The end of the year is quickly approaching so it’s time to give you an update on what’s been happening at the club.

The Monday night Spring competition Grand Final is next Monday night, the 9th of December from 6pm, weather permitting of course. After a hard fought competition, the Grand Finalists are Kel Arthur’s Team 6 consisting of Kel, Pato, Nic Crowe and Debbie Heffernan versus Tarun Penukondas’ Team 3 consisting of Tarun, Catriona Cole, Frank Davey, Krishna Penukonda and Mick Grealy. Good luck to both teams on the night. Everyone and anyone is welcome to come down and cheer them on.

The club’s submission to the July 2024 Clubgrants Category 3 Infrastructure funding round was unsuccessful and we have made a submission to the November 2024 round.

We were looking forward to applying for this year’s Crown Reserves Improvement Fund (CRIF) grants. However, it turns out that we don’t meet the criteria for this year’s round as we don’t reach the visitation numbers they require in order to apply, which is clearly intended to target city based organisations. We have noted though that there is a Crown Reserve fund for emergency repairs and replacement that can be sought if the need arises in between grants. This could be particularly pertinent for courts 3 & 4.

The social tennis group continues to enjoy their Monday and Thursday morning sessions from 0900 to 1100 and I encourage everyone to come and have a hit even if they are not members of the club the first time they come along. We have had good sized roll ups and it’s always good fun. The social tennis group’s Christmas Party is set down for Monday the 16th of December at 11am after that day’s session. It’s a “bring a plate to share affair.” Thank you Vicki Barber for organising this.

We had a meeting with Amanda Culceski from Tennis NSW in October. Amanda gave us an update on the peak body’s activities and programs. Amanda mentioned that we can get support for any promotional materials we want to develop for the club including the Twilight Holiday doubles events so we will submit information to them about that.

Speaking of which - The Twilight Holiday doubles evenings are happening again in January. The dates will be Tuesday the 7th and Wednesday the 8th of January and Tuesday the 14th and Wednesday the 15th of January. Registration beings at 5.30 and play starts at 6pm. The cost is $15 a head. It is mixed doubles and players rotate according to results of each set of games. It’s a fun format and the feedback from previous years has been great. There will be prizes for winners on the court and lucky prize draws for all of those who play.

Our Secretary Sandy has navigated the club through the yearly renewals of affiliation and insurance through Tennis NSW. The yearly licensing with Reflections park management has also been finalised and we have had correspondence with Reflections about a longer term lease.

A working bee was held on Sunday the 27th of October from 1000 to 1200. Thank you to those who participated – Denise, Vanessa, Bernie, Kel, Sandy and Rick. We got a fair bit done in the allotted time but there is more to do, for example, replacing perimeter wires that have deteriorated to the point of being dangerous.

With Christmas coming up I’d just like to remind everyone that the club peaked caps would make a wonderful Christmas gift. They are available in white and bright yellow, with the club emblem on them. Only $25 each! Drop us an email at pambulatennisclub@gmail.com if you would like to arrange a purchase or come down to the courts when the social tennis is on – see above.

Finally, there a few members who have yet to finalise their membership and ball fees. So those who are yet to settle please do so by one of the many ways that are available.

See you around the courts and have a wonderful Christmas and New Year.

Rick Farrell

President.