A Family Orientated Tennis Club in Finchley Central

News Letter December 2019

When you next come to the club you will see that we have a practice REBO wall! After 2 years of fundraising and the warm generosity of our members, we raised enough funds to install it earlier this month. Thank you everyone who donated! The wall is free for everyone to use on a first come first served basis. However, as I discovered with my teenage squad, you can play with 12 players at the same time! Try it, be creative and share your games, it is so much fun!

The Junior Programme has finished for the year now and we restart on Monday 6th January, if you have not already booked, follow this link for all the information that you need:  Spring Term.

In 2020 we will be introducing a new Adult Coached Drop in on Saturday morning at 09.00 – 10.00. It will be a drop in for everyone of all standards and will hopefully encourage all those parents waiting for their little tennis stars who are being coached on other courts, but open to everyone. It will cost £8 an hour with a £5 guest fee for non-members, however there will be a reduced guest fee for non-members, who have a child on the Junior Programme! (AND if you have a child on club’s junior programme on any day of the week, remember that you can come to a drop in once a term FREE!)

2020 will also see the introduction of a NEW Monthly Sunday Mix & Match from 10.00 – 12.00, you can sign up on the notice board like usual for the Saturday ones. Saturdays at 15.00 – 17.00 will still run on the 1st Saturday of the month and the Sundays will run on the 3rd Sunday of the month. January’s dates are Saturday 4th and Sunday 19th but I will remind you at the beginning of the month regardless! But DO look at the noticeboard and sign up! These sessions are for all adult members irrespective of their ability is totally free! Junior’s who play for adult teams are also welcome to the Mix & Match .

And finally, we have a new full-time coach joining the team! His name is Blair and he is from New Zealand where he has coached for the past twenty years. He has coached all levels from beginners right through to players competing internationally. His coaching style is high energy, fast paced and fun; he loves working on the tactical side of tennis but is very technical with an eye for detail. If you would like private lessons with him, or a shared lesson, please let me know and I will arrange. I am sorting out his schedule in December to assist with a bit of juggling!

It has been a great year at The Avenue Tennis Club and I’m looking forward to 2020 with you all. Happy holidays everyone, stay warm and safe and keep hitting those balls!

Sally
Head Coach
07958 758 580

News Letter July 2019

Finals Day winners
Ladies Singles – Jo Katz
Men’s Singles – Danny Leboff
Ladies Doubles – Patricia & Claudia
Men’s Doubles – Danny & Dylan
Mixed Doubles – Patricia & Geoff
Under 8 – San Jun Wan
Under 9 – Jaylesson
Under 12 – Leo Levy Wade
Teenage girls – Jenny
Teenage boys - Danny

Raffle Prize winners
Tennis Camp – San Jin Wan
Phoenix Cinema Tickets – Sandra Rapley
Hair Dressing Voucher – Laura Pincus
Champagne – Patricia Moore
Wireless Earphones – Danny ‘or’ Dot (Jury is still out about who’s ticket won!)
Dinner for 2 at the White Bear – Noam Levy
Babolat Tennis racquet – San Jin Wan

Fundraising
Thank you to everyone who supported the event either by attending, buying raffle tickets or simply making a donation.  Huge thanks to all those who helped on the day, and meant that we raised £1300.00 this year, the most that we have every made!  Let’s hope that the wall will be with us soon!

Maintenance Project
You will have noticed that we are looking very much smarter than we were!  However, there is still a vital piece of the gate missing.  The part that makes the gate close automatically; this should be in situ early next week.  There are 2 areas of re-painting to be completed.  Around the entrance and in the Junior Court, which will be done in August.  This week all the courts are being jet washed and with our brand new nets (International championship quality), new fence and refreshed garden, I think you will agree, we are in pretty good shape for a small club!

August Mix & Match
But more importantly, lets get everyone on court!  August 3rd 2.45 – 5.00 is our next Monthly Mix & Match.  Juniors are invited too (Must be yellow ball team standard).  Please sign up on the notice board or let me know and I will add your name to the list.  The one after that will be Saturday 7th September 2.45 – 5.00

Summer Camps
From next Monday, the Summer camps start in earnest, so just a quick reminder if you want to play during the day.  There are courts available until 10.30 in the morning, then again from 12.30 – 13.30 at lunchtime and from 14.30 in the afternoon.

