Established 1946
Oadby (Granville) Tennis and Social Club
75th Annual General Meeting
Date : Wednesday 27th October 2021 at 7.30 p.m.
Venue : By Zoom (link has been emailed out)
Agenda
75th CLUB ANNIVERSARY
Many thanks to everyone who came along to support our 75th anniversary celebrations. It was lovely to see the club so busy and to welcome back some familiar faces to club.
Over the weekend we had over 250 people visit the club, starting with our junior pizza & tennis night on the Friday followed by our BBQ and afternoon tea at the weekend.
Thank you so much to all of you who kindly gave up your time and who helped to make the weekend so special. It has really been a tough couple of years for everyone but events like this are a reminder of what a great club and members we have.
We are going to leave the 75th anniversary display up on the club house so please do pop in if you can do have a look at this, it is really interesting to see how far the club has come over the years.
AGM
As mentioned previously, the club’s AGM will take place on Wednesday 27th October at 7.30pm. We have again decided to hold the meeting by Zoom like we did last year following the request of a number of members who have expressed concern about a large number of people meeting in quite a confined space. I think, under the circumstances, this is quite understandable and so we will of course send out a link and instructions as to how to join nearer the time.
The AGM is a great opportunity for members to express their views and help us move the club forward. If you do have time it would be great if you could attend (virtually!) – it would be great to have your input.
The agenda, accounts and committee nomination sheet will be on display in the foyer at the club from tomorrow. A copy of the accounts is attached and other AGM documentation will follow (Clubspark only allows one attachment at a time unfortunately).
Please note that at this year’s AGM we will not be asking for team captain nominations as there will be a review of teams for 2022 in January.
Nominations can be emailed to secretary@oadbytennis.co.uk or completed on the sheet in the foyer. Please do nominate and please do get in touch if you would like to get involved in helping at the club.
Any questions which members wish to raise at the AGM should be submitted (email as above) by Friday 22nd October 8pm please.
CLUB TOURNAMENT
Many thanks to the 75 players who entered this year’s tournament. We had some great weather and some brilliant tennis and thanks to those that came down to support. It was really nice to see lots of new members entering the tournament this year and I hope you all enjoyed your matches and made some new friends at the club.
2021 Main Draw Winners
Men’s Singles Ben M
Ladies’ Singles Chloe B
Men’s Doubles Ben M & Jack M
Ladies’ Doubles Rosie O’C-M & Lauren P
Mixed Doubles Victoria A & Hussein K
Men’s 40+ Chris W
Men’s 40+ Doubles Chris W & Dean Z
Ladies 40+ Doubles Katie E & Sheila C
Mixed 40+ Doubles Louise M & Gary van der B
2021 Reverse Draw Winners
Men’s Singles Alex B
Men’s Doubles Paul F & Mike M
Ladies’ Doubles Jenni L & Jackie R
Mixed Doubles Kylie S & Alex B
Men’s 40+ Divy L
Men’s 40+ Doubles Steve P & Divy L
Mixed 40+ Doubles Sue P & Ravi J
FLOOD LIGHTS
We have now reached the time of year where the flood lights will be used a lot more. Please take this as a polite reminder to all members that the floodlights should be paid for when playing in fixed fours and for personal court bookings.
Just a reminder also, that if you are playing at 6pm and the lights are already on ‘free’ because they have been used for junior coaching, please put your money in the box as usual, but then turn off the lights when you leave unless someone has arrived to play on the court after you. 9.30 pm is the deadline for all lights to be switched off when you leave, either by your money running out or being switched off manually. For social mix ins the lights can be switched on to ‘FREE’ but must always be switched off when play finishes, please.
We are very lucky to have such cheap facilities and the price to use our lights is really minimal when compared to other clubs, let’s all please respect this and pay when required.
John Vernon
We have recently received the sad news that past member John Vernon has died. John was a member of the club for many years, as were his family. He was a regular bar helper and keen player in both social and team tennis. Our thoughts are with family and friends at this sad time.
TENNIS DATES FOR YOUR DIARY
Social Mix Ins – Monday & Wednesday evenings each week from 6pm.
I am so pleased to see these getting busier each week and thanks so much to the members who have kindly offered to open the bar afterwards. Please do come down as it is a great way of meeting new people and enjoying some social tennis.
November and December Speed Tennis – details with exact details will be emailed out by Gary nearer the time but these will be held on a Saturday and start at 4pm.
