Committee Matters

It was with great regret that Erika Taunton has resigned from the club committee. Erika has contributed more than many members will ever know to club life. She has been a superb organiser and undertaken the lion’s share of work on the committee. From administering membership forms,coordinating league matches and club competitions to mowing the lawn at the club (and much much more), she has worked tirelessly to ensure the smooth running of the club. For the many hours she has put into the club over the years, we all owe her an enormous thank you.

The next committee meeting is on May 10th when we will be discussing who will take over the responsibilities of Club Captain and Membership Secretary. 

 

Membership

Thank you to everyone who has paid their annual membership fees. For those still to pay, all forms and details can be downloaded from this page. Until a new Membership Secretary is appointed, please send your membership forms and cheques to Sabina Bird, Little Cowlands, Collops Lane, Stebbing, Essex CM6 3SZ. If you are paying by BACS, you can email the form to stebbingtennisclub@gmail.com 

 

Working Party - Sunday 30th April

Our annual working party at the club takes place this coming Sunday 30th April from 9am. Please come and help with painting, cleaning, gardening etc. It’s always a productive and fun morning! Bring your racket too if you'd like some tennis after the work is done.  

 

Gnome Tournament - Sunday 11th June

We would like to warmly invite you to join us for this year's fun, mixed Gnome Tournament which will be raising funds for Parkinsons Research in memory of Tracy Warren’s mother who passed away five years ago. 

The winners of the tennis tournament have the honour of looking after our friendly garden Gnome for a year.

Please enter either in mixed pairs or as individuals (we will match you with a partner). Play will start around lunchtime (TBC depending on number of entries) with the final being played around 5/6pm. Everyone is invited to stay on for a finger buffet afterwards.

Entry fee for tennis and buffet is £10 per person, all of which goes to charity. For those who would like to come along but not play, you are welcome to join us for the buffet at a cost of £5 per person with children under 10 free.

If you would like to be part of this special fundraising tennis day, please contact Liz Davies (07788 452878), Jim Walthew (07717 828991) or Josh McDowall (07895 483019). Any offers of contributions towards food and beverages would be gratefully accepted.

 

Family Tennis & BBQ - Sunday 21st May

A new initiative for 2017, we hope many of our families will join us for a very informal, fun and relaxed couple of hours of tennis with BBQ on Sunday 21st May from 5pm. We will need to know numbers for catering so if you’d like to come along, please let Nicola Douglas know by Friday 19th May. There will be a cost of £5 per person for the BBQ, under 10’s are free.

 

Coaching

If you'd like to participate in adult group coaching sessions, the following times are available: Intermediate/Advanced - Monday 8-9pm, Beginners/intermediate - Tuesday 7-8pm. Contact Jude for more details. 

 

Juniors

Junior Club night will start up again from this coming Friday 28th April. Our junior captain Piers Douglas will be co-coordinating it, so please contact him on 07516 671305 if you'd like to be included on the Junior Club Night WhatsApp group. Please note juniors under the age of 14 must be supervised by an adult during club night.

The May half term camp takes place on Tuesday 30th May. Please contact Jude to book a place.

The Junior Tournament takes place on June 17th. Details wil lbe circulated nearer the time. 

 

Team Managers' round-up of Essex Small Clubs League news 

As the deadline for completing all the league matches is the end of April, the last matches of the Winter 2016/Spring 2017 are now being played in earnest. The final placing within the Divisions is still unknown until all the matches have been played and the score sheets submitted.

The Mixed 1 Team played their remaining two matches this month which now concludes the winter league. We finished with an 8-8 draw and a 7-9 loss. Well done to all those who stepped up and gained points for the team. Bring on the summer! Josh

The Mixed 2 Team won or drew the seven matches played and will remain in Division 1. Tracy

The Mens 1 Team played their last 3 matches of the season and won 12-4 against both Dunmow 2 and Newport but lost 1-15 against a very strong Dunmow 1 team. Steve

The Mens 2 Team played four matches in the past two months and will remain in Division 2. Tracy

The Ladies 1 Team - During March and April 2017, the Ladies 1 Team has played five matches and, despite winning one and two draws, will probably move down to Division 1 for next winter. Tracy

The Ladies 2 Team - We have just had our last match and made it through the winter season playing all matches - a lot of them were a good battle! The last match is no exception, but the result went our way so we ended on a good note. I'd like to thank the ladies that played in the matches and all of the other members that helped to steer me in the right direction with running the team. Now looking forward to the summer league and thank you ladies who have already replied to my email regarding the matches. Shady

The meeting for scheduling the matches for Summer 2017 has been held and all dates should be on the website by next week. 

The U18 Girls Team has played 2 matches in the last month and won 1 and lost 1. Thanks to Paige, Minty and Leticia for their sterling efforts and some really top tennis. The standard these girls are playing at is hugely impressive. Natalie

The U14 Boys Team has played 2 matches so far, one friendly against Henham and one against Braintree B team. In the Henham match, height was a big challenge - Paige and Luke knew how David felt when facing Goliath as they lined up to start their first doubles match! However, the match was played in a really good spirit by Luke, Luke, Paige and Jacob and despite losing, it was a great learning experience. The second match was the first official match of the season. Sporting their new team shirts, Luke, Alex, Charlie and Christian won the match - all the boys came up with a strategy to beat their opponents and stuck to it. Well done! Graham

 

Dates for your diary:

Sunday 30th April – Working Party from 9am at the club
Thursday 11th May – Start of Summer Pimms Night at the club from 6pm
Sunday 7th May – Start of Summer Bacon Butties at the club from 10.30am
Sunday 21st May – Family Tennis & BBQ from 5pm (see above)
Sunday 11th June – Gnome Tournament (see above)
Saturday 17th June – Junior Tournament
Friday 30th June – Junior Prize Giving and End of Season BBQ

All diary dates can be found either here or on our online Court Diary. 

 

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