Happy holidays
Best wishes
Sally
Head Coach

News Letter June 2019

You will see that we now have a brand new fence running across the back of all of the courts. The old was in a bad state of repair because people leaned on it. May I ask everyone to refrain from even touching it! It was very expensive and we want this one to last!

As part of our court maintenance plan, the courts will be sprayed with herbicide tomorrow morning, Wednesday 26th June, first thing in the morning and we are advised not to use the courts during the day.

Next Monday, 1st July should see the beginning of the new gate installation. It should only take a couple of days, and it is hoped that it will not be too disruptive. Fingers crossed.

We have had a couple of key issues lately and everyone should really have a set of keys per family. There is a refundable deposit of £15, which can be paid via this website.
As soon as you pay the £15 I will be notified and will give you a set of keys.

Looking forward to seeing you all on Finals BBQ day, 7th July. I will send out a time table for the day early next week, just as soon as all the semi finals have been played. The courts are available from 3pm on Saturday and until 12.30 Sunday lunchtime. This Sunday sees the last of the junior matches, and Sundays will be fully back in action from 14th July following the finals on 7th.

Best wishes
Sally
Head Coach

News Letter May 2019

This Sunday 19th June is the last day for first round matches to be played.  Unless you have told me that you have booked a time to play in the following 2 – 3 days following 19th, I will be tossing that coin to decide your fate!

If you need contact details of your opponents, please refer to the list of members that Lisa Butterworth sent you about 10 days ago.

No-one has played in the Under 12 competition yet.  Shall I scrap this competition?

The Summer league matches are now in full swing.  Please check the club calendar on this website here to check if there is a match being played to avoid coming disappointment and coming to the club only to find that all courts are busy.

Junior matches are played on Sunday afternoons and home adult matches are played on Monday and Wednesday evenings.  All are on the calendar.

Times (in addition) to daytime, when there are courts available for your matches:
Thursday evening from 19.30
Friday evening from 18.00
Saturday afternoon from 15.00 – 18.00
Sunday morning up until 1pm (This weekend the U9 match at 12.30 has been cancelled so there will be courts available until 3pm)
Mondays from 18.00 when no match
Tuesdays from 19.30
Wednesdays all afternoon and evening when no home match

Save the date Sunday July 7th – BBQ & Finals day from 10.00.

Best wishes
Sally
Head Coach

News Letter March 2019

2 Day Teens Tennis Boot Camp – 8th and 9th April starting at 11.00
This is a 2-day intense training programme for those teenagers who want to sharpen up their play.  There will be a mixture of fierce fitness training, intense technical drills, a serve clinic and we will round up with match play ((ingles & Doubles) They will only get 30 minutes for lunch, there will be no time for social media!  It will be full on!  But because we understand teenagers at The Avenue, we will not start until 11 am, (we know how they like their beds!) and will finish officially at 3pm but they can play on socially until 4 under supervision.  This is not for beginners. The regular camp that runs along side this, will cater for beginners in very small groups of carefully prepared coaching programmes.

Here is the link if you wish to book.  There are only 6 places as it is a new programme and we are trialling it this Easter.  If it is popular, we will add it into our regular camp programme, and I will be asking for honest and frank feedback from you and your teens in order to develop it further.
Coaching Camp

Easter and Passover Camps
These will be running as usual for 3 weeks; 8th April for 5 days, 15th April for 4 days and 23rd April for 4 days.  These camps run from 10.00 – 15.00 with early drop off at 09.00 and later pick up at 16.00. You can book via this website.

Summer Term 2019 for the Juniors
Is filling up fast!  If you have not booked, you need to do it now.  (Saturdays and Mondays only have one place remaining!)
If you are unsure of which group to go for, please message or call me, very happy to help!

Best wishes
Sally
Head Coach

News Letter February 2019

In the next 24 hours you will receive an email with a link to renew your membership. All memberships renewed between now and 31st March, will be charged at this year’s rate. From April 1st there will be a slight increase. Here are the NEW rates; to avoid paying the new increased rate, you need to pay before 31st March 2019

Adult (peak) £240
Adult (off peak) £150
Family £485
Couples (peak) £360
Couples (off peak) £230
Student £90
Junior 2 (9 – 17yrs) £80
Junior 1 (4 – 8yrs) £40

A few dates for your diary in the new tennis season.