Wednesday November 3rd and December 1st American Tournament – please sign up in the foyer or by emailing info@oadbytennis.co.uk. Open to all full seniors. £1 to enter and no partner needed. A good way for some fun tournament doubles. Bar open afterwards and food can be organised. The last two of these have been a great success and have been completely full!
SINGLES BOX LEAGUES – AUTUMN 2021
Following positive feedback from last winter’s and this summer’s events, the club is proposing further singles box leagues to run up to 31st December.
Entries are welcomed from all members, beginners to those with high experience. Every effort will be made to place you in an appropriate league. Leagues will comprise a mixture of men and ladies (and juniors capable of competing at adult level).
One set only to 8 games, standard tie break at 7 all – usually an hour’s booking is sufficient. Precise scores are not recorded, we only need know who won the set (the winner is awarded 3 points in his/her league) and a further point is awarded to both players as an incentive to completing as many matches as possible.
Entries to Neil P by Wednesday 20th October. Please indicate your playing experience if not known to organisers Neil (P) and Joe (G). neilwphillips@gmail.com joe@squash.stuff.com
Any queries, telephone 07447 829700
This is a perfect way of meeting and playing against different club members. Thanks to Neil and Joe for organising this once again.
(PLEASE NOTE, A CONDITION OF ENTRY IS THAT YOUR MOBILE NUMBER AND EMAIL WILL BE SHARED WITH OTHER PLAYERS IN YOUR BOX LEAGUE. IF THIS IS NOT ACCEPTABLE YOU MUST INDICATE TO THAT EFFECT WHEN ENTERING)
I hope that gives you a quick overview of what has been happening at the club and what we have got coming up soon.
I would again like to thank everyone in continuing to support the club and I look forward to seeing you soon.
Martin
Chairman
OGTC
LEICESTERSHIRE CLOSED COUNTY CHAMPIONSHIPS
The Closed County Championships were held last week and it was a very successful tournament for Oadby members. Special mention must go to Matt H who won the Men’s Singles and Men’s Doubles which we think is a first for the club. Full results are below:
Men’s Singles Winner : Matt H
Men’s Doubles Winners : Matt H and Oli B (LFE)Men’s 45+ Singles Winner: Gordon A
Mixed Doubles Plate Winners: Gordon & Emily A
Men’s Singles Plate Winner: Dylan S
Ladies’ Doubles Handicap Plate Winners: Yvonne R and Harriet P
Ladies’ Doubles Finalist: Lilia B and partner
Ladies’ Doubles 40+ Finalists: Jenny H & Kate W
Men’s 35+ Singles Finalist: Dan P
Ladies’ Doubles Plate Finalists: Jess B & Kate W
Ladies’ Singles Handicap Finalist: Yvonne R
Men’s Singles Plate Finalist: Philip W
Mixed Doubles Handicap Finalists: Jenny H & Philip W
Ladies’ Doubles Handicap Plate Finalists: Louise M & Jackie R
The club has always had a good entry at the tournament but this year’s results must be the best ever across both the level and handicap events. Congratulations to all and a big thanks to all those who came down to watch and support.
CONSTITUTION
As you are all aware we have been working on updating the club’s constitution. This is quite a long document which has needed updating for some time, but finally we are at a point where we can start to move forward.
1) Current constitution
2) Amended constitution
3) Suggested amendment notes
As this document forms the basis of the club we wanted to invite members to have the opportunity to contribute/offer suggestions for possible changes.
These documents will remain on the website until Friday 20th August and so please send in anything you want to suggest to info@oadbytennis.co.uk by this time. At that point the committee will then look over everything we have received, agree any changes and then this will be sent to be checked from a legal point of view to make sure that everything is correct.
Once this is completed an EGM will be called where the new constitution can be either accepted or rejected by the members.
KEY FOBS
As mentioned by Gary in an email earlier this week, fobs are now available to replace swipe cards and can be collected from the clubhouse. Any problems or requests for fobs, please email info@oadbytennis.co.uk.
ANNUAL SENIOR TOURNAMENT
We are in the process of finalising dates/arrangements for this and will be in touch ASAP with details.
FRIDAY EVENINGS 13th/20th August
Just to mention that as there is no junior coaching for the next two Fridays so courts are free for booking up to 9.30pm.
FUNERAL DATE
Following our email on Monday about the very sad passing of Dave Monk, just to let members know that the funeral will be held on Thursday 19th August 12.30pm at Great Glen Crematorium.
Best Wishes OGTC
Following a virtual committee meeting earlier in the week I thought it would be nice to keep you updated with the areas which were discussed.
