Presidents AGM Report 2021/22 - 09 November 2022

Dear WTC Members

Welcome to the Westernport Tennis Club 2022 Annual General Meeting. I’d very much like to thank you all for attending this evening.

Wow another year has passed and our club is in a very strong position. We have in the order of 100+ members, offering:

• superior coaching services for juniors, private lessons, and now Cardio tennis twice a week
• one of the strongest intraclub competitions (men’s, ladies and mixed) in our region
• Tuesday mid-week ladies and Saturday mixed tennis competitions
• Club (Sunday 27 November) and Junior Club (Sunday 26 February 2023) Championships
• the best up-coming junior talent playing in the Korrine District Junior competitions throughout the year.
• a supportive environment in the development of the juniors’ programs by actively seeking juniors participating in intraclub and district tennis competitions for our club.
• reciprocal rights with our neighbors Phillip Island Tennis Club.

With our financial position remaining healthy, our committee resolved to adopt our membership fees for 22/23 back to pre-pandemic levels and in line with similar/neighboring tennis clubs. This has not deterred our membership with an increase of several new members (and previously past members) picking up a racquet and getting out and having a hit. Numbers in both the ladies and men’s twilight and mixed competition have been outstanding this year (10 teams in all competitions) and plenty of fill in’s as well. Our coordinators have done a fantastic job in preparing these competitions for the club.

Just a friendly reminder, we would appreciate that all members to log into our website to pay your annual membership. If you have any troubles logging in or paying your annual membership, please contact our either our Treasurer - James Olarenshaw or Secretary - Simonne Liberman https://play.tennis.com.au/westernporttennisclub/Membership/Join

I wish to confirm that Westernport and Phillip Island Tennis Clubs have agreed to a reciprocal fee of $20 for each club member for another 3 years. This means that players from either club don’t need to pay a full membership to play at these clubs. Players are able to use the tennis courts, subject to court availability, or players from each club having the opportunity to play each other competitions. Club Championships would only be open to full paying club members. This has continued to attract several players from each club to compete in their respective club competitions. We welcome all new players from Phillip Island Tennis Club. Again, please contact our Treasurer James Olarenshaw, if you have a membership at Phillip Island Tennis Club, but you are interested (or are playing WTC Summer Twilight or Mixed Comp) or social play at our club, please check our membership page on our website.

I would like to thank our club sponsors for their continued partnership with our club.  I would encourage all members to visit the Club’s website to support our local businesses.

To San Remo Recreation Reserve Committee. Our club is fortunate to be able to use these facilities. It is important for all members to understand that we are tenants of this facility. We very much appreciate you continued support and value the effort of your volunteers in ensuring that our members could play tennis.

In 2021/22 Korrine District Tennis Association (KDTA) Summer competition, we had a total of 8 teams and 4 teams in the Winter competition. Thank you to all parents and team managers who helped throughout the season. Our club continues to be very strong in the KDTA competition, competing from Pennant thru to section 5. Thanks To Paul Rowbottom (Tennis Coach), Ailsa Wines (Secretary for KDTA and club member) who helps with junior team’s selections and the development of junior competition for our region.

We also welcome our new assistant Junior Coordinator- Anna Gloria (with some help from Kirsty Crooks) who is filling in while Kyra is travelling around Australia. Anna is doing a wonderful job and has prepared the new junior teams for our club and keeping team managers informed along the way.  We very much appreciate your time and effort to coordinate the junior summer competition for our kids.

To our previous ladies’ comp coordinators (Sharyn, Suzie) for running the ladies comp in 21/22, thank you for the years of service.  Its great to see and welcome, Cathy Felstead and Renee Coulter to take on this role for 22/23 and beyond.  

Our second season for the annual mixed competition was a massive success, albeit a couple of early washouts in the season. This competition was oversubscribed by our members. This super strong mixed competition was fun, had plenty of laughs and as competitive as usual. I would like to send a big thankyou to Suzie for making this competition the envy of other tennis clubs in our region. Congratulations our winners and runner’s up teams. Just a tip – if you want to play next year in mixed, please register as soon as possible. Limited places are available.

Finally, I write to you all that this will be my last report, after several years being President of Westernport Tennis Club. I will be stepping down from the committee after 7 years. I did say this last year, but this is the time to transition and welcome our new President and Vice President. I know they will do a great job and will continue to look after the club’s interest.

I would like to thank all of you for the commitment and energy you have put into tennis at Westernport Tennis Club. My time volunteering at our club has been a pleasure and that I’m now ready to hand over the reins. I have learnt so much about our tennis club, the volunteers on our committee and our members. I have felt privileged to work alongside you all, watching our club grow throughout the last 7 years.

The club’s strength is our committee, members (juniors, adults, and families), our coach and volunteers (team mangers etc.) that instill a sense of pride and enjoyment that tennis brings to our lives. Our club’s strength is based on our very strong committee and wonderful people that work tirelessly around the club. Thankyou and all the best. Derek Peters - President WTC (Ex.)