon.

We have received a generous £200 donation of sporting equipment from Networld Sports and the Vermont Tennis Range which we are very thankful for. This includes Vermont’s Mini Red, Orange and Green Balls. Vermont’s Training Tennis Balls and their Green Sport Water Bottle.  

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“It’s been great working with Wythall Tennis Club, we are happy to support the club with a range of equipment. We hope the club’s many players can get use out of the products”

Eva McMillan, Marketing Executive at Networld Sports

Networld Sports and The Vermont Tennis Range have helped us put a huge step in the right direction with our Junior Tennis Teams. We can’t wait to use these Vermont Training Balls in our coaching sessions and we hope this is just the beginning of a great relationship. If you would like to view the products Networld Sports make, please visit their website here.

Hello Everybody,

Welcome to the 2020 newsletter. We aim to be a friendly and inclusive club, encouraging people of all ages and levels of experience to have the opportunity to play and enjoy tennis. Whether you are a full member, a junior or someone who can only play occasionally, this is your club. Or perhaps you are looking at the possibility of joining. Be assured that you would be very welcome. You will be able to find plenty of opportunity to improve your game, keep fit and enjoy the experience.

Our fourth and final court was laid with artificial grass last year and we are very pleased to have so many all-weather surface courts to play on. They have proved very effective over the winter and we aim to keep them in good shape. One of our members, Dave Winters, has taken on the role of leading the maintenance and we are grateful to him and to Kevin Turner who does so much for the club alongside many other volunteers.

Our club is situated in a private park run by the Wythall Community Association. Maintaining this park is not easy. As a charitable trust it also relies on a team of local volunteers. Unfortunately, the Trustees have not been able to balance the books for a while now and reserves are depleted. The action they have decided to take is to increase rents significantly (our rent has doubled this year). This represents £2,000 we had not budgeted for. We are challenging this but ultimately any increase will have to find its way through to our membership fees. We have not done so this year though. The small increase against last year’s membership represents inflation and a small allowance for maintenance costs. We believe this continues to offer good value for a year of tennis at the club. If anyone is interested in becoming a Trustee of the Association in order to represent the Tennis Club and play an active role in the future of the park, then please let myself or Kevin know.

Our coaching team of Alex Doffman and Kevin Turner continue to provide a wide range of options for all ages. We encourage juniors to participate in local competitions and have had some notable successes. Youngsters are invited to join with the adult players as they develop so that they gain experience and again this has proved beneficial in improving everyone’s game. There are opportunities for adult beginners, regular social tennis and competitions, as well as league teams for those wanting to represent the club. It truly is a club for all and we look forward to enjoying the sport with you this year.

Chris Maggs,
Chair