WCTC January Newsletter 2021

Fri, 22 Jan 2021 00:00

Welcome to the Weston Creek Tennis Club (WCTC) January Newsletter 2021.

President's Message

This is the first Newsletter for 2021. I hope you all had an enjoyable Christmas with ample opportunity during the holiday break to enjoy our wonderful club and the facilities that it offers.

This Newsletter includes a piece outlining the incredible amount of work that has taken place in and around the club in recent months. A very big thank you to all those who put in the time and effort. The club is looking immaculate at the moment and that is largely due to those members who have contributed so much to improving the facilities.

Members may have noticed the recent addition to our clubhouse roof with the installation of 30 solar panels. These were the result of Geoff Kotz being successful in his application for a Commonwealth Government Community Energy Efficiency Grant. As a result of Geoff’s successful application, the grant provided the full funding for the supply and installation of the panels. Once again, a big thank you to Geoff who not only prepared the grant application, but then undertook the task of engaging contractors and managing the project.

I would also like to thank one of our members, Jill Hanson, who brought to the Committee’s attention the opportunity for the Club to apply for the ACT Government electricity rebate which was offered to community clubs. As a result of Jill’s suggestion, the club was successful with its application and will receive a rebate on its future electricity bills. Well done Jill.

Finally, as a result of work undertaken by our Secretary, Clair Dupont, the club now has a QR code, and posters displaying the code have been installed at the club. I would encourage everyone to scan the code when entering the club premises. By checking-in, your contact details will be collected by the ACT Government and may assist ACT Health with future contact tracing.

Peter Ward
WCTC President

Membership

As from 1 January 2021, all new members of Weston Creek Tennis Club will receive a full year of membership commencing from the date of joining; pro-rata fees no longer apply. New members will continue to pay the one-off joining fee, except where a junior member is being coached by our Club coach, Mark Walton or any of his nominees. These new categories are only available for new members and are designed to dispense with the pro-rata fees, which confused everyone.

Existing 2020-2021 memberships will expire on 31 March as usual. The new options are not available to current members, who will have to renew on 1 April every year as usual.

All members receive an email notification when their membership expires and have 1 month to renew to continue to benefit from membership privileges e.g. court hire at members' rates. Renewal is encouraged on receipt of the email. This information can also be found on our website HERE.

Brian Chauncy
WCTC Membership Secretary

Canberra Adult Tennis League Competition

Autumn Canberra Tennis League – Entries Open

Entries are open now for The Walking Clinic Autumn Adult Canberra Tennis League season. There are a range of days and formats, that will suit every player;

Monday/Tuesday Night League; offers players a mixture of singles and doubles in a quick format. Thursday Night League; a great option for players wanting to play doubles. Saturday League; the recently introduced singles matches, suits players wishing to play the longer format.

Entry Link: https://matchcentre.tennis.com...

Entries Close: 3 February via Match Centre

All players must be members of a Tennis ACT affiliated club to play in Canberra Tennis League. All entries are subject to approval from your club and Tennis ACT.

Dan Green
WCTC Adult Competition Captain

FAQ: Court Bookings

Every newsletter we will aim to provide one Frequently Asked Question (FAQ) about court bookings, membership or other activities. These FAQs will also be added to the relevant FAQ pages on the Club's website. To start us of we have a common questions regarding court bookings which is found HERE.

Just a reminder for all members to book your court at least 1/2 hour before you want to play. Your gate code will be active 10 minutes before your scheduled time.

If you need to cancel your booking, you need to do this at least 1 hour ahead of the booking or your credit card will be charged. It is not charged (or is refunded automatically) if you cancel at least an hour before your time.

If there is a sudden storm or your partner breaks a leg and you can't play or cancel before the cutoff, mutually convenient arrangements can be made; i.e. a refund or another time slot by contacting Brian on 0450 961 705.

Clair & Brian

Coaching

Tennis for Weston Creek Tennis Club has commenced again with tennis camps running 18th – 22nd Jan & also 25th – 29th Jan. The new term starts Monday 1st February 2021. Any enquiries, please don’t hesitate to call Mark on 0408 486191.

Mark Walton
WCTC Coaching Head

Social Tennis

A reminder that WCTC offers social tennis on Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings from 8:30am and on Wednesday evenings from 7-10pm. Please contact Maggie King on 0432 865 910 regarding Monday, Wednesday and Friday morning social tennis and Johnny Swientek on 0400 406 687 regarding Wednesday night social tennis. More information HERE.

Facility Maintenance

Improving and maintaining the Weston Creek Tennis Club facility underpins the success of any Club. For our Club, this has continued over the December/January holiday period. A brief description of the works completed in recent months is summarised below:

A key piece of infrastructure improvement was the repairs and painting of the roof. This was followed by the erection of 30 solar panels. It is expected that the panels will reduce the Club electricity costs in future years. A big thank you to Geoff Kotz for arranging and managing this project.
A contractor was engaged to clean out the area around the perimeter fencing. This included removing old wood, roots (including a large ant-root trench at the end of Court 9), large thorny weeds, and other debris. The completion of the work has resulted in opening up the vista around the facility. A big thank you to Graeme Rossiter and Tim Harris for assisting the contractor.

In addition to the above, other work continued to be undertaken by a small group of dedicated members (using their own equipment) and included:

preparing and laying a new spoon drain and cutting large roots at the western end of the courts (Tim, Geoff and Graeme);
bolting down and making safe, the bottom of ageing (though still good) coiled wire at the ends of the courts (Geoff, Graeme and Brian Chauncy);
welding a number of our sagging gates (Johnny Swientek);
removal of weeds and ants on and around all the courts and grounds (Tim);
flattening existing roots on Court 9 (Graeme and Geoff);
poisoning the tree roots and filling in the trench at the back of Court 9 (Graeme);
repairing and maintaining the in-ground watering system (Tim);
removal of the bike rack and ultimately cementing in new garden edging (Graeme and Tim);
removal of large and small diameter low lying branches from the tree closest to the Clubhouse (Tim);
mulching of the branches and building up the gardens (Tim and Graeme);
watering, tending to and planting flowers in the gardens, and general weeding (Tim and Lorraine Ovington);
repairs to shed and surrounds (Tim and Graeme); and
cleaning the external canopy (Geoff and Brian).

In coming months, it is planned to continue the work in the areas outlined above, including straightening the fence poles.

No doubt the improvements are appreciated by all those using our facilities and a huge thank you to those who have invested their time and effort to undertake the work. Photos provided below.

Graeme Rossiter
WCTC Vice President & Maintenance Crew Leader