Welcome to the Weston Creek Tennis Club (WCTC) December Newsletter 2022. 

President's Message

This is our last Club Newsletter for 2022 and hopefully you are all finding time during this busy period to enjoy the warm weather and enjoy spending plenty of time on the court.

As usual, there has been a lot of activity occurring on and off the court, all of which is contributing to making this such a great club to be part of and to enjoy.

Budget Funding

The wonderful news for the club is the recent Federal Budget announcement where $800,000 was provided to the Weston Creek Tennis Club to build four new hardcourts and to renovate up to four existing courts. This is a major achievement for the club and I have been advised that this is the first time that an ACT tennis club has received Federal funding through the Budget process.

This announcement is a huge achievement for the club and clearly demonstrates that our club is considered to be an important community asset, offering wonderful facilities, and providing a valuable service to its members and the broader community. There is no doubt that the funding will ensure that our wonderful club will continue to prosper, and will be an important facility for Weston Creek, Molonglo and the wider communities for many years to come.

A big thank you goes to Mr David Smith MP, the Member for Bean, who supported the proposal, and also to Tennis ACT who lobbied hard on our behalf.

New Barbecue

Members may have noted that a beautiful new barbecue has been installed at the club. Unfortunately, the old barbecue had reached the end of its useful life and this was clearly demonstrated at the recent Community Tennis Day which was part of the very successful 24 hour cardio tennis challenge. The club organised a sausage sizzle on the community day and although the old barbecue didn’t let us down, it did struggle at times. A big thank you goes to Brian Chauncy, Tony Laudenbach and Kerry Ward who spent the day cooking and serving, and ensuring we always had sufficient food to feed the hungry “hoards”. Over 110 sausages were sold on the day!

A good deal of work went into the installation of the new barbecue including demolishing the old equipment, repairing the old site, and then assembling and installing the new barbecue. Geoff Kotz did a great job and was ably assisted by Graeme Rossiter and Tim Harris.

Repairs to Men’s Toilet

As a result of a recent incident that caused significant damage to the men’s toilet door and door jam, Graeme Rossiter has spent considerable time and effort repairing the damage. A big thank you goes out to Graeme who volunteered his time and his valuable skills to have the repairs successfully completed. The Club is very fortunate that we do have members who are prepared to invest their time, effort and skills to regularly maintain the clubs facilities. As a result of this valuable volunteering, the Club avoids the considerable cost of engaging expensive trades to undertake the work.

New Signage

A new sign has been installed on the clubhouse wall next to the new main gate promoting our website and providing a contact mobile number for those interested in joining the club or hiring the facilities. Thanks go to Brian Chauncy whose mobile number appears on the sign, and who has offered to be the contact for all enquiries.

New League Arrangements

As a result of some good work by Dan Green, a new policy has been developed to assist League players who find that a number of their matches may be cancelled due to washout, cancellation, or oppositions forfeiting. With COVID and then ongoing poor weather, a number of League teams have had their matches cancelled. Consequently, it has been agreed that if one third or more of League rounds are not played, the team affected will be provided with a discount on team registration for the next season. This is a very fair arrangement and hopefully will encourage more of our members to participate in the Leagues knowing that if matches are not played, financial compensation may be offered. If any member needs further information about this new arrangement, please contact Dan on 0415938772.

While on the subject of the Tennis League, the Spring League season has just completed with the club having 11 teams competing. As usually, the club had outstanding success with a number of teams reaching the semi-finals and finals, and with some teams winning their divisions. Well done to all those who participated.

Club Coach Contract

The current contract with Mark Walton, our Club Coach, is shortly due to expire. Consequently, the Committee has agreed to extend Mark’s appointment for a further 5 years, subject to the signing of a new contract.

Mark has done an outstanding job as the Club Coach, developing juniors, providing professional coaching to individuals and groups, and expanding the services offered to our members, school communities, and the local community. He has also taken a very active role in promoting and organising the annual Club Championships, organising regular Open Days, and providing valuable support and advice to the Committee.