Monthly Mix & Match:
March 2nd, April 6th, May 4th, ALL at 14.45. Sign up in the clubhouse or message me, sally@avenuetennisclub.co.uk

Family Quiz night:
Saturday 18th May at 18.30 – 22.00. Save the date! More details to follow.

Annual tournament finals and BBQ: Sunday 7th July 10.00 – 18.00. Save the date! More details to follow.

Best wishes
Sally
Head Coach

News Letter September 2018

This is a quick note to let you know that we have now reduced the annual subscriptions of The Avenue Tennis club by 50%.

For example, an adult membership is now only £115 (off peak, which is a mid-week membership is only £75) and a family membership (which is for 2 adults and up to 3 children) is only £230.  These rates will take you up to April 2019.  The weather is set to stay sunny and warm so why not join now and make the most of it!

If you would like to ‘Try before you Buy’ you are invited to come and play at one of our coached drop- in sessions.  You may visit up to 4 times before buying the whole membership.

The sessions are:
Tuesday morning 10.00 – 11.00 - £8 + £5 for guests
Tuesday evening 7.30 – 9.00pm - £11 + £5 for guests
Friday afternoon 2pm – 3pm - £8 + £5 for guests
No need to book, just turn up!

October half term camp 22nd – 26th October
Is now live on this website and available to book.  You can select the whole week or individual days, early drop off and extended hours to help with working parents. with discounts for existing members.

Best wishes
Sally
Head Coach

News Letter August 2018

Summer Camps
Some members may still be on holiday, but if you are back and need something for the children to do, there are places in the last 2 camps.  Week commencing Monday 20th August and the 4-day week commencing Tuesday 28th August.
Summer Camps

Adult Team Training
If you are thinking about your training in September, we will be running 2 x 6-week adult Team Training sessions on Mondays and Thursdays from 19.30 – 21.00

Men’s Team Training – starts on Thursday 6th September – book here – only 8 places:
Men's Team Training

Ladies Team Training – starts on Monday 10th September – book here – only 8 places:
Ladies Team Training

Junior Coaching Programme – Autumn
Many of you have booked for the Autumn Term and nearly all of Saturday is now full and Monday is completely full, but some places on most other days.  If you want to a place, here is the link.  If you do not know which group is best for your child, just email me and I will help.
Junior Autumn Term

Parent & Child Saturday Family Fun Tennis – Is back!
If you know any adults who are thinking of joining the club, the subscriptions will be reduced by 50% at the end of September and I will be running a new Parent & Child programme on Saturdays from 8th September for 4 weeks, for those potential new members.  Perhaps your children are members already and you have played tennis with them during the holidays, and would like to give it go properly yourself?  The sessions will be at 2pm – 3pm, with the adults on one court with me and the juniors on another court with one of my junior coaches.  The course will only cost £20 and you have to pay for it using this link.  (The children are FREE!) Maximum of 10 players
Parent & Child Saturday Family Fun Tennis

Best wishes
Sally

News Letter July 2018

Thank you to everyone who supported the club’s annual championship and BBQ event on Sunday.  It was a lovely hot summer’s day, with lots of first class tennis and pretty good PIMMS too!

The championship winners were:
Ladies Singles –  Patricia
Men’s Singles – Robert
Under 9 – Oz
Under 12 – Adam G
Teenage Girls – Jenny
Teenage Boys – Zak (Judd retired injured)
Ladies Doubles – Benedicte & Di
Men’s Doubles – Richard & Dylan
Mixed Doubles – Christine & Robert

The raffle prize winners were:
Dinner for 2 at Chicken Society – San
Jin Dinner for 2 with wine Bald Faced Stag – Lisa Butterworth
Portrait by Tamara – Sona Patel
£100 voucher for John Lewis – Steve Smith
Manicure at Perfect Nails – Alison Gold
Free lesson with Paco – San Jin
Goodie bag from Sweaty Betty – Thomas Ollier
Free Tennis Camp – Victor Kypocheva
Bottle of Champagne – Pincus Family
Paintballing party – Judd Blass

The event raised £975!  A big thank you for all your support.  This is only £25 off our target of £1000 towards to the practice wall………….just another £7,000 to find!

