ELLISWICK LTC NEWSLETTER – MAY 2025
We’ve had a wonderful sunny month of tennis. It’s great to see our well-maintained courts are being so well used with the commencement of the Annual Club Tournament and the summer team tennis, as well as for general play. And our garden is looking wonderful with the beautiful flowers planted by Dave Watkinson, who has been working very hard to create a little paradise for members and visitors to enjoy.
It’s been a busy month at the club, as outlined below, and we have a lot coming up in June and July.
ANNUAL CLUB TOURNAMENT – FINALS DAY SATURDAY 21st JUNE 2025
With back up day being 22nd June 2025
Congratulations to all those players who have made it through their initial round(s). At this point it is imperative that all matches are played by the deadline dates, to allow further rounds to be arranged and played on time.
Please see the deadline dates as follows:
QUARTER FINALS: 6th JUNE
SEMI FINALS: 18th JUNE
Matches are to be played by the dates stated above. Failure to do this will result in one or both players/pairs being withdrawn from the tournament. Courts are prioritised for tournament matches at certain times – in particular, a court will be available for booking (only for match purposes), on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday nights during the tournament period. Please contact Andree Haxton at [email protected] if you wish to book a court during those times.
If any players are encountering difficulty scheduling matches by the deadline, please don’t let it just slip – contact the Tournament Secretary, Louise Behan ([email protected]), asap.
We are looking for several volunteers to help out during the day. Please let Andree Haxton know at [email protected] if you are able to help.
There will be breakfast of sausage/bacon rolls with tea/coffee from 9.45am available to purchase from Jack Beasley’s stall (to raise fund for the World Challenge in Cambodia in 2026. He will be working in a bear orphanage and will cook for the bears as well).
The BBQ lunch with several salads by the wonderful Beasleys will be served about 12.30pm followed by afternoon tea with cakes about 3pm (£10 per person for lunch and afternoon tea). The bar will also be open on the day.
GROUNDS AND CLUBHOUSE
Franks Forestry will cut back the side of the conifer bordering Courts 1-3 on Thursday 5th June. It will mean that courts 1-3 are out of action from 8am to around 2pm. The green fabric fencing screens will be put in place prior to the work. This will reduce wood chip debris onto the court. The front car park will also be closed. Please use the rear car park if you need to drive to the club, but beware that spaces will be limited.
MEMBERSHIP
We welcomed around 45 new members at our New Members’ Day a couple of weeks ago. It has been great to see many of them on court regularly since. Our new members enjoyed their afternoon playing some tennis, having a chat with the committee and, of course, enjoying delicious refreshments. Our thanks go to all the helpers (Gaby, Emily & Rob G) to make the event such a success. We even had some junior members (Olivia, Flynn and William) helping out on court 7, running games with the new junior members.
TEAM TENNIS
Ladies Teams – Kate Curson – [email protected]
Ladies summer league tennis is underway and fixtures have all been arranged. We have signed up for 4 Hot Rackets and 2 Herts league teams this year. Our ladies Hot Rackets 4th team are a bit short on players – are you interested in playing, maybe if you’ve played in friendlies and are looking for the next challenge or are new to the club? Please contact [email protected] or [email protected]
Wednesday ladies nights are proving popular with tennis and the bar is open! Victoria kindly arranges fixed 4’s each week via a WhatsApp chat. If you are not on the WhatsApp group and want to be included, please contact her by email at [email protected]
Mixed Teams – Amy Martin – [email protected]
The Datchworth Summer League is well under way, with 6 of the 14 matches now played with various results. We have 4 teams who are all enjoying some strong competition in their respective divisions. The Mid-Herts Mixed League matches have one more match to play. The players have all enjoyed playing in this friendly league.
The Social Mix-in on Thursdays at 6pm is going well with a good range of playing standards all being organised into competitive fours by coach Rupert. If anyone interested in playing in the mixed team, please get in touch with Amy at [email protected]
Men’s Teams – Jem Collier-Garrity – [email protected]
The 2024/25 winter Vets have now come to an end with varied results. We have entered another 8 teams for the next season 2025/2026 in the following age groups: 45s A/B/C, 55s A/B/C, 65s A/B.
The summer Herts League, Men’s National League and Hot Rackets matches have now started with mixed results so far. If you are interested in playing competitive tennis in any of the Men’s teams, please get in touch with Jem Collier-Garrity, our Men’s Captain at [email protected]
A reminder that Men’s night is now in full flow so please do turn up every Tuesday from 6pm for both competitive and social play.
SOCIALS
May has been an incredibly busy month for socials at the club! We had a VE Day celebration, beer & curry night, a Mexican supper night, New Members Day and the Bank Holiday Tournament. All events were a great success and very well attended. Thank you to those involved in organising these events for all the members to enjoy.
Forthcoming Diary Dates
JUNE 2023
4th – Ladies “Fizz & Curry” Night, Andree will be serving up some Indonesian chicken curry with rice and strawberries and cream. At £5/pp. This event is open to all ladies’ members, whether you’re playing tennis in the evening or not. If you wish to attend, please sign up here: https://forms.gle/unkYXuuLwPWr5WLPA
12th – Anglo Indonesian Supper Night by Eric & Andree, sign up here: https://forms.gle/eD71SM5cW5PLATrK9
21st – Finals Day, sign up here: https://forms.gle/WWizA9xzi8x7TkBN8
29th – Junior Tournament, we need parents to volunteer to organise this event to make it a success.
JULY:
6th – Junior Tournament Reserved Date
17th – South African supper night catered by Steve Segall, sign up here: https://forms.gle/GM6WaUR51r6d9sDp7
AUGUST:
14th – Supper Night by Jon Carr, sign up here: https://forms.gle/2PnwmomUY41xGviPA
If you have any queries regarding any of the social events, please contact our Super Social Secretary, Jane Bisseker, at [email protected].
JUNIORS
ACHIEVEMENT
We are very pleased to announce that our U14 Boys team won their division in the 2024-25 winter season. Congratulations and many thanks to the players (Oishin, Luc and Harry) and their team captain (David Brocklebank) for this achievement.
If any juniors wish to play in a team, please contact our Junior Captain Dan Pearce at [email protected]
JUNIOR NIGHTS
Friday Junior Nights are in full swing. For those who are new to the club, this is a time for the Juniors to practice their skills. The sessions are run by our wonderful coaches, Coach Rupert and Coach Dan. The juniors can also enjoy some free time and mix with friends or other players.
Sessions are as follows:
4:30pm to 6pm is for young children (primary school) who should be supervised by an adult or guardian.
6-8pm is for the older children (secondary school) who do not need to be accompanied by parents.
A tuck shop with snacks, hot dogs and pizzas is open on Junior Nights. The bar will only be opened if we have adequate volunteers to run it. If you can kindly offer some help, please contact Andree Haxton at [email protected] .
Please note that there are no Junior Nights during the school holidays. However, courts are booked for our juniors to use. Just turn up and play with other players.
2025 JUNIOR TOURNAMENT – 29TH JUNE 2025
The sign-up sheets are available on the junior notice board inside the clubhouse. We have now extended the entry until 8th June. The Tournament is an all-day event. The reserve date is Sunday 6th July, in case of bad weather. Please do encourage your juniors to participate in this fun and friendly tournament. It was a huge success last year, watching our talented juniors and enjoying the sunshine. In order for this event to run smoothly, we need parents to volunteer throughout the day.
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.