Welcome to the Weston Creek Tennis Club (WCTC) July Newsletter 2025.
President’s Message
Brrr! Winter’s here, and with it comes the cozy crackle of woodfires and the unmistakable scent of hot chocolate in the air. While we’re layering up down under, Wimbledon’s in full swing across the globe—proof that it’s summer somewhere!
Winter League is Heating Up!
Our Adult Winter League is about to kick off, and Weston Creek Tennis Club is showing up strong! It’s awesome to see so many of you out there, rocking the club colours and bringing the heat to the courts. Meanwhile, our juniors are taking a well-earned league break to sharpen their skills for a smashing spring season. Go team!
Albury Easter Tournament – We Came, We Played, We Conquered!
A squad of our finest headed to Albury and absolutely lit up the grass courts. Huge congrats to our finalists:
Brock Evans, Clay Chadwick, Cameron Middleton, Riley Barker, Jayden Cartwright, Jenny McDonald, Emily Beaton, Mackenzie Walton, and Natasha Walton – you made us proud!
And let’s give a big cheer for these standout performances:
- Pax Ramadan – Men’s Open Tier 2 Runner-Up
- Adele Mewett – B Grade Women’s Champ & U14 Girls Semi-Finalist
- Eric Pang & Angus Pearce – B Grade Men’s Doubles Champs
- Eric Pang & Pax Ramadan – C Grade Doubles Runners-Up, rocking vintage whites and wooden racquets like it’s Wimbledon ‘75
- Joshua Collins & Brock Evans, and Coach Mark Walton & Geoff Butler – C Grade Doubles Semi-Finalists
You all brought the flair, the fire, and the fun!
Junior 125 Tournament – Let’s Go!
We’re thrilled to be hosting the Junior 125 Tournament from 4–6 July 2025 as part of the Junior Australian Tour. It’s a golden opportunity for our rising stars to shine on home turf and for the club to show off its awesome community spirit. Come down and cheer them on!
Club Round-Up
Our new court development is moving forward (and yes, my grey hairs are multiplying ). We’re finalising building approvals and hope to break ground soon. Currently, we’re down to 10 courts by day and 8 by night, but the plan is to bounce back to 12 courts, plus 2 brand-new hard courts. Game on!
Let’s keep the energy high and the rallies long as we roll into spring. See you around the club soon – racquets ready and smiles on!
Max Rafferty
President, WCTC
Club Championship 2025 - Save the Date
The Club Championship 2025 will be held on 13-14 September 2025. Please save this date. More information will be provided closer to the date.
Chief Minister's Gold Awards 2025
The Chief Minister’s Canberra Gold Award recognises and celebrates the contribution made by individual citizens and groups who have chosen to make Canberra their home for 50 years or more. As a recipient of this award in 2025, Weston Creek Tennis Club received a commemorative certificate and pin in recognition of the club's contribution to the Canberra community. Tony Laudenbach and Thomas Fuller represented the club at an event held at the historic Albert Hall on 11 March 2025, where they received the award from ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr.
New Courts Project Update as at 19 June 2025
Progress Overview: In the period Mar-Jun 2025 we have addressed the conditions raised in our Development Application (DA) and received DA approval. We’ve also engaged Sporteng to help resolve our design issues and they have identified a more cost-effective drainage and site levelling solution. The resulting cost savings from the new designs is that we are now likely to be able to construct our two new courts and two resurfaced courts with supporting grading, drainage and landscaping within budget. There still remains some design issues that are constraining us from progressing to tendering. The delays in finalising our DA and developing final designs have necessitated the renegotiation of our project milestones with our major sponsor.
Project Startup is progressing
(The Startup Stage covers designing our new courts, sourcing development approvals, contracting our developer and producing project plans)
Project Start-up achievement since the last report include:
- finalising DA queries and receiving DA approval and stamped plans
- confirming project scope within cost options with Sporteng
- resolving drainage and soil levelling solutions
- sourcing a Building Certifier
- negotiating changes to milestone dates with Federal Government sponsor
- sourcing a Canopy Contribution Agreement Tree from our arborist
The next tasks for the Project Team, include:
- finalising Sportengr designs for source contractors
- finalising new project dates with sponsor and signing updated Deed Agreement
- approving Canopy Contribution Agreement with ACT Gov Tree Protection Unit
- selecting and contracting a developer within final funding including court quality measures
- producing a Construction Erosion Plan and Commencement Notice
- producing construction project management plan
Autumn League Results
The Walking Clinic Monday/Tuesday Night League
Division 1
Weston Creek were semi-finalists (Nathan Franklin, Charlie Pridmore, Mason Willoughby-Thomas and Todd Holcombe)
Division 7
Weston Creek Wedgies were semi-finalists (Andrew Stuart, Paul Bullas, Natalie Heller, Peter Jenson, Tim Newton)
Division 8
Runner-up SYG (Benjamin Walther, Noah Shafron and Aaron Clark)
The Walking Clinic Thursday Night League
Division 1
Champions Weston Creek 1 (Nathan Franklin, Thomas Fuller, Steph Bayley-Nelson, Michelle Tifan, John Roberts and Marlese van Lille)
Runners-up WC (Tim Harris, Sam Wilson, Sonya Amey and Jason Perkins)
Division 4
Champions WCTC Dragons (Clair Dupont, Andrew Stuart, Natalie Heller, Michael Horsley, Kim McFarlane, James Martin, Karen Hosking and Mark Rendall)
The Walking Clinic Saturday League
Division 1
Champions Weston Creek Walruses (Nathan Franklin, Thomas Fuller, Hung Kha, Mason Willoughby-Thomas and Charlie Pridmore)
Runners-up Weston Wedgies (Pax Ramadan, Eric Pang and Angus Pearce)
Division 3
Semi-finalists Weston returners (Nik Tarasyuk, Leszek Stawski and Joe Kwon)
Semi-finalists Bruen's Besties (Angus Cook, Aden Whiles and Tyler Rule)
Loss of long term WCTC member, Margaret Foodie
Margaret was a well loved member of the Club and a regular social tennis player. Margaret, along with Julie Yeomans, established the well-used library in the clubhouse.