Tennis camps start next week – 16th July.  Book now.  Some camps are nearly full and will be closed at the weekend.

Special Reduction in Subscriptions
If you know anyone who is thinking of joining the club, we have a 20% discount on all adult memberships whilst there is still a British player playing at Wimbledon……..today we still have 5!  Heather Watson, Jay Clarke, Harriet Dart, Jamie Murray (just, it was a close one last night) and Dominic Inglot!  So time may be running out.  Join today!

Barnet Tennis Club Open Tournament
A coaching colleague, John Hall has sent me this.  It is an open competition for everyone from Under 8 up to adult, singles and doubles.  Why not give it a go?  You pay on the day £15 but you must enter via this link first!
https://www3.lta.org.uk/Competitions/Competition/?ctn=1-EI2HEIU

Enjoy the weather, enjoy the tennis, enjoy the footie – is it really coming home?
Best wishes
Sally

News Letter April 2018

Welcome to the Avenue Tennis Club if you are new and welcome back all the ‘oldies’!  Just a few notes and reminders.

Annual Club Championships
If you wish to play in this year’s Club Championships, you need to sign up by emailing me now AND you must have already paid your subscription for this year.   The categories this year are:

1. Under 12 Mixed
2. Teenage Girls & Boys
3. Ladies & Men’s singles
4. Ladies & Men’s & Mixed doubles

The first round needs to be played by 13th May.  Finals day & BBQ is Sunday 8th July – SAVE THE DATE – it is a lovely family day out!  EMAIL ME NOW TO REGISTER if you have not done so yet.  The draw will go up tomorrow, and then no one can be added.

Funded Coaching for Adults – 4 lessons for £20
If you want information on this, please email me asap.  Saturday at 2pm – 3pm is full.  Wednesday at 10.00 -11.00 is full, but we have just opened one on a Monday at 10.00 – 11.00.  If there is interest, we will do a very early Thursday morning one 8.30 – 9.30.  Let me know your thoughts.

New Coach
We have a new coach called Matt.  He is a newly LTA accredited coach and is available during the day up until 3pm, all day Friday and some Sundays.  He only charges £25 and this is his number 07957 633 355, give him a call!

Summer Camps
These are now live on this website, extended hours available for only £5. Summer Camp Booking

SAVE THE DATE
Sunday 8th July Finals & BBQ – put the date in your diary now for the whole family.

Junior Matches
Have started and are on Sunday afternoons.  Please check the website calendar if you are planning to come and play.  All courts are used for junior matches from 13.00 – 17.00 but they are NOT on every Sunday.  (There is one exception on Sunday 29th April, when the match will start at 12.00 noon)

Tuesday evening drop in
Don’t forget, it is first come first served.  Only 12 places, and it was full last Tuesday! (£19.30 – 21.00 £11)

All for now, best wishes
Sally
Head Coach

News Letter March 2018

Membership Renewal
Just a reminder that your membership renewal is now due.  You need to re-new your membership via the link that was sent to you via Clubsparks on 28th February.  It will ask you to set up a Direct Debit which will then take the funds from your account within a few days and you will get notification 3 days before it does so.  If for any reason you cannot find that email, let me know and I will resend it to you.

Wimbledon Draw
If you wish to go into the club’s Wimbledon Draw, you need to have paid your membership via Clubspark on the website NO LATER than 10th April.  Renewals received after 10th will not go into the draw, which will be done on Sunday 15th April by the Club Committee.  The direct debit Clubspark system can take up to 3 days to complete, and for the funds to arrive into the club account, so the 10th April is absolutely the last day that you can renew to be in the draw on 15th April

Annual Club Championship
If you wish to play in this year’s Club Championships, you need to sign up in the clubhouse now.  The categories this year are:

1.  Under 12 Mixed
2.  Teenage Girls
3.  Teenage Boys
4.  Ladies & Men’s singles
5.  Ladies & Men’s doubles
6.  Mixed Doubles

The Under 8 & Under 9 competitions will be held on one day before the official finals day of Sunday 8th July.  Dates to be advised.

