Thanks to all those members who have already booked placesat the party.

The dealine for booking a place at the 2021 STC Christmas Party is Wednesday 24th November.

Details about the party and how to book can be found below.

We hope that you will be able to join us.

Best wishes

The STC Committee

The cost is £38 per person which includes:

a) Three course menu

b) DJ until midnight

c) Booking fee

Dinner will be served at 19:30 and dancing will begin post dinner speeches.

Members can book for themselves and their guest(s) via ClubSpark. The Christmas Party is set up as a “coaching course” and thus guests will need to be added as additional players by clicking “select a player” and entering the required details. Please ignore references to the “coach” and the “club address”.

You will receive a booking confirmation that requires you to email your (and your guest’s where applicable) menu choices and preferred table seating.

You will be allocated seating on tables of 10 if you do not specify who you wish to sit with.

The link below is to book your place(s) at the party:

Southbourne Tennis Club / Coaching / Class (lta.org.uk)

Please ensure that we are made aware of menu and table choices as soon as possible after booking via an email to christmas@southbournetennisclub.co.uk.

If you have any questions please email christmas@southbournetennisclub.co.uk.

We look forward to seeing you at the party!

Best wishes.

The STC Committee.

We have created a survey document which we are inviting all members to complete. We are not asking you for a ‘rating’ like most surveys do, the prime intention is to determine how we might best improve our members experience at the club.

The survey contains just 8 simple­­­ questions, and you can choose to answer any or all of them. In the time it takes to boil a kettle and make a cup of tea or coffee, it can be done!

All responses will be treated in complete privacy. The committee will discuss and pursue any suggestions where reasonable and feasible – but of course we cannot guarantee that we can take action on every single request.

So, this is your opportunity to influence what we do and how we do it – why not take it?

The link for the survey is here-

https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/FLC6M9Z

Please find below some club news items that you may find of interest.

STC Annual Tournament

I would like to thank Zoltan for organising this year’s annual tournament. Splitting the tournament into Tier 1 and Tier 2 has encouraged a larger entry from members and gave everyone an opportunity to play against players of a similar standard. The finals day, Sunday 10th October, was played in bright sunshine and was well supported by friends and relatives of the finalists. Thanks go to Celia for organising refreshments and cakes and for those ladies who did the baking. The standard of tennis was excellent and there will be a number of new names on the honours board.

Scala Mixed Singles Box League

The latest singles box league has been very disappointing with the majority of matches remaining unplayed. We plan to run one more round before Christmas and will reassess whether it is worth continuing with the league. We would ask that members do not enter (or withdraw their names if they are entered automatically) if they are unable to commit to playing approximately one game every week or so. Having so many games unplayed spoils the leagues for those players that wish to play and fulfil the commitment.

Disability Coaching Programme

I would like to congratulate Dave Sanger for his work in growing the disability tennis programme at Southbourne Tennis Club. The programme that he has developed is being held up as a model to follow across the county and further afield.

The disability programme was featured in a South Today news item and highlighted the breadth of tennis that is available at STC.

During October there was also a visit from the President of the LTA hosted by Dorset LTA officials at our club.

This is a reflection of the high esteem in which Dave is held in the tennis community.

Club Clothing

If you are short of ideas for Christmas presents why not have a look at the club clothing in the online shop.

The website for club clothing is:

https://bplp.shop/collections/southbourne-tennis

Christmas Party

Don’t forget to book your place at the STC Christmas Party for Saturday 11th December at the Norfolk Royale Hotel, Bournemouth.

Full details were sent out in an email on 25th September.

The closing date for bookings is Wednesday 25th November.

Let us know if you need to receive the information again (christmas@southbournetennisclub.co.uk).

Car Park

I would like to apologise to members who have be unnecessarily inconvenienced by the slow completion of the surfacing of the car park. It is disappointing that it has taken so long but it is hoped that the finished car park will enhance the club facilities.

AGM 2021

The 2021 AGM took place on Monday 18th October. I would like to thank those hardy few that braved the weather to show their support to the committee.

The highlights were:

1. Celia & Dan were re-elected to the committee
2. The financial year will change from April – March to January – December from 2022
3. Consequently the AGM will move to April/May from 2022
4. Changes to the Country Membership definition will be made for the 2022/23 season
5. A review of membership figures which shows good growth against last year
6. A review of the coaching programme which continues to go from strength to strength

We would like to thank all those members that have contributed to the success of the club over the last 12 months from helping with tournaments and coaching, doing the gardening and maintenance along with making cakes and tea.

The club depends on volunteers and we are always looking for members to join the committee or to volunteer to help out in any way they can.

Best wishes for the winter season.

David

The tennis club entrusts Zoltan to run our tournaments and this year with the Club Championships, he has done an amazing job (again!) A big thank you to Zoltan!

Here you can download the tournament results for all draws.

Download Draws Club Championship 2021 (Excel spreadsheet)

Just a brief note to let you know that all of the maintenance work at the club this week has been completed, so court availability and parking spaces are now back to normal. The floodlights have been installed, the lighting poles all painted, and the trees have been trimmed or removed.

All that remains now is the resurfacing of the car park, which will take place later in September. You will receive emails with the details of that in due course.

Thank you for your patience and cooperation. These things may appear inconvenient at times, but there is never a good time to do them, and they do bring measurable benefits and improvements to our facilities.

Best wishes

Colin