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Newsletter

November 2011

To All Edgemead Tennis Club members

We are nearing the end of 2011 and I have fallen a little bit behind in updating everyone on the club activities. We have had a few social events through the year, starting with the 35th anniversary which was a great success. Our championship competition in April/May was followed by a prize-giving at the Italian Club again. For the second year in a row we hosted both the junior and senior championships simultaneously and it was a great success. This is now the recipe for the future and it gives the seniors a chance to watch the juniors and vice versa.

We have had several other social events which you can read about on our “events” page. Our most recent event with a Halloween theme was superbly organised by a great social committee. Mostly thanks to Ann, but she was very well supported by a bunch of members and they did a fantastic job. Watch out for the next party night in the new year – it must not be missed!

There have been a few junior boys playing senior league which is promising and we hope that this will continue. We are lacking in junior girls moving into the senior ranks and I hope that this will change in the near future. Come on girls, we want so see you play!

We had two courts resurfaced and the lines on four courts repainted at a cost of R 81,000.00! This is big money and we have to work very hard to be able to maintain eight courts and keep the club running. This is why we need everyone’s support when we host events. Without fund-raising, it would be difficult for the club to survive.

Of course, we do hope to be supported sometimes by the Municipality; however, we have to wait our turn amongst eight other sports clubs in the area. The Municipality is trying to source some funds to have the front court fencing fixed, as they have been promising to do this for a while now. I continue to badger them….that is all I can do right now! We have requested Parks and Forest to trim the trees along Link Way, as they leave the courts in continual shade which encourages the growth of a fungus on the surface of the courts. We need to protect our assets!

If you have been at the club recently, you would have noticed building materials lying to the side in the “open” area. These materials are for the running club to start building their clubhouse. However, the process has been held up by red tape, so I am not sure when they will be starting. We will eventually be sharing refurbished and upgraded changing rooms with them. Due to various holdups, we are not sure when this will be happening as the timelines will have to be revised. I will keep members posted as to this progress.

On some afternoons, you may see some mini cricket going on at the club. Don’t worry, the courts are safe, as they use a tennis ball and a mat is placed on the court surface so that it does not get damaged. We are benefitting from the hiring out of the courts for this activity and we hope that it will bring more youngsters to tennis in the future.

New locks on the tennis courts have made a big difference and we have better control over who is using the courts. If you have not received your new key, contact a committee member. Remember, bring your old key or R20.

Watch out for upcoming tennis events at the club and there is a bring and braai this Saturday evening after the last league match. Why don’t you join us?

May your holidays be filled with blessings and stay safe!

Yours in tennis
Tracy

December 2010

To All Edgemead Tennis Club members

It has been a while since I have written a newsletter and hard to believe that we are near the end of 2010. I am still getting used to writing "2010!" The latter part of 2010 has been filled with a host of activities at the club.

Our annual prize giving was held at the Italian Club at the end of May. For the first time, we combined the Senior and Junior prizegiving and it proved to be a great success. One hundred and four people attended which is really remarkable. It is so important to give the juniors more acknowledgement and to keep them interested in tennis. This can only be achieved by making them an integral part of the club. We need to see them sticking around and keeping tennis as one of their main interests.

Since the prize giving we have held a spitbraai at the club, hosted a show at the Roxy Revue bar at Grand West and have continued to have "boerie" and steak rolls on Thursday evenings at the club. The club has worked hard at fundraising and so many members have contributed to this effort.

Again we held an end-of year bash in November. The theme was "The Eighties" and it was extremely well attended. I would like to extend my thanks to the committee that made this event such a great success - Ellen, Ann, Michelle Roos, Michelle Griffiths, Osmond and Lance. Over seventy tickets were sold! Wow! We danced the whole night to music from the eighties...it was really great.

Again, Christine and Michelle Griffiths organised a senior social tennis afternoon on Saturday, 4 December. Thirty five people participated and there were all levels of tennis. It was good to see so many "social" players participating. We hope that these members will continue to come down on Saturday afternoons during league and enjoy organised social tennis.

On Saturday 11 December, some of our players joined in social tennis at Monte Vista. We all agreed that it was nice to have a change of scenery and to have a mixture of players. We hope to do this again in January, but Edgemead will host Monte Vista this time.

We are currently hosting the Under 12 girls in the Western Province Junior Coastal Tournament. We are fortunate to be able to this and it helps to boost the club coffers.

If you have been down to the club recently, you would have noticed the erection of fencing around the tennis and Shuhari clubs. There will be a change in the key system for the courts, but we will ensure everyone is aware of this via an email.

Unfortunately, we continue to experience vandalism of our court and gate fencing. This is so difficult to curb, but if any members see any sort of bad behaviour and/or vandalism taking place, please contact a committee member immediately, so that we can try and stop these incidents from reoccurring.

The club will be closed on Saturday, 25 December and on Saturday, 1 January. We hope everyone will be back for social on Saturday, 8 January 2011!

May your holidays be filled with blessings and stay safe!

Yours in tennis

Tracy