Club House Re Opening
Following the government’s relaxation on all lock down rules from the 19th July 2021, I am pleased to say that from this date the club house will be open again to all members to use without restriction.
Whilst it is really nice to be moving in the right direction can I please ask that we all use common sense in regards to the use of the club house and always make sure we clean anything that is used and be considerate at all times.
Club Tournament
Following the success of last year’s tournament where we used a ‘play by date’ system, we have decided that we will again use this format for this year’s tournament although we will have a fixed date for semi-finals & finals where the club house will be open for refreshments etc. Further information regarding dates will be sent out shortly.
Constitution
I know you will probably be bored about hearing about this but we are now at the final draft stage and should be in a position to share the new version with members soon before this is presented at an EGM. Apologies as it has been very long winded and I have mentioned this many times but we are getting there!
Ratings Tournament
The annual ratings tournament will be taking place between the 19th – 23rd July and so please be aware that during daytime hours there will be less court time than usual available. Due to COVID the previous two tournaments we were planning to host have been cancelled and so it is great to have this going ahead.
We have ensured that some court time is still available to members on Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday mornings of that week and we will of course release more spaces if possible once numbers are finalised.
The ratings tournament brings in a very good income to the club and is a great opportunity for our juniors tournament at their home ground! Good luck to all of those that enter.
Grounds
Many thanks to Paul for organising the recent work party and to all the helpers that kindly gave up their time.
We have had a problem with one of the floodlights on court 5. I can confirm that this light will be fixed shortly and at the same time we have arranged for warning lights to be fitted to courts 4-6 to provide a 5 minute warning for when the floodlights will switch off like we have on courts 1-3.
We continue to look at options in regards to the new fence but remain committed to doing this. Further advices to follow.
Events
We previously mentioned that Neil P & Joe G had kindly offered to run a singles league. This will be a great opportunity for new members to meet other players as well as providing existing players of ALL abilities an opportunity to play singles more competitively. Details will be sent out shortly once leagues are confirmed. Contact details were sent in the earlier email. Pleas get in touch if you need them again.
Gary has also kindly offered to organise some Speed Tennis events. These normally will be held on Saturday afternoons where courts are typically not heavily booked. These events normally involve an hour’s tennis (2 or 3 matches) followed by a BBQ and the bar will also be open. Initially this will be for singles for players of all abilities but if this does prove to be popular we will look to introduce this for doubles as well.
Now restrictions have been relaxed we can also now begin to plan ways to celebrate the club’s 75th Year. More details/dates will follow soon.
I hope this gives everyone an overview of what was discussed but as always if anyone has any questions then please do contact me.
Take care and I look forward to seeing you all at the club soon.
Martin
Chairman OGTC
As we move forward into the next stages of the government relaxation of lockdown rules, please follow the link below to see the updated guidance provided by the LTA in regards to tennis activity with effect from the 17th May 2021:
www.lta.org.uk/globalassets/news/2021/summary-grid—permitted-tennis-activity.pdf
SUMMARY OF CHANGE FOR OADBY:
Whilst it is really nice to be moving into the next stages of returning to normality I would again stress the importance of making every effort to keep each other safe at all times. Please follow the guidelines that have been sent to you on a number of occasions and if you do have any concerns at all then please contact me immediately.
OTHER MATTERS:
We recently held a virtual committee meeting via Zoom. The majority of this meeting did revolve around the upcoming full opening of the club house (hopefully in June) but we did also discuss a number of other matters.
Grounds
Paul/Derek have continued to work hard to keep everything in good order. A special mention also to Yvonne and Gordan S who have contributed with the lovely flowers we now have.
We will soon arrange a working party for those of you that have helper hours to do. We will wait until full restrictions are lifted before this happens.
We have continued to look at quotes for the security fence and are awaiting further quotes for the gates to accompany these. Further updates will follow soon.
Constitution
A number of the committee have now made draft amendments to the constitution. Once these have been typed and re checked they will then move to the next legal stage of checking these over. This is a time consuming job but we are getting there.
Club Tournament
We are approaching the time where we need to start thinking about organising the club tournament. Due to lockdown we ran this differently last year with events having to be played by certain dates rather than on particular days. A few suggestions have been made but I will arrange to send out a survey to members to see what most would prefer to do. If anyone would like to help organise the tournament, please get in touch.
Membership
Gary updated the committee with our current membership numbers, which are approaching 400 and are looking particularly healthy especially for this time of year. Many thanks to Gary for his hard work on this as this year in particular has seen a lot more admin than usual.
