Life Members

Wendy Poyner	Reg Hall	Judy Cutler	Craig Morris
Judy Bromilow	Sue Kelly	Julie Treble	Anne Waldron
Allison Wilson	Terry Lubke	Graeme Shearn	Donna Shoenmaekers

 

History of Grovedale Tennis Club

Grovedale Tennis Club is located at Burdoo Reserve in Wingarra Drive Grovedale and is one of the largest clubs in Geelong.

 

April 20, 1970 

Public Meeting held in the Grovedale Hall

It was decided that a Tennis Club be formed and election of Office-bearers

followed:

President – Clive Perrett

Vice President – J Van Halen

Secretary – Barry Lamperd

Treasurer – Alan Pattison

Committee – D Ludbrook, B Donaldson, M Rau and H Rossack

It was then moved that the club be named the Grovedale & District Public Tennis

Club

 

October 1971

First team entered in B1 Grade in the Geelong & District Churches Association,

playing on courts hired at St Bernards.

Team consisted of: Wendy Poyner, Glad Martin, Heather Rossack (now

Trethowan), Carolyn Rowe, Ken Dew, Geoff Trethowan, Barry Lamperd and Clive

Perrett

September 1972 

Three teams entered in Geelong & District Churches Association. 2 premierships (B1& B3)

 

Late 1972 

The club, with the help of debentures from people in the area, raised $500 and with voluntary assistance graded an area of land in Wingarra Drive, and laid two bitumen courts

 

Jun/Jul 1973 

Shelter Shed/Storeroom was built

 

August 1974 

Final arrangements have been completed for the construction of 4 additional courts at Burdoo Reserve. Members who contributed towards the Advanced Fee Scheme thanked for their interest in enabling the club to raise their share of the project.

 

July 1975 

Four new courts are completed

 

September 23, 1978 

First court Lights are turned on

 

April 1980 

Night Competition for Men – Mon/Tues nights – 8 teams – 32 players participating

 

August 1981

Life Membership presented to:

• Wendy Poyner

 

February 1982 

Two new courts completed (now courts 5&6)

 

August 1983

Life Membership presented to:

• Reg Hall

 

December 1, 1984 

Official Opening of the New Clubrooms. Opened by Reg Hall in recognition and appreciation of all his work on the new building

 

August 1987

Life Membership presented to:

• Judy Cuttler

 

April 1995 

25 year Celebration and Reunion

 

July 1997

Life Membership presented to:

• Craig Morris

 

July 2001

Life Membership presented to:

• Julie Treble
• Anne Waldron
• Jenny Bromilow
• Sue Kelley

 

July 2003 

It was moved to affiliate with Tennis Geelong, and that Sat Senior and Junior teams would play their Summer Competitions

 

May 2005 

Tony Johnston, Mens Night Convenor passed away

 

February 2006 

Midweek Ladies transfer from Coast Association to Bellarine Peninsula Tennis Association

 

March 2006 

Chris Tucker, former Junior Champion and son of former Junior Convenor, John Tucker passes away

 

August 2006 

Alison Wilson (nee Pech) presented Life Membership

 

November 2006 

Discussion regarding obtaining a limited liquor licence started

 

December 2006 

Work begins on the bottom four courts for resurfacing and lighting

 

January 2007 

Lights on courts 5&6, and wiring to courts 7&8 are completed

 

February 2007 

Hold our first Trivia Night and raise almost $2,000, Courts are not finished for the recommencement of Saturday Pennant

 

May 2007 

Synthetic courts are finally available for play for the commencement of the Winter Sat Pennant (yes it took 5 months). With this change, the responsibility of maintaining and replacement of the surface, when needed, fall back to the club,not council

 

October 2007 

GWTA and Geelong Tennis merge to form Tennis Geelong Inc

 

October 2007 

Application submitted for a Limited Liquor Licence

 

October 2007 

Extension/decked area is completed in time for the start of Saturday Summer Pennant

 

November 2007 

Letter was received from Peter and Marg Ward, neighbours of the club endorsing our application for the liquor licence

 

December 2007 

Council advised that the light poles on courts 3&4(now 5&6) were unsafe and they needed to be removed. One of which was protruding through the roof of the new deck, so this would also need to be fixed once the pole was removed.

 

February 2008 

Grovedale Secondary College introduces Tennis to its Sports Academy, and uses the Club, and Club Coach to run the program. Light poles for courts 3&4(now 5&6) are removed. The committee decides rather than replace these, that courts 7&8(now 3&4) will be lit earlier than planned. The total cost of the lights are paid for by the club ($20K)

 

March 2008 

A working bee was held to paint the decking enclosure, put in the garden and level the paving (the painting alone took over 200 man hours)

 

April 2008 

Liquor licence was granted

 

May 2008 

Courts 7&8 (now 3&4) lights are completed and operational

 

June 2008 

Purchase a bar fridge, and a bar is donated and installed

 

August 2008 

Cameron Govan and Essential Tennis is appointed club coach and Junior Convenor. He introduces Wilson Pee Wee program to replace Racqueteers (yes he deserves a mention)

 

October 2008 

Fundraising takes on a new meaning with the introduction of "The White Fridge". A constant available supply of chocolates, lollies, ice-cream, water and sports drinks mean that BBQ's are no required

 

December 2008 

Letters sent to all Tennis Geelong clubs asking for ladies interested in a night competition to be run at Grovedale

 

January 2009 

Courts 3&4(now 5&6) are resurfaced in plexiplave, and the fences replaced, with the access gates removed. This now starts the committee discussing the ability to extend the clubrooms to the north end of the building. Working bee is held to paint the entire inside of the clubrooms, and build a path and garden along the back of courts 5&6(now 1&2)

