What can I say!!!

Thank you so much for my appreciation evening on April 13^th. I cannot believe how long I have been coaching at WTC.

Although I have put time into the club, my family and I have enjoyed endless love and enjoyment over the years.

I was overwhelmed by the generosity of everyone. The bench in memory of Shelley was a piece of genius. With the surplus money, I will purchase a plaque in her memory plus treat myself over the summer. Shelley passed away 6 years in June, her ashes remained at Thomas Brothers Funeral Directors. So it now seemed appropriate for me to bring her home.

From the photo, you can see when I have a read or a cup tea, Shelley joins me. Gypsy the cat soon realised it was a comfortable seat so on occasions the three of us enjoy a few moments in the sun.

So, thank you again to everyone.

Lots of love,

Kevin xxx

In March the Men’s Doubles Winter League Team won their final match securing them a promotion into the higher division. They finished second on the leader board just behind Henley B.

Well done team, keep up the good work.

As you are aware, Kevin is stepping back from his commitments to Wythall Tennis Club (WTC). This comes with great sadness but from what seems like a lifetime of commitment to Wythall means he finally gets to relax and enjoy his well earned retirement.

If I was to list his achievements and everything which he has done for this community, well it will never end. His dedication and hard work has inspired young and old to pick up a tennis racket. He has supported our members and helped the tennis club through tough times. We owe a huge gratitude of appreciation towards Kevin.

Additionally, Kevin has had manly roles within the Wythall Community Association (WCA) and Wythall Community Club (WCC). He has been a part of the Management Team, Firework/FunRun Marshals, an Association Trustee, and more famously the man in the red suit and black boots who drives a sleigh! There are much more accomplishments and roles where Kevin has been in the background ensuring any event has success. His connections and ideas have helped raise awareness and bring our local community together for good causes.

In recognition and in celebration of his achievements we have decided to have a party. All are welcome to join us in the Britannia Room (WCC) on Saturday 13th April 2024 at 7.30PM. So we can gauge numbers, please email larissaehobbs@gmail.com if you and your family would like to attend.

The skittles alley and pool table will be available to use and of course the bar is open so you can share a drink or two with Kevin.

Also we have created a Kevin Turner Appreciation Fund via ‘GoFundMe’ where you can donate. Link: https://www.gofundme.com/f/kevin-turner-appreciation-fund

Thank you.

We hope you will be renewing with us for another year or maybe joining us for the first time. 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. You will be able to find plenty of opportunity to improve your game, keep fit and enjoy the experience.

Price inflation has been a big issue during the last two years, but we have tried to keep our costs down and our membership subscriptions reasonable. The rates agreed at the AGM in November have increased this year by just 3% or 4% depending on category, and some of this reflects a new deal on membership of the Wythall Community Association and Community Club. Our subscription now includes a £12 joint membership of both Association and Club for anyone 18+ so you can enjoy the facilities of Wythall House as well as the Park.

One of the ways we keep costs down is through volunteers taking on maintenance tasks and we are very grateful to Bob Wright and others who manage the suppression of weeds and moss on the courts. If you are able to offer any support in this area or other aspects of maintenance then do let me, Bob or any of the Committee know.

While talking of volunteers, I want to express my gratitude to Kevin Turner for his work supporting the tennis coaching programme on Monday and Wednesday nights for so many years. He will be stepping back from this role in 2024 and we are finding different ways to fill the gap he leaves but I am thankful Kevin is continuing with the Saturday morning Pay & Play session for the time being.

This year we plan to freshen up the Club House as well as maintaining the courts in good order. We will also look at tidying up areas outside of the Club House and there may be a call for volunteers to assist with this at some stage.

Finally, thank you to the Committee for all your work during the year and others who contribute in different ways. I wish you good tennis weather and enjoyable games.

Regards,

Chris Maggs, Chair

The men’s singles ladder was created in lockdown for some friendly competition. As the competition was greatly enjoyed, this continued with Scott Falconer organising it.

For 2022 we implemented a new points based format for the ladder league. With all ladder matches starting from 1st March up until 30th September. With 15 members involved, it was up to each individual to arrange their matches and play each other once over 2 sets with a championship tie break if necessary. Points are based on how many games you win within the first two sets in each match. This means, the more you’re willing to play the more points you can possibly accumulate throughout the season. Also this gives everyone the chance to play each other irrelevant of ability.

From the 30th September the top 8 then go through to the knockout stages with random draws at each stage (Quarter and Semi Final). Together we completed an impressive 70 ladder matches!

Hopefully everyone enjoyed this season and we aim to go again in 2023.

