Heatherdale Tennis Club – Member update

Dear Members,

I hope you are keeping well and staying safe during these difficult times. The last 18 months have been challenging in so many ways however I truly believe we will come out the other side before too much longer and return to enjoying the freedom and liberties living in Australia has afforded us.

In some good news the Council has granted permission for Jarrod to resume coaching Jera Staley as a high performance athlete.   Jera has played ITF tournaments overseas and is currently playing AMT (Australian Money Tournaments).  He has an Australian ranking of 300.  So if you see Jarrod Coaching in lockdown it has been approved through all the correct channels and is an exciting step forward. 

Some signs have been erected at the club to inform the public.  The club is thrilled to be supporting Jera and is hoping this is the first step to be able to open up for all our members.  Tennis Vic and the Coaches association is working hard with the State Government to be able to open up in some way.  

I wanted to reach out and let you know that whilst we have been in and out of lockdown, your committee has been working on some exciting projects to enhance and improve your experiences at our wonderful club.

We have partnered with Tennis Victoria to develop our new website under their “ClubSpark” program.

Apart from a fresh new look, the website allows processing of new memberships and membership renewals with great simplicity.

There will be an online court booking system and a regularly updated “events” noticeboard. One of the great features is there will be a few stories about the amazing history our club has forged, something I look forward to adding many chapters to over time.

I encourage you to look on the following link:

https://play.tennis.com.au/heatherdaletennisclub

By clicking on the About Us tab, you can read how, at one stage the Heatherdale tennis club became the most well-known local tennis club in the world, and for those that haven’t already seen our stories on our lady’s pennant team and Marg Senton, these stories can be found there as well. 

Any suggestions from our members would be welcomed, remember it is in development stage and is a work in progress.

We are also in the process of setting up a messaging service. This will allow us to send text messages ensuring regular updates are communicated to our members.

Our next major project is the upgrading of our court lights to LED. We have been in discussion with our lighting specialists to put a plan in place to achieve the best results. We have started seeking support from a few sponsors and we are already nearly a quarter of the way to our target goal with some generous funding already received.

We are in discussion with various other parties including Whitehorse Council and we are trying to secure their support with financial grants so the project can be fast tracked. If any members can assist in the process of garnering support, please contact me on 0413 339 205 or Peter Clark on 0411 402 072.

I would like to thank all members on their understanding and patience in the current climate but also for your ongoing support of our Club.

ERT are planning their Senior Saturday afternoon Summer competition to run during 4th term 2021 and 1st term 2022 with a mid season break over the Christmas, New Year period.   If you would like to be involved please contact myself (David) on 0413 339 205 or email your interest to david@gklabels.com.au 

We look forward to getting back on court and hopefully will get a full season in.  

Another project that will be occuring as the weather warms is the painting of the mini court.  This paint is designed for sporting surfaces and is ultra-hard wearing and slip resistant.  We would like to know what colour our members would prefer.

You can simply reply to the text message from the club that sent you here with your choice of colour and if you have any other ideas or suggestions that you think may improve the club, please add them as well.  

The mini court colour choices.   

1. Terra Cotta                                                                       2.  Blue

I look forward to seeing you down at the courts sometime soon.

Best wishes

David Webb

President