Dear Members

Fog bound courts at 8am on June 23rd were a timely reminder that your Newsletter is overdue!    And the fact that we actually had a turnout (albeit a bit light on) through to lunchtime, gave me the inspiration: we may be in mid Winter but our club is in excellent shape!

How so?  Well the Biggest News is that after the COVID wipe out we will shortly witness the return of two Junior teams to Saturday morning Competition Tennis at Victoria Park. A big thankyou to the youngsters and of course to their parents for coming on board.  And an even bigger thanks to our coaches, and Nicole Lindeman especially, for getting them all enrolled and ‘comp ready’.  While some members were impatient in the past to get teams back onto the court, Nicole has always insisted that we should not rush them.  There is a lot to learn before you can play competition successfully, and without the right skills foundation and knowledge of the rules of the game etc. it can end up a turnoff from tennis rather than the beginning of a lifetime in the game. 

We do bill ourselves as a ‘Family Club’ and we also have great news for those at the other end of the life cycle!   This year’s U3A ‘return to tennis’ program with the Hawthorn and Deepdene campuses proved the best yet.  This year we offered a free Winter membership as part of the package.  The program was fully subscribed, and nine of the ten participants then took up our free offer. And following on from that four participants have already become full members.  Much of the success of the program rests with the coach Jason, whose efforts this year inspired a wonderful poem from our now new member Romayne Louey, which you can find below. 

More of an adventure was Stage One of our ‘2024 Engagement Strategy’, which followed on from our Club survey.  With three basic strategies focussed on the ‘over 55s’, Night Tennis and Family focussed initiatives we have completed our first big effort with the ‘Come and Try’ event for older players.

‘Come and Try’ had great support from the Boroondara Council and we blitzed Neighbourhood Houses, Rotary Clubs, Libraries, the Men’s Shed, the Adeney Café and so on. We also linked the U3A program to the event. While the external response was near zero and led to only one non-U3A Winter membership, the event worked really well in other ways.  The best part of twenty people participated across the morning, bringing together members from across different social groups who hadn’t played together before. They loved it and we are planning to repeat the experience! 

The other giant step forward this year was the turning on of the LED. Welcomed by a small but enthusiastic group, the effect after years of semi darkness was stunning.  The Night Comp team can see the ball at last and come the warmer seasons I am sure it will be standing room only.  Thanks again to Treasurer Grant Cameron for leading the initiative – to be known hereafter as ‘Mr. LED’.

So it may be mid Winter but as you can see the Club already has a lot going for it in 2024. 

And to show it was no fluke, our Tuesday night comp team, captained by Michael Archdeacon, won the premiership again! Congratulations to all players. 

And Secretary Nicole reports that membership is closing in on 150! So, when you remember that we look to Spring and Summer for our annual membership increases we are in great shape indeed.

Regards

Paul Smyth

Tennis at Victoria Park,

For friendliness it hits the mark. 

It was with some trepidation and niggly fears,

That I approached my tennis lesson; after all it has been fifty years.

Would the competition be fierce and deadly?

No worries, as coach Jason was welcoming and friendly.

We began with the racquet horizontal rolling the ball round and round,

Then we reversed the direction, not letting the ball fall to the ground.

Next we bounced our balls on the racquet strings up and down,

But my ball skills deserted me, never to be found.

Whilst on the court there was the occasional hot shot,

Centre court at Wimbledon it certainly was not!

Jason said on the low balls I needed to dive,

But my legs were like lead, I felt barely alive.

Everyone managed to connect racquet to ball,

Some even tried the latest sensation called Pickleball.

We made new friends and had fun, one and all,

And thankfully no one sustained a fall!

Hopefully we have all achieved a health gain,

And our bodies don’t end up in a world of pain.

The president, Paul visited and encouraged us to join the club.

Even if we don’t play, he said we can still meet monthly at the pub!

Romayne Louey