Elliswick LTC Newsletter – July 2020

Dear Members,

Welcome to our July Newsletter.

Now that the weather is balmy and we want to venture outside to enjoy the sunshine, there is no better way to spend an hour or so than playing tennis.  Luckily for us at our club, our courts are open and the garden is filled with some pretty amazing flowers for our enjoyment. Now that the Government has eased the lockdown, you can even socialise, maintaining the 2m social distance, and enjoy our beautifully maintained club’s grounds after a game of tennis. However, the clubhouse remains closed for the time being, so bring your own refreshments.

LTA ESSENTIAL MAINTENANCE – Sunday 2nd August 2020

The LTA website will undergo essential maintenance between 06.00 AM on Sunday 2nd August 2020 and 11.00 AM on Monday 3rd August 2020.  

Unfortunately, during this time, anyone using their LTA credentials to log in will be unable to access/book on the following platforms:

  • ClubSpark Admin Area
  • Any websites hosted by ClubSpark, including venue/ coaching websites
  • lta.org.uk
  • LTA Rally
  • LTA Youth
  • Mini Tennis

All other means of login; ClubSpark, Facebook and Google, will function as normal.

LTA will ensure there is adequate messaging across all affected areas, including login pages and they apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.

ClubSpark – Trace Players with Group Bookings

With the current COVID-19 pandemic, keeping a record of who is playing at our club is more important than ever. LTA have introduced new functionality in the court booking module that enables multiple players to be added to a single booking. You just need to click on + Add participant in the court booking screen.

Please Note that the iOS and Android court booking apps won’t support these new group booking features yet. LTA are actively working on adding this functionality into the Apps in the near future. We recommend that members book via the website. 

If you need any assistance regarding court booking, please contact Andree Haxton at [email protected].

GROUNDS & CLUBHOUSE

We are trying to sort out the creasing issues on court 2. We have had a visit from the manufacturers, Tigerturf, however we have not found a way forward yet.

We have had a quote for floodlight extension from Abacus, who are our existing supplier. We are still waiting on the last tender which we hope to get from Luminance Pro.

We are working through painting the benches, tables and fence in the club. We have done the on-court benches so far.

TENNIS BALL PURCHASE

Slazenger tennis balls are still available to purchase from the club for £3 per tin of 3. If you wish to purchase them, then please make payment to the Elliswick bank account and then email [email protected] after you have done so.

MEMBERSHIP

Our membership is full, with over 190 on the waiting list, and growing by the day. If you have family members wanting to join next year, please make sure they are on the list – don’t just assume you can add them in January.

SOCIAL TENNIS

At present, only arranged/managed social tennis is permissible until further notice. Unfortunately, our traditional mix-in formats cannot yet proceed without prior organisation. We would require a volunteer to step forward to organise Mens Night on Tuesday Nights, also Social Mix-in on Saturday and Sunday Mornings. Please do not hesitate to register your interest by emailing [email protected].  We will advise members if and when we can get the Thursday Club Nights running again.

A reminder that if you wish to join in the ladies morning on Tuesdays at 9am and/or Mix-in on Thursdays at 9am or 10:30am, please contact Andree Haxton at [email protected] to register your interest. And if you wish to play in the ladies night on Wednesday from 6pm, please contact Victoria Aitchison.

TEAM TENNIS

The LTA have recently released guidelines supporting controlled matches between different clubs.  Congregation in the clubhouse and hence any form of catering are still not permitted but organised matches on defined courts are now once again allowed.  In general terms, the LTA have advised that play can return to normal from this autumn, albeit with the stipulation of social distancing remaining in place.

If you wish to participate in team tennis this autumn/winter please do not hesitate to register your interest by contacting our respective Team Captains, as follows:

Mens Captain: Rupert Tillbrooke at [email protected] or 07789811097

Ladies Captain: Victoria Aitchison at [email protected] or 07429 581034

Mixed Captain: Kate Curson at [email protected]

MENS TENNIS

Men’s box leagues are now up and running with 26 pairs over 4 boxes. If anyone would like to get involved then please contact Mens Captain, Rupert Tillbrooke (contact info on notice board).

LADIES TENNIS

Ladies doubles box league – a good number of matches have been played this month and congratulations to those of you who have won your matches or gained points for sets.  As the rules stipulate one pair from Konta will go down and one pair from Watson will go up.  Unfortunately due to work commitments and holidays some pairs have not had the opportunity to play as much as others however being a friendly competition only we need to adhere to the rules and move a couple of pairs.  New score sheets will go up in the club house for the month of August so please check out where you are placed before challenging your next pair.

Similarly for the singles ladder there has been some movement but not much.  Please try and challenge each other if you can, these are friendly matches and it is just great to be able to play again and singles is a great way to improve your fitness levels.

With winter league matches being reinstated if you do not already play for one of our ladies teams please email Victoria if you would like to be considered and to be included whether you are a new member to the club or improving player.

MIXED TEAM TENNIS

We have confirmation East Herts Winter Mixed League will commence from September and 6 teams will be entered this autumn from Elliswick.
We have 1 change with our team captains. Jenny a Sheridan has decided to step down – I’m sure we all would like to thank Jenny for her commitment over the many years as a captain – thank you Jenny! Colin Moth has kindly volunteered to run the 3rd team this year, thank you Colin!
If you would like to play in the mixed, which is of a decent standard, please let Kate Curson know. If you would rather not play having been in the teams before, please also let her know so we can reorganise teams as appropriate.
Datchworth is not confirmed yet, further details expected in August.
Kate Curson will be consulting with the captains next month around the guidelines and rules particularly travelling to away matches and teas in line with LTA guidelines – as we know more we will feed down to the teams.

Coaching

Autumn booking is open for bookings please visit the club’s website for full details. To get members discount code please email ben [email protected].

Book for Sale

One of our members, Steve Parkes, designed the layout of a book describing all the butterflies that can be seen at Heartwood Forest and when you can see them.  There are some lovely photos of 48 pages.  Its priced at £4 and can be obtained from Gill Parkes [email protected], mobile 07593 025251

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.