75th Anniversary
I have mentioned before that it is the clubs 75th anniversary this year. Whilst it has been a really difficult time we are really keen to try to celebrate this as best as we can and are planning a couple of events later in the Summer (possibly a tea party, BBQ etc depending on restrictions). If you have any ideas or would like to be involved in helping then please let me know.
Team Tennis
Team matches have returned and we have had a large number of both senior and junior members involved. Good luck to everyone that has or will be representing Oadby and thanks to Niall and George for their hard work in scheduling the fixtures.
I hope this gives you an overview of where we are at with things at the club. We always welcome feedback and suggestions so please get in touch with us if there is anything you would like to raise.
Please stay safe and I look forward to seeing you all enjoying your tennis at the club.
Martin
Chairman
Most senior members (and quite a few juniors) will know David as he was a member of the club for many years. He was a key member of the team of volunteers who built the clubhouse in the 1980s, a past Chairman, captain of the men’s first team and always a very strong and enthusiastic supporter of the club. He especially enjoyed watching the Men’s 1st team play their matches, both home and away. There was always the feeling, even in recent years, that if they were ever one player short, he’d happily pick up a racquet and play!
He will be very much missed at the club and our thoughts go to his wife, Anne, and his family at this very sad time.
Further to my email last week and following on from last nights virtual committee meeting, I am delighted to say that the club will be re-opening on Monday 29th March. Please follow the link below which provides an update from the LTA in regards to what play is permitted from this date:
www.lta.org.uk/globalassets/news/2021/summary-grid—permitted-tennis-activity.pdf
Whilst we are all of course delighted to have a date back for playing, it is vitally important that we all continue to take sensible measures when playing at the club.
Below is an updated list of conditions that must be followed at all times to ensure safe play:
I would again stress that these conditions must be followed at all times. It is all of our responsibilities to make the club as safe as possible but if anyone does have any particular concerns then please do let me know.
MEMBERSHIP
2021 Membership Form
As part of the meeting we also discussed this years membership, which has been particularly difficult to administer with us being in lockdown during the renewal period.
We have now calculated the annual fees, which will of course reflect all of the time that the club has not been available for play. Gary will email all of the details out in the next couple of days and will provide you with all the information you need in regards to booking courts and allocations. I would ask everyone to keep an eye out for this email and respond with membership renewals as soon as possible.
OTHER MATTERS
Whilst last nights meeting was mainly about the re-opening of the club, members of the committee also gave some updates on other things that have been going on during lockdown.
I am pleased to say the post pad protectors have been ordered and hopefully should be in place by the time you are all back on court. Paul has also treated all of the moss patches on the court, which is now dying down and we are starting to see a difference. I am going to meet Paul at the weekend to help with further cleaning of the courts and to fix some of the fencing at the back of courts 1-3 which needs some attention.
You will also notice further signage has been put up at the club to help with the one way system. Thanks again to Paul and Derek for organising this and to Mike Minski for helping with the design work for the signs.
In regards to the proposed fencing that was discussed at the AGM, we have now received quotations for this and are looking over these for consideration. These will of course be shared with all members before any decision is made to proceed, however we do need to give this serious thought from a financial point of view as the clubs income will be reduced considerably this year due to the reduction in membership fees.
In regards to team tennis we are waiting for further information from the competitions committee as to how/when leagues might possibly run this year. Niall (Seniors) & George (Juniors) are waiting for an update and will inform everyone that wants to get involved with playing team tennis once we know more.
Alex, along with the rest of the committee, has been working on updating the clubs constitution as advised at the AGM. Many thanks to Alex as this has been a very time consuming job but I am pleased to say we are making progress and I will keep you informed with the progress of this as we move along.
I hope that provides you with an update of where we are. We are now only a few weeks away and will be busy making sure that everything is ready for you when we are able to get back on court. It has been a tough year and your ongoing support of the club is really much appreciated, we look forward to seeing you all back soon!
Best wishes
Martin
Chairman
Following on from the announcement made by the government earlier this evening and advice provided by the LTA the club will be closed from Tuesday 5th January 2021 for all tennis activities. This means that no members should use the courts or any facilities at any time until further notice and all court bookings will be cancelled. Please do not visit the club for any reason.
I hoped after last year that I would never have to write another email with news like this. Please stay patient and let’s hope I am able to send a more positive message in a few weeks time.
In these most challenging of times please do stay safe and look after each other.
Best wishes
Martin
Chairman OGTC