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President's Report 2023

The 2022/2023 year was another busy year for the club with growth in our membership numbers, a steady growth in our finances, and regular improvements occurring with the facilities that are available to our members and the community at large.

Below I have highlighted just some of the club’s achievements for 2022/2023, all of which contributed to making our club what I consider to be the best community tennis club in the ACT.

Funding for Additional Courts

During the year, the Federal Government announced in its Federal Budget that $800,000 was being provided to upgrade our facility with additional courts and the possible renovation of some of our existing courts. This was the first time that an ACT tennis club had received funding through the Budget process.

Correspondence was later received from the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and Arts (DITRDCA) regarding the funding and we were advised that an application needs to be prepared outlining the project details and the funding requirements. Once the application has been submitted, the department will then assess the project and, once approved, funding arrangements and milestones will be negotiated.

We also confirmed that the ACT Government will be committing $100,000 to the project.

This is a significant project with considerable work required. Consequently, a small working group of Committee members was established consisting of myself, Graeme Rossiter, Phillip Stephens and Geoff Kotz. The group has commenced liaising with the major project stakeholders including DITRDCA, the ACT Government, Tennis ACT, and the Office of the Member for Bean. Discussions have also commenced with a number of contractors who have experience in managing these type of projects.

Although this is a great achievement for the club, and clearly recognises the value our club is to the community, it will also require considerable work from our Committee to ensure a positive result for our club and our members is achieved.

Facility Maintenance and Improvements

A number of projects were undertaken during the year to improve the facilities. These included:

the laying of timber edging around the perimeter of the courts.
completion of the project to replace the club’s aging entrance and main gate with a strong, steel security entrance and gate. The funding of this project was the result of the club being successful in obtaining a grant from the Commonwealth Government’s Stronger Communities Program Round 7.
the engagement of an artist to paint a mural on the wall of the clubhouse. The mural includes the club’s name as well as the club’s logo.
work was undertaken to repair the damaged tennis nets. At the end of the task, it was recognised that some of the nets needed to be fully replaced and this is planned to occur in the coming months.
a new sign was installed on the clubhouse wall next to the new main gate promoting our website and providing a contact mobile number for those interested in joining the club or hiring the facilities.
a new barbecue was purchased using funds received from the ACT Government’s Seniors Grant Program. Once purchased, the barbecue had to be installed and this included demolishing the old equipment, repairing the old site, and then assembling and installing the new barbecue. A very labour intensive job but certainly worthwhile.
The gardens and surrounds continued to be well maintained throughout the year and this work ensured the club and surrounds were always admired by both members and visitors alike. A big thank you to Tim Harris and Lorraine Ovington for the time and interest they take in caring for the gardens.

The club can be very proud of the time and effort that some of our members invest in the club to ensure our facilities are well maintained and projects are delivered in the most cost effective way. In particular, I would like to thank Geoff Kotz, Graeme Rossiter, Phillip Stephens and Tim Harris who have been the major contributors to these tasks.

Events

A number of events were held during the year including:

The Club Championships - these were a great success with almost 80 club members participating and over 100 entries in the various events. The championships take a good deal of organising and I would like to thank Max Rafferty, Tony Laudenbach and Mark Walton for the time and effort they put into the planning of the event, and also to Mark and his coaching team who ran the event so efficiently and successfully.
Community Tennis Day and 24 hour cardio tennis challenge – this proved to be a very successful event with the club organising a sausage sizzle on the community day. A big thank you to Brian Chauncy, Tony Laudenbach and Kerry Ward who spent the day cooking and serving, and ensuring we always had sufficient food to feed the hungry “hoards”.
The Charles Weston School (Coombs) community BBQ and Information Evening - the club set up a site with publicity material, mini nets, and racquets and balls supplied by our Club Coach, Mark Walton. The site proved very popular with both parents and children, and a big thank you goes to Phillip Stephens and Mark Walton for organising the site and promoting our club.

League Success

Throughout the year the Club had a pleasing number of teams participating in the various League competitions. The teams had regular success in the competitions with a number of teams winning their Divisions or reaching the grand final.

During the year a new policy was implemented to assist League players who find that a number of their matches are cancelled due to washout, cancellation, or oppositions forfeiting. The policy means that if one third or more of League rounds are not played, the team affected will be provided with a discount on team registration for the next season. This new arrangement gives our members the confidence that if matches are not played, financial compensation may be offered.

A big thank you goes to Dan Green who does an outstanding job organising all the League teams throughout the year and ensuring that any problems that may arise are quickly resolved.

Survey Results

The results of the club’s first members’ survey were released in the middle of the year with Dan Green doing a very thorough job in analysing and summarising the responses. The majority of responses provided very positive feedback, with most being satisfied or very satisfied with what the club offers. However, some respondents did make particular comments about the need for the clubhouse to be refurbished, while some concerns were expressed about the availability of courts during peak times, and the need to replace damaged tennis nets. A number of the suggestions were followed through with new nets being installed and the new club coach contract (see below) clarifying court usage times and hopefully making more courts available during peak times.

Club Coach Contract

The current contract with Mark Walton, our Club Coach, expired during the year and a new 5 year contract was successfully negotiated with Mark and signed on 15 March 2023.

As well as outlining the terms and conditions of the engagement, the new contract places a greater emphasis on growing the coaching services and coaching numbers during the term, as well as developing an “identified approach” where the Club and the Club Coach will ensure shared objectives are met. The contract also clarifies the allocation of courts during coaching times and should ensure sufficient courts are available for our members during peak times....