Club News

Club Matches

We have arranged 8 friendly matches so far, with the possibility of a few more to follow. We need four players per team for each of the matches so, if you are interested in getting involved, please contact Kuniko Sato for the Ladies Doubles and Brian Keegan for the Men’s Doubles and Mixed Doubles.

Our first fixtures are for two Men’s Doubles matches against Hayes, home and away. The first match is at Farnborough from 12:30 to 4:00pm on Tuesday 7th April, so the courts will be unavailable to members during that period.

Further contact details are available on the Matches page of the website and an up to date fixture list, with dates and venues, is also now available.

Spring American Tournament

Our traditional season opener, the Spring American Tournament, will take place on Sunday 26th April at 10:30am (see flyer below). Entries are limited to 8 men and 8 ladies on a first come, first served basis, with prizes for the winners. If you would like to take part, please reply to Jane Wells at janebwells1b@gmail.com

Quiz Night

We can also confirm our club Quiz Night, which is booked for 7:00-10:00pm on Saturday 16th May at St John’s Church, Knoll Rise in Orpington (see flyer below). Entries are for teams of 6-8 people and the cost is £10 per person. Please bring your own drinks, glasses and snacks (no spirits allowed) and there will also be a raffle on the evening. The event is open to members and non-members, so please bring along your family and friends to enjoy a fun and sociable evening out.

Club Tournaments

The draw for this years' Club Tournaments is planned to take place at the courts on Saturday 18th April. As proposed at the AGM, the Committee have decided to use some seedings for the draws this year, to achieve a more even competition. Seedings aside, the draw will be on a random basis, conducted by the Tournament Organiser, Sue Leonard, and assisted and observed by members present at the Saturday club session.

This year, the Ladies & Men’s Singles, the Veterans Singles (over-60’s) and all three Doubles tournaments, will be drawn as Knockout Rounds.

Note that only fully paid-up Adult Members may enter the Club Tournaments.

You can email your entries direct to the Tournament Organiser, Sue Leonard at susanleonard@sky.com

Membership Renewals

Once again, we will use the simple email renewal process, as this seems to run very smoothly for all involved. Please keep a look out for your renewal email and don’t forget to check your Junk mailbox.

As per the AGM last November, there is no increase to subscription fees this year. We are also introducing a new Silver Membership, at a 50% discount on the Senior rate, for renewing members who are over 80 or in their 80th year.

Membership renewal fees are £120 for Seniors, £60 for Juniors and £150 for Families (£120 Senior / £30 Juniors, with family discount) until 30th April.

From 1st May, renewal fees will increase to £140 for Seniors, £70 for Juniors and £175 for Families (£140 Senior / £35 Juniors, with family discount).

See the Members page on the website for more details about your membership, your responsibilities and the annual renewal process.

Court environment updates

Our suppliers, ETC Sports Ltd, did offer to undertake some repairs to the courts during the Winter season, but did not recommend this approach due to likely issues driven by the cold weather. Following further discussions, we agreed they should return in the Spring when the warmer weather will be more conducive to a successful repair of the cosmetic cracks using hot-lay tarmac. They are also happy to try out a cosmetic repair to the net post on court 3, although we realise we may have to replace this at some time in the future. We don’t think any of the cracks have worsened since ETC last inspected the courts and the net post seems to have stabilised, as they thought it might.

Meanwhile, the Cricket Club have started the re-development work they had planned inside the pavilion. This includes creating a Ladies changing area, with showers, in the storage area adjoining the toilet we use. The work involves putting a new door through to the toilet area, so that the Ladies may use these facilities during training or matches. The work should be completed in time for the new cricket season and we will agree, in due course, on any restrictions as to the use of the toilet facility. (This will most likely be during cricket matches on Saturday afternoons and possibly some summer evenings).

Gardening at the courts

As discussed at the AGM, we believe we need to implement a few regular gardening sessions now, to keep our new courts free from weeds and encroachment from the surrounding vegetation.

We propose to hold regular gardening sessions, with a few member volunteers, over a few weekends during the Spring and Autumn.
To combat the new Spring growth around the courts, we will be looking for volunteers to join in the effort for a few hours one weekend at the end of April, the end of May and the end of June.
To clear away the Autumn deluge of acorns, leaves and weeds, we will follow this up with a few hours one weekend at the end of September, the end of October and the end of November.

Club American Tournaments

Dates for the American Tournaments are as follows and details for each will be sent out prior to the event.

Spring American - 26th April
Summer American - 28th June
Autumn American - 20th September
Mince Pie American - to be decided