The sign-up sheets for these championships will be taken down on 15th April, so sign up ASAP.  The draw will be up a week later and emailed to each player, so that you can arrange your matches.  The first round needs to be played by 6th May.

If you are new to the club, you may not have all the latest information about when the courts are free etc, so we have put a document on the subscriptions page with lots of information.  You can read it here:
Avenue Tennis Club Information pdf

Parking
Last but by no means least, I have been asked to convey to you the nuisance that is being caused to our neighbours by inconsiderate parking.  The Committee request that you do not park over our neighbour’s driveways, even for a couple of minutes, because it always takes more than a couple of minutes to drop off your children; there is plenty of free parking on Lichfield Grove & Manor View.  As you know the parking on Sylvan Avenue is very limited.

Best wishes
Sally
Head Coach

News Letter February 2018

Just a couple of things:

JUNIOR TEAMS - SUMMER 2018
I have registered the following junior teams for this year:
Under 8 - Red
Under - Orange
Under 10 - Green
Under 12 - Boys
Under 14 - Boys
Under 16 - Girls
Under 18 - Boys

Preparation for these teams:
There will be an Under 8 Red tournament held on Sunday 25th February at 12.30 - 14.00, and an Under 9 Orange tournament held on Sunday 4th March at 12.30 - 14.30. Both run by coach James jamesmlevy@hotmail.com £10 to enter each.  Please contact James asap to get a place.  There will only be 12 places for each.  If you have friends outside the club, they can enter too paying £12.

All the other age groups will have box leagues to play over the next two months.  They will be on the noticeboard by Tuesday 13th February, at the latest.  The results of these leagues will be uploaded to the LTA and therefore count towards ratings.  If I have not spoken to you or your child about playing in these, please let me know and I will add them to the boxes now, as they will form the squads for this summer.

WIMBLEDON DRAW
If you wish to go into the Wimbledon Draw this April, you need to have 'opted in’ If you have not opted in by 16th FEBRUARY, you will not be able to even go into our draw.  We usually get lots of tickets and every family usually gets a pair...............but so few of you have opted in, so far this year that we may not get many tickets.

This is what to do:
Call the LTA 0207 487 7000 option 1 - just tell them that you want to 'opt in' - give them your British Tennis Membership number OR your DOB (Easier to remember!) and they will do it.........30 seconds! DONE!  And you could be on your way to SW19 in the Summer!

Best wishes
Sally
Head Coach

News Letter November 2017

WIMBELDON BALLOT
It may seem like ages away but if you wish to go into the club’s Wimbledon Ballot you MUST ‘OPT IN’.  This is what you do:  Log in to your British Tennis Membership.  If you have not got a membership number, get one now.

It is FREE – join here https://www.lta.org.uk/member/ just make sure that you add your ‘place to play’ as The Avenue Tennis Club, Finchley N3 2LE.  There are lots of Avenue Tennis Clubs in the drop-down menu, so make sure you that you tick the correct club.  Then go into your membership and on the home page, there will be a Wimbledon Ballot Opt in button. Just follow that link.  Or you can just call the LTA on 0208 487 7000 and they will do it for you and all your family members at the same time.  If you do not opt in you cannot go into the club’s ballot.  You have to opt in by February, but our ticket allocation is determined by the number of members who have opted in before Christmas.  So far, out of 159 eligible members ONLY 17 have opted in. That is likely to only yield us one pair of tickets.  For the past two years, we have had nearly 20…………so get opting in now!

CHRISTMAS MIX & MATCH – SAVE THE CHILDREN – CHRISTMAS JUMPER EVENT
The club's regular Saturday Mix & Match on Saturday 16th December at 3pm will be suspended to support the Save The Children Christmas Jumper Day. Everyone is invited to come and play tennis, mixing in as usual, except that you MUST be wearing a Christmas Jumper (CJ) and make a small donation to the fund. If you do not have a CJ, you can buy one very cheaply from Matalan etc, or wear something 'christmassy' in support - a reindeer antler headband would suffice! There will be a prize for the best dressed player! Note: Matalan have the best CJ selection every year, but they sell out by December, so plan ahead! Please sign up on the notice board in the clubhouse so that we have an idea of numbers, for the mulled vine, and Christmas nibbles.  All on the house just to say, ‘Merry Christmas’ from The Avenue Tennis Club.  If you are injured at the moment (and there are a few of you around), just come for the refreshments!