2022 Results:

Hello everybody,

We hope you will be renewing with us for another year or maybe joining us for the first time. 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. You will be able to find plenty of opportunity to improve your game, keep fit and enjoy the experience.

Our membership subscriptions have increased this year due to inflation but on first glance it may appear they have gone up by more than you might expect. This is because we have added the £10 per adult cost of being a member of the Wythall Community Association (WCA) into our subscription instead of treating it as a separate charge. The WCA is the largely voluntary body responsible for running Wythall Park for the benefit of its members. As we are located in the Park we all have to be members of WCA to play tennis here. If you are already a WCA member or a member of Wythall Community Club then just let us know your membership number and we’ll knock off the £10 charge.

It has been wonderful to have new LED lights installed on three of our courts during 2022. They provide excellent lighting and will hopefully be more efficient on energy. We also expect the bulbs to last longer, ensuring more opportunity to play during those cold dark evenings we all love. It is great to have high-quality courts and lights and we appreciate the time and effort people have invested to build this club up over the years.

Finally, our coaching team of Alex Doffman and Les Swaby continue to provide a wide range of options for all ages. There are opportunities for adult beginners, regular social tennis and competitions, as well as league teams for those wanting to represent the club. At our presentations event in January it was lovely to hear some of our newer members appreciating the welcome they had received. We want everyone to enjoy their tennis with us.

Chris Maggs,
Chair

As you know the committee has been investigating possible LED Floodlight companies and have gathered a range of quotes and specifications for various ideas. And even entered a competition for free floodlights.

Our Welfare Officer, Andy entered a competition with JHP Electrical. The competition was for free LED lights for a court/pitch etc and their installation. When Andy entered this competition we didn’t expect to win but, guess what….? WE WON! This was a amazing surprise and opportunity for our club. We are grateful that JHP were providing such an expensive but much appreciated competition. The installation of court 2 LED floodlights was in August 2022.

JHP, have provided us with drone footage for the lights they have fitted and a couple of aerial shots. Here you can see the difference between the LED lights they have fitted on court 2 and our original floodlights on court 1.

We are also pleased to announce we have decided to have JHP fit court 1 with the same LED lights.

Testimonials:

Having coached at a number of clubs across the UK the newly installed lights are one of the best I’ve played under. The difference in glare and ball visibility is noticeable and I’d recommend them to any club going forward.

Alex Doffman, Head Coach

First and foremost I must congratulate your installation team. I am not brilliant with names but if I am correct they were Bayley and Lucy. They were punctual on both days and very professional throughout their time on site. Bayley encountered a number of issues as the lights being dismantled were over 30 years old. The only solution was to grind original brackets off to solve the issue. Rubber mats were in place so the cherry picker wheels were never directly in contact with our court surface. The perimeter fence was pulled away from the upright posts so the cherry picker could gain access to the courts and the fence returned to original state. I and other members are impressed with the newly installed lights. The immediate improvement is the difference in glare and ball visibility. It is even more noticeable as the adjacent court has not yet been converted to LED.

We would recommend JHP to any tennis club or sports outlet.

Kevin Turner, Club Captain

Unfortunately, this year we lost Alan White. Our condolences and thoughts are with all his family and friends. We held a minute silence in his name before the tournament began.

Alan, was much loved here at WTC, he helped us get a lottery grant which built the clubhouse and put floodlights on court 3. We are so grateful for everything Alan did for our tennis club. We will miss him.

As you know the committee has been investigating possible LED Floodlight companies and have gathered a range of quotes and specifications for various ideas. And even entered a competition for free floodlights.

Back in July 2022, we had our first LED Floodlights fitted. These were installed by ORBS. Our club captain, Kevin worked hard and find the best quotes for the type of LED lights required for our courts while taking into consideration the clubs location. A huge thanks goes to Kevin for all his hard work and commitment to this club. These lights have greatly improved court 3 availability and have extended play times for all members.

Moving forward to court 2. Our Welfare Office, Andy entered a competition with JHP. The competition was for free LED lights for a court/pitch etc and their installation. When Andy entered this competition we didn’t expect to win but, guess what…. we WON! This was a amazing surprise and opportunity for our club. We are grateful that JHP were providing such an expensive but much appreciated competition. The installation of court 2 LED floodlights was in August 2022.

We hope all members enjoy the use of our new LED floodlights. We hope to have court 1 converted in due course as well.

We introduced club morning (Rusty Rackets) a couple of months ago on a Wednesday morning between 10am until 12noon. This was a great trial to get players to join the club and enjoy playing tennis.

Unfortunately, this trial has now finished. The last session will be on Wednesday 15th June 2022. The committee will discuss in their next meeting whether to continue these sessions.

Thank you