Club News

• Welcome to Father Tony Doran Parish Priest of St Monica’s Church and ultimately our principal for the tennis club.  Welcome Father Tony.  I look forward to working with you to help maintain the club to the highest standards and to maximise participation within the community.

• Membership Renewals for 2022/2023 will be sent shortly.

• Membership renewals will be emailed shortly
• Be sure to look out for the early bird renewal.

• Coaching

• Coaching continues to be well supported as the club returns to a new normal of operation.

• Lighting Project

Background

Early in 2021 the committee established a sub-committee (Bec Sicilia. Mark Kelly, Matt Norris, Mark Lewis) to provide recommendations regarding the possible replacement of the existing metal halide lights with LED lights. 

The committee subsequently agreed in principle to plan for replacement LED lights on the basis that:

•        the current lights are due to fail without warning, having already lasted beyond their expected life,

•        the likely future difficulty in replacing metal halide globes,

•        the cheaper energy costs of LED lights,

•        the significantly longer expected life of LED (20 years+, vs 3-5 years for metal halide), and perhaps  

               most importantly…

•        the significant enhancement of club amenity based on the superior light provided by LED and the     

               deterioration of light quality over time from metal halide globes (LED performance, by contrast, is

               expected to deteriorate only marginally over time).

Recommendation

D&A Lighting be awarded the contract to install LED lights at St Monica’s Tennis Club, subject to a satisfactory meeting with D&A.  The Hawkeye 400 system would provide the best lighting experience for club members and justifies the cost of the project - circa $35,000

• Council have approved the installation of new lighting and an ordered placed
• Funding provided through cash reserves and a loan repayable to the parish.
• Works will commence shortly on painting of poles as we await delivery and installation of the lighting from preferred supplier D & E Lighting

• Working Bee

• Committee lead working bee was completed on Sunday 20th March.  A big thank you for the support on the day.  It had been more than two years since the last working bee so a welcome freshen up.
• A big thank you to Kevin Coghlan who continues to support the club with his effort maintaining the lawns and edges. 
• A big thank you to all attendees who assisted with the courts and surrounds, clubrooms  clean-up and maintenance.
• In the spirit of maintaining the club to a high standard the committee will publish the next working bee date so many more members can volunteer their time for this important activity.
• Maintenance

• New Kettles have been purchased
• New Door Mats have been purchased
• The committee will continue to look for opportunities to enhancer the experience while at the club.
• Defib maintenance.  Batteries have been replaced recently as planned.

• Finances
• The club finances are in reasonably good order given recent lockdowns. Given  the amount of court time allowed for members and participants in coaching over the past two years we are pressing forward with plans for court lighting upgrade.   Your membership of the club is an important contribution each your to help maintain our club to standards outlined by Tennis Victoria.

• Competition

• Competition is strong across all senior mid-week grades. 
• Saturday afternoon competition is an opportunity for any members looking to start a team.
• Junior competition requires a boost in numbers.  We will continue to focus our attention in this direction to ensure a steady flow of news players in junior grades continues to deliver enough graded teams to support the clubs purpose toward development of our club membership.
• Competition Representatives

• NSJTA - Michelle Coffey 
• NSLTA - Julie Carland  
• NSNTA - Loretta Joyce who has advised the club of her desire to stand down.  The committee seeks your support to volunteer for this position.  Please reach out to Loretta or myself if you would like to know more about the role.
• NSTA - Vacant  

Regards

Patrick Saundry

President 

St Monica's Tennis Club