 

February 2009 

A new honour board is installed in the clubrooms, dating back to the inception of the club in 1970. An open day is held to re-introduce the public to the club, and included the official opening of the new facilities by Craig Morris and Michael Crutchfield (Member for South Barwon). The event was attended by many, including local, state and federal politicians. Outdoor blinds were installed on the deck. Trivia Night was held at the club with tables inside and on the deck

 

March 2009 

Ladies Night Pennant starts with 7 teams of 4

 

April 2009 

An Over 45's social hit begins on Thursday mornings, Grovedale has a team graded in Section 1 for Winter for the first time is quite a few years

 

August 2009

Life Membership presented to:

• Terry Lubcke

 

January 2010 

The trees in front of courts 1&2(now 7&8) are removed

 

March 2010 

The entrance to courts 1&2(now 7&8) is tidied up with a path and garden beds

 

April 2010 

Courts 1&2(now 7&8) are resurfaced with a sealed acrylic. The Club hosts its 40 th Anniversary June 2010 First discussion with Andy Richards regarding an extension to the clubrooms, and requirements for a power upgrade to replace lights on courts 3&4(now 5&6). Junior teams reach 18, and St Stephens is found as an option for extra courts

 

January 2011 

Decide on a new logo

 

May 8, 2011 

Open Day held

 

June 2011 

Club website is setup: www.tennis.com.au\grovedaletc

 

May 2012 

Courts 1&2(now 7&8) after many months of problems with slipping, are resurfaced. Lights on courts 3&4(now 5&6) are finished and in use

 

September 2012 

Sub-committee formed to develop plans for clubroom extension

 

January 2013 

Vending Machine installed

 

April 2013 

First discussion with Darren Hall about clubroom extension

 

May 2013 

Retaining wall behind courts 3&4(now 5&6) is built, Club holds its first Winter Raffle

 

July 2013 

Defibrillator was purchased

 

July 19, 2013 

Sarah Henderson visits the club

 

August 2013 

Grovedale hosts 12&U Girls and Boys for Barwon in Vic Junior Pennant. First set of plans for the proposed extension are drawn

 

September 2013 

The club's address is officially changed to 45 Wingarra Drive

 

October 2013 

First order of the new club polo's are received

 

November 16 2013

AO Blitz, along with Jelena Dokic come to Grovedale (one of four venues in Geelong)

 

November 2013 

The built in bar is completed

 

December 2013 

Start to enquire about patching our synthetic courts are the baselines are wearing

 

April 2014 

Proposal put to St Stephens for exclusive use of their courts, outside their own use, to which they agree

 

May 2014 

Community Facilities Funding Project application successful for split systems to be installed

 

October 2014 

Synthetic courts are in dire need of replacement – 3 years earlier than expected. $75K was available but quotes came in at $100K. Decision made to apply for a loan through Tennis Australia – if possible borrow extra to cover club requirement for building if successful in grant applications

 

December 2014 

TA loan approved for court resurfacing and building contingency, Fob system is installed on external gate allowing members to access the courts without having to find keys

 

January 2015 

CoGG provide $3500 for the split systems. Courts 5-8 are resurfaced

 

May 2015 

GTC advised that $500K will be made available for the clubroom extension and lights for courts 1&2(now 7&8) from Community Concepts Program

 

May 2015 Friday Night Junior competition starts. Polar fleece vests added to our clothing range

 

August 2015 

New costings for the proposed extension are much higher than originally quoted. Building needs to be scaled back, the best lighting option determined due to the potential need for a power upgrade. Decision made to put the lights on hold and focus on the building for now

 

October 2015 

Light pole for courts 1&2(now 7&8) installed

 

November 2015 

Life Membership presented to:

• Graeme Shearn

 

December 2015 

Fences at the back and side of court 5-8(now 1-4) replaced

 

January 2016 

Retaining wall behind courts 3&4(now 5&6) is asphalted (2 years and 7 months after it was built!) Temporary fencing goes up in preparation for the commencement of building work, and the building is emptied

 

February 2016 

St Stephens 3 asphalt courts are resurfaced in plexipave. Donate a Deckboard is launched, giving members the opportunity to directly contribute to the extension. Cricket and Football Clubs are kind enough to share their building with us during the building works. Club working bees to lay the new deck

 

October 2016 

Official opening of the new clubrooms

 

November 2017

Life Membership presented to:

• Donna Schoenmaekers

 

February 2019 

Lights on courts 5 & 6 replaced with LED lights.

 

2019

Light pole between court 3 and 4 blew down in strong winds during the night.

December 2019

Bar till upgraded to easier to use and maintain system with integrated EFTPOS

January 2020

Open Court sessions trialled at GTC as part of a Tennis Victoria initiative to encourage past players back to the court with mixed success.

 

March 2020

Cameron Govan tendered his resignation due to taking on a role with Tennis Victoria

 

March 2020

Executive Committee begin process of recruiting a new club coach

 

March 2020

COVID-19 impacted tennis play directly with all competitions and social play stopped from mid March followed shortly by coaching being suspended.

 

June 2020

Executive committee announce engagement of Julian Arold as new club coach and junior coordinator.

 

June 22 2020

Mens Night Competition resumed play after easing of COVID-19 Restrictions

 

August 05 2020

As Victorian COVID-19 cases increased substantially over a couple of weeks Stage 4 restrictions were applied to Metro Melbourne with Satge 3 restrictions applied to Regional Victoria for an initial period of 6 weeks from midnight of 5th August resulting in suspension of all Geelong Tennis interclub competitions and Internal club competitions and all Coaching . Some individual tennis was allowed via the Book-a-Court system and with strict guidlines.