The club's regular Saturday Mix & Match will be suspended today to support the Save The Children Christmas Jumper Day.  Everyone is invited to come and play tennis, mixing in as usual, except that you MUST be wearing a Christmas Jumper (CJ) and make a small donation to the fund.  If you do not have a CJ you can buy one very cheaply from Matalan etc, or wear something 'christmassy' in support - a pair of reindeer antler headband would suffice.  There will be a prize for the best dressed player!  Note: Matalan have the best CJ selection every year but they sell out by December, so plan ahead! Sign up on the Club's notice board.  If more than 12 people want to play, Sally will arrange some KOTC and around the world on a couple of courts.  The more the merrier!

Best wishes
Sally
Head Coach

News Letter October 2017

Competing and Playing at The Avenue Tennis Club this Autumn
Ten – Teens Box Leagues

Yellow Box Leagues are now on the notice board and everyone has been given the contact details of the players in their box.  Let’s get those teenagers on court and off their computers for an hour! Always courts free on a Sunday

Under 8 (Red) Competition is on Sunday 12th November at 14.00 – James is arranging it.  There is a £10 entry fee for members, and a £12 entry fee for non-members.  If you have not registered, email James now Jamesmlevy@hotmail.com

Under 9 (Orange) Competition is on Sunday 19th November at 14.00 – James is arranging it.  There is a £10 entry fee for members, and a £12 entry fee for non-members.  If you have not registered, email James now Jamesmlevy@hotmail.com

Adults Ladders – this is an opportunity to play singles; you simply challenge players above you and if you win you take their place, rules will be on the noticeboard with the ladders  – the ladies is being organised by Francesca francesca.romita78@gmail.com

The men by Daniel dggtenniscoaching@gmail.com
Let them know if you want to get involved.

9th 10th 11th October – Sukkot camp – if you still want a place for one day or all three, not too late to book on this website

23rd 24th 25th 26th 27th October – Half Term camp, also bookable on this site.

Sunday 14th October 14.00 – 16.00 Open Day
An opportunity for all you parents who pay for your children to be members of the club, this is an day for you to come and play and have some FREE coaching as a thank you for being part of The Avenue.  If you are interested in joining the club yourself, the subscriptions are now half price as we are half way through the year.  A full adult membership is now only £115 and an off-peak adult membership only £72.50.  No need to book, just turn up next Sunday 14th at 14.00 – we can even lend you a racquet!

Saturday Social
Remember that on a Saturday you do not need to arrange a game, you can just turn up at 3 and there will always be someone for a hit.  The coaches will stay and make up numbers if needed for a set of doubles.

Sundays
All the courts are free on Sundays so plenty of opportunity to arrange games, ladder matches, box league matches; you should always get a court

Rusty Racquets (RR)
Is currently at 19.00 – 20.00 on a Sunday evening and will be at this time until the 22nd October.  There will be no RR on 29th October (Half term, no lessons) and from 5th November RR will be at 15.00 – 16.00 on Sunday afternoon.  Even if you are not a member you can come along, it costs £8 and as a non-member you pay a guest fee of £5.  You can play as a guest for up to 4 times as part of our ‘try before you buy’ scheme.

Happy Hitting
Enjoy the sunshine
Sally
Head Coach

News Letter September 2017

Autumn Camps
Our next two tennis camps are now bookable via this website:
Sekkot – 9th 10th 11th October
Half Term – 23rd – 27th October
Camps can be booked by the day or the week.  You can also book early drop off and/or extended hours.

Two New Daytime Groups for Juniors
TOTS TENNIS – Wednesdays 14.15 – 15.00 – email sally@avenuetennisclub.co.uk if interested – starting 27th September.

8 – 12 year old Junior beginners group – Wednesdays 13.00 – 14.00 great for home educated children - email sally@avenuetennisclub.co.uk if interested – starting 27th September.  If we have enough players of two different age ranges, we will run two groups.