The expiration of the existing contract is seen as an opportunity to renegotiate a new contract with Mark ,and to ensure the coaching services offered into the future will serve our members and the community well.

Membership Analysis

Max Rafferty has recently undertaken an analysis of the club’s membership and produced some interesting facts. The club’s membership is currently. 432. A breakdown of the membership is as follows:

The information provided by Max will be useful in allowing the Committee to undertake further planning in 2023 with a particular focus on increasing membership, particularly in the 18 years to 39 years age group.

Canberra Southern Cross Club’s Community Rewards Programme

Finally, a big thank you to the Canberra Southern Cross Club (CSCC) for their ongoing support of our club. As was mentioned in an earlier Club Newsletter, the CSCC provided $1,000 to our club to assist in the building of a new storage shed. In addition, our club was successful in being chosen to be part of the CSCC’s 2022/2023 Community Rewards Programme. As a result of being part of the programme, the club has recently received its first $580.

Members are reminded that if you are a member of the CSCC, could you please nominate the Weston Creek Tennis Club and link your CSCC card to the Community Rewards Programme. By doing this our club will receive 7.5 cents in the dollar on all food and beverages you purchase at the club. To nominate our club, either go to the CSCC’s website and register online, or you can talk to Reception next time you go to the club and they will arrange it for you. Similarly, tell your friends about the programme and encourage them to also nominate our club. You don’t need to be a member of our club to nominate and link your card to the programme.

Merry Christmas

On behalf of the Committee I would like to wish you all a very happy and safe Christmas, and we hope to see you all back on the court in 2023.

Peter Ward
WCTC President

Membership or court bookings

Please contact Brian Chauncy on 0450961705 is you need any help with membership, court bookings and gate codes.

Lost Property

A reminder there is a lot of lost property left at the club. If any of it is yours, please retrieve it. Lost property will be cleaned out after Christmas.

Summer Holiday Camps

Summer Holiday Camps enrolments are now open!!!

CSOT runs an extensive range of holiday programs for kids aged 3-18 yrs and of all standards.

Holiday camps are designed to work on giving players a solid grounding in fundamental technical skills in a fun and game based environment.

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.

• Pre-Christmas: Monday 19th - Friday 23rd Dec 2022
• Week 1: Monday 16th - Friday 20th January 2023
• Squad Camp (invite only): Monday 16th - Thursday 19th January 2023 (2-6pm)
• Week 2: Monday 23rd - 27th January 2023 - No Thursday due to Australia Day
• Tennis/Chess Camp - Week 2: Monday 23rd - 27th January 2023 - No Thursday due to Australia Day

Click HERE to book or contact Mark Walton on 0408 486 191.

Committee Profile: Lorraine Ovington

Sport was always important to me and my family, particularly team sports. Apart from learning ballet for two years, my childhood was spent close to the beach in southern Tasmania where I learnt to swim in surf, being dumped by huge waves, often swimming among large kelp and jellyfish. To quote the famous Antarctic scientist Pat Quilty AM, living in Hobart weather was “one penguin short of Antarctica.” My brothers and friends climbed trees and explored the cliffs, caves and a favourite pastime was stealing apples through the fence at the local Sherburd orchards. At primary school I participated in team sports such as netball and softball and was encouraged to gain a Life Saving Certificate by our sports teacher, Joanne Wilkes, who was a state hockey player. I first played tennis in my mid teens with a borrowed racquet from a school friend at the university court in Sandy Bay.

After gaining a Commonwealth Scholarship to the University of Tasmania I played squash and was in the women’s netball team, representing that sport on the Sports Council in my last year (see below). READ MORE

Social Tennis

A reminder that WCTC offers social tennis on Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings from 8:30am and on Wednesday evenings from 7-10pm. Please contact Maggie King on 0432 865 910 regarding Monday, Wednesday and Friday morning social tennis and Johnny Swientek on 0400 406 687 regarding Wednesday night social tennis. More information HERE.

Published 15 December 2022