LEATHERHEAD LAWN TENNIS CLUB
Chairman’s Report 2006/7
The purpose of this report is to summarise the matters and issues, which have preoccupied the Committee this year and to thank members who have contributed to the running of the club. It is also the last report I shall write in my capacity as Chairman.
This has been the year when the members of the Committee reduced from 7 to 5 – which is the minimum for a quorum. It is also the year in which the new coaching team established itself and new types of membership were introduced.
Daniel Carpenter who had already indicated that work commitments necessitated his stepping down was unable to find a replacement. At that time he was responsible for entering the teams in the various leagues and ensuring there were captains for each team. The club is lucky that he has volunteered to continue to do this. He also represented team players interested in meetings and organised the Club tournament. He worked with enthusiasm on several sub Committees and contributed much to Committee discussions. Various other members of the Committee took over components of Dan’s role.
The other resignation from the Committee was Peter Grabaskey in July. He had served 6 years on the Committee representing Junior interests with passion and commitment. He inaugurated Friday Junior Club Nights, which he and his wife Ann ran with the help of volunteers for many years. He wrote Junior newsletters, organised parent junior team captains, and wrote articles for the local paper resulting in a lot of free publicity for the club.
Like Dan, Peter had also served on several sub-Committees – for example finding a new coach.
Some of Peter’s role has been taken on by Andrew Te. Although only appointed in December last year, Andrew has established himself as club coach – with his own style and a great work ethic. He and Steve, our other coach, have made great efforts to integrate themselves into the club. Since their appointment they have attended every Committee Meeting, they have participated in some of the club social events and have run a very successful junior BarBQ.
Since their arrival, changes have been made to the telephone messaging service, which after a few rings switches to an ansaphone, in their office. Messages are dealt with by Andrew.
The major initiative this year, has been the introduction of two new categories of membership ‘Beginners and Improvers’ and ‘Mini Tennis parents’. I enclose a separate report.
During the year there have been a number of complaints about court usage, which has to be carefully balanced between club sessions, coaching, junior and adult time. The Committee has held a number of discussions on this most important topic and I enclose a separate report.
As you may know, the tennis club is a tenant of Mole Valley DC to whom we pay quarterly rent. Every 5 years the rent – currently £2,350 – is reviewed. This year the council opened negotiations with a suggested sum of £3,200 pa – which is an increase of £850 or 36%. In the past we have had to employ surveyors to research what other entities in the area were paying and advance arguments in our favour. This year, after a protracted correspondence a revised rent of £2,700 has been agreed.
Repairs and Maintenance are a continuing concern of the Committee. This year several issues have arisen, such as moss growth in the autumn, court 5’s surface breaking up etc. I enclose a separate report.
The Floodlit league in 2005/6 was a challenge to stamina and organisation. Not many teams managed to complete all 11 matches – in fact possibly only the winners did. It can be amazingly tricky to organise 8 persons to turn up together – and frequently, in spite of advance notice, they did not. Thanks go to Mervyn for organising the League – and, being a masochist, he is running it in 2006/7 again.
Mervyn and Judi Smowton have also generated funds for the club from several tennis events culminating in BarBQ’s. Mervyn has now donated his BarBQ to the club, which is much appreciated. Other annual and successful events are the two Ladies Invitation Tournaments run by Richard and Frances Jordan.
My grateful thanks go to Christine Jones, who has been a meticulous and very efficient Membership Secretary for the past 3 years, and indeed the previous 9 years, serving under three Chairmen. She has always been there for the club and will be a hard act to follow.
Thanks also go to Gail Collett our Treasurer, who in spite of having young children, a fulltime job and endless crises with au pairs has managed to keep track of our finances over the past three years. It has meant that she rarely plays tennis anymore and indeed has reduced her membership to ‘social’.
I should also like to thank Diane Ashley, our Club Secretary who is a fulltime teacher and mum for finding time to keep Minutes, attend meetings and be our Child Protection Officer.
Being a Social Secretary is important for our club since we do not have a natural social centre. Judi Smowton has been excellent in the role and has worked very hard organising events throughout the year and generating almost £1,000 in extra funds for the club.
There are also members outside the Committee without whose contributions, the club would grind to a halt or the Committee would be totally overburdened, for instance Tony Collett who is in charge of tennis balls at the club. This not only involves purchasing 72 tins at a time, storing them and releasing them, but also sorting used balls out for junior use and discarding bad ones in a continuous monitoring process. The club is very lucky to have someone willing to give the time to do this which is also money saving. Tony has agreed to be the Club’s second Trustee who together with Bernard Burbidge are guardians of the club assets.
Janet Carr is another member who quietly gives time and effort in maintaining the club’s stock of toilet paper, paper towels, tea, coffee, and squash throughout the year.
Many members and visitors have commented on our colourful garden this summer, which is due to Heather and Brian Maurice. Year after year they have dug and planted for the club with excellent results.
One of the sad events this year has been the death of Marion Dawson from breast cancer after a long struggle. Her tennis brought her a great deal of pleasure and comfort.
Finally, this year has brought to a head the matter of Committee succession. As I wrote last year, several key members of the Committee, including myself, have served too long and need to withdraw, but nobody has been willing to take up their responsibilities. We have now had to make a series of announcements, publicising the problem and outlining the consequences to the club of not having a Committee. Let us hope that this brings new blood onto the Committee to continue the club’s development
Irene Gawne
Chairman