The WCTC was well represented at Margaret’s funeral by members of the Club.
The following was received from Margaret’s granddaughter, Sarah Melis:
I am writing to advise of sad news which will be of interest to some members of WCTC. My Nan, Margaret Foodey, who was a member of WCTC for many years, unfortunately passed away on Saturday 15th of March after a battle with cancer.
Nan loved to watch and play tennis and adored the WCTC community. She was a regular participant in the weekday social competition and enjoyed spending time with friends at the coffee and morning tea which would follow each match. This was something she missed when she became too unwell to play.
I am unsure what year my Nan first joined WCTC but she was a member for over two decades as I first started playing at WCTC in 2005; having been inspired by her to pick up a racquet and play at her club
She truly loved the club and all tennis brought to her life. Thank you on my Nan’s behalf for fostering a community she loved so dearly. She knew the club’s warm and welcoming atmosphere was a testament to the dedication of its Committee and loyal members. She remained interested in the community up until her passing.
Thank you to those members who continued to stay in touch with my Nan over the course of her illness. She greatly appreciated their thoughtfulness and friendship. I can provide funeral details once these have been arranged for anyone interested.
I will miss playing with her but will look back on these fond memories when I play at WCTC.
Buzzing with Thanks – WCTC’s First 2025 Working Bee!
On Sunday 25 May 2025, Weston Creek Tennis Club kicked off its first two-hour working bee for 2025 – and wow, what a buzz!
A massive thank you to everyone who came along and got stuck in. It’s amazing how quickly two hours fly by when you’re clearing spoon drains, pulling weeds, and conquering cobwebs! We smashed through about 95% of the drains – which is a huge win for helping our courts dry out faster (great news for keeping them in top shape).
What’s even better than the tidy club? Hanging out together. Good vibes all around!
Sadly, we missed out on the all-important tea and biscuit break... but rest assured, that’ll be back on the menu next time.
Got an idea for a job around the club that needs doing? Send it our way – we’re open to requests!
And just to be super clear – there’s absolutely no pressure to join in. These working bees are low-stress, good-fun, community-powered events. But if you do want to lend a hand, we’d love to have you – because teamwork really does make the dream work.
If you're a natural organiser and enjoy working with others (especially fellow volunteers!), we’re also looking for folks to help form a Working Bee Subcommittee. If that sounds like your jam, drop us a line.
We’re aiming to run two more working bees before the year wraps up, so there’ll be more chances to jump in and get involved.
Thanks again to everyone who helped out – and if you’re thinking, “Darn, I wish I’d been there,” don’t worry… we’ll save a broom and a biscuit for you next time.
School Holiday Camps
Winter Holiday Camps enrolments are now open!!!
CSOT runs an extensive range of holiday programs for kids aged 3-18 years as well as our Adult Cardio Tennis sessions.
Run by Tennis Australia qualified tennis coaches, our holiday camps are fun, entertaining, and designed to teach players of all standards, starting with the fundamentals of tennis for beginners all the way through to our elite high-performance players.
Weston Creek Tennis Club
- Week 1 - Monday 7th July - Friday 11th July 2025.
- Blue 9-11am (3-7yrs beginners), Half Day 9am-1pm, All Day Tennis Only 9am-5pm.
- Week 2 - Week 1 - Monday 14th July - Friday 18th July 2025.
- Blue 9-11am (3-7yrs beginners), Half Day 9am-1pm, All Day Tennis Only 9am-5pm.
Gold Creek School - Gungahlin
- No Tennis Camps available at this time.
Pines Tennis Club - Tuggeranong
- No Tennis Camps available at this time.
ADULTS - Did you know CSOT runs tennis lessons for adults? Come and try our Cardio Tennis program in the school holidays. (First time is free)
Cardio Tennis is a fun way to get into tennis and you can do it at your own pace.
Sessions are available on Tuesdays and Thursdays (both weeks) at our Weston Creek and Gungahlin venue.
To book in or find out the costs, click the link below using the Tennis Australia endorsed program Club Spark, which allows you to book in & pay online.
BOOK NOW
https://play.tennis.com.au/canberraschoolo.../Coaching/Camps
For more information, please contact Robert Jamieson at robert@csot.com.au or on 0432 118 204.
Request for Expressions of Interest in the Club’s Assistant Treasurer Role
The Committee is seeking a Club member to assist our Club Treasurer to manage our funds and financial records, including:
- Invoicing all regular income including League costs
- Checking all regular income is received
- Allocating income into Club accounts in our Xero financial system
- Assisting to manage event income and expenditure
- Organising asset repair and maintenance
This is an interesting and rewarding role that supports all aspects of our Club operations and development. This role does not require any accounting or book-keeping knowledge and the scope of the role is negotiable. The Club Treasurer will train the successful applicant in aspects of our funds management and supporting systems. All Club’s financial system are accessible on-line so this role can be done at home at your preferred timings. This role would also be of interest to an applicant wanting to develop skills in business bookkeeping and business management.
Please contact the Club Treasurer, Phillip Stephens on 0412 371 877 or by email on pdtjmail@bigpond.net.au if you have any queries or an interest in this role.
Social Tennis
A reminder that WCTC offers social tennis on Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings and Wednesday evenings. Further information can be found on our website HERE.