ADULT DROP IN SESSIONS
Tuesdays 10.00 – 11.00
Fridays 14.00 – 15.00
Sundays 19.00 – 20.00
Small Groups.  All £8 for members and £13 for non-members.  Just turn up.

OPEN DAY
Sunday 15th October 14.00 – 16.00 – free afternoon of coaching and social play for non-members – in particular, parents of children who are members, where the parents are not members.  This is a small thank you to you for choosing the Avenue Tennis Club for your children’s tennis.

REDUCED SUBSCRIPTIONS
This week the subscriptions for the club will be reduced by 50%, and last until April 2018.  So for an adult full membership it will only be £115 and a mid-week membership, it will only be £75.  If you are thinking of joining, there could not be a better time.  These can be bought via the website.  If you know anyone who may be interested, tell them to go to www.avenuetennisclub.co.uk

Best wishes
Sally
Head Coach

News Letter August 2017

Just a few mid-summer notes.
If you have not registered your children for the autumn junior programme yet, here is the link: http://www.avenuetennisclub.co.uk/autumn_term_bookings.html

Please note that some sessions on Saturdays and Thursdays for the older age groups, (Under 10 and above) are now full.  There are still a few for Under 8 and Under 9.

There are places for the last week of camp, the 29th August which is a 4-day camp.  Link for camp here: http://www.avenuetennisclub.co.uk/holiday_camps.html

Table Tennis Table
A huge thank you to all of you who supported the summer finals day and BBQ, when we were raising money to buy the external Table Tennis Table.  We raised sufficient funds to be able to install a top of the range table which now fills the ‘no man’s land’ space next to the bin!  The bats and balls for this table reside in the kitchen draw and should always be returned after play.  They must not be left outside.

Drop In & Team Training Programme from 11th September
There will be a 6-week pre-paid team training programme on: Tuesdays & Wednesdays 19.30 – 21.00 Ladies - £66 inclusive of floodlights.  Book on line here: http://www.avenuetennisclub.co.uk/adults.html

With 3 floodlit courts, there should be plenty of places for everyone to choose their preference Thursdays 19.30 -21.00 Men - £66 inclusive of floodlights: Book directly with Daniel here: dggtenniscoaching@gmail.com

In addition to the team training, these will be the drop in sessions at the following times:
Monday 19.30 – 21.00 - £11 (Please note that this will only run if the demand is sufficient.  Usually during the team training, the demand for an additional evening drop in subsides – please let me know your thoughts on this)

Tuesday 10.00 – 11.00 £8
Friday 14.00 – 15.00 £8
Sunday 19.00 – 20.00 £8

The only drop in that will continue for the next two weeks is Friday at 15.00 – 16.00.  After 1st September there will be none again until Monday 11th September, after which time all the drop ins will resume, as above.

Tennis Leaders Course Sunday 17th September 11.00 - 16.00
This is a course that I run for 14 year olds.  It is the LTA pre-cursor to the Level 1 coaching assistants course, for which you have to be 16 years old.  The Tennis Leaders is a 5-hour course and takes place partly on court and is partly classroom based.  The Leaders learn how to support coaches, run warm ups and run competitions; After the initial day they have 6 hours of work experience working alongside me or one of my coaches, after which time, they can assist on lessons and camps.  In their eyes it is a great pocket money earner, and your eyes, it is great for the cv!  It costs £35.  Let me know if you have a teen in your house that would like to come along, and I will give you more information.

Courts Out of Action for Maintenance
The courts are going to be resprayed.  This is an expensive but vitally important element to our maintenance programme.  It will commence on Monday 4th September and the courts will be out of use until 11th September.  Even though they may look like the work is complete by Saturday 9th September, they are not to be used as the paint needs several days to cure.

Floodlight Tokens
We are getting to that time of the year, where you may need tokens after 20.30 in the evening.  The lights go off automatically at 21.00, so if you put in a token at 20.30 expecting to get an hour, you will be disappointed as we have a curfew that kicks in automatically.  The tokens can be purchased from me or Debbie Gispan (Debbie lives on the corner of Sylvan Avenue & Lichfield and kindly keeps a supply) Her number is 07956 910 459.  Tokens cost £6 an hour.  Note that if a token runs out, the lights will require 15 minutes to warm up again, so if you intend to play for more than an hour, you need to ‘feed the meter’ in advance.  When you have 4 minutes left of time to play, the coloured light will come on to warn you to either put in another token or start picking up balls.  Once the lights go out there is another light that comes on to allow you to clear the court.  You cannot play under this light and it goes off after 10 minutes.  The meters are behind the kitchen and are clearly marked.  The new court is court 3 and court 3meter has been installed out of sequence.  So please look carefully at which meter/court you are feeding.  We also request that if you are the only / first players using the lights, please use the middle court, court 2 as this is farthest away from our neighbours and should cause least light spillage for them.

Apologies, for such a lengthy newsletter, but all very important pieces of information.
Best wishes
Sally
Head Coach

News Letter July 2017 Flood Lights

New Flood light installation, remedial work to the courts and respraying this summer

Please note the following:

Friday 14th July – Tuesday 18th July – NO USE OF COURT 3

Wednesday 19th July – Friday 2st July – all three adult courts are being jet washed from 8.00 – 15.00.

So NO USE OF ALL ADULTS COURTS AT THESE TIMES, therefore there will be NO coffee morning next Friday as previously advertised.

The next club night will be August 4th at 6.30 – 8.30.  Please note the timing – this is different to our usual evening programmes.

The next Coffee morning will be Friday 8th September 9.30 – 11.30

Adult drop in programme for the Summer will continue as usual, just with a slight tweak on the timing on Tuesdays and Fridays from 25th July – 1st September, it will look like this:

Sunday 19.00 – 20.00 £8

Tuesday 10.00 – 11.00 £8 (From 25th July – 29TH August 09.00 – 10.00)

Tuesday 19.30 – 21.00 £10

Friday 14.00 – 15.00 £8 (From 28th July – September 1st 15.00 – 16.00)

The junior tennis camps start on Monday 24th July – September 1st.  whilst we use all the courts, if you want to play during the hours of 10.00 and 15.00, we will always move over for you to have a court.  Note that until about 11.00 in the morning, we rarely use all courts, so if you are planning to play, try to come before 11 or after 15.00, but as I say, we will always accommodate if we can.  Possibly text me as every week has different ages and we use different courts.

It is all down to Jamie now – no pressure J!
Best wishes
Sally
Head Coach

News Letter 10th July 2017

On behalf of the committee, I would like to thank everyone who came to the BBQ and Annual Club Championships Finals yesterday and helped to make it the huge success that it was.

The sun shone, whilst we watched 9 finals, barbequed, drank PIMMS and ate strawberries!  This event is run annually as a way of bringing the families together to join the Avenue Tennis Club community.  It always makes a little bit of money that goes towards the upkeep of the clubhouse.  However, this year, we made a special effort to try and raise some money to buy a table tennis for outside.  I am pleased to announce that we made a few pounds short of £1000.  This is far more than we have ever made before and definitely our best year ever!  Thank you everyone who supported with buying raffle tickets, selling raffle tickets, donating puds and salads, cooking on the BBQ (Big shout out to Geoff’s Dad and Max – kings of the BBQs) and everyone who helped in so many different ways.  The support this year was phenomenal, the product of the best family tennis club in North London!

The winners of the comps were:
Men’s Singles – Rob beat Geoff
Ladies Singles – Noa beat Lisa
Men’s Doubles – Geoff & Rob beat Dror & Shai
Ladies Doubles – Mia & Noa beat Sophie & Neena
Mixed doubles – Geoff & Patricia beat Rob & Chris
Under 14 Girls – Noa beat Jenny
Under 12 Boys – Filip & Adam will play this week. Due to a car accident Filip was unable to get to the club, but thankfully was unhurt.
Under 12 Girls – Camille beat Mor
Under 10 Boys – Leo beat Kobi
Under 8 mixed – Oz beat Gabriel

The winners of the raffle were:
£100 Voucher for John Lewis – Astle Family
Paintball/Lazer party – Jonathan Sulenski
Manicure – Victoria Hall
Dinner for two – Kay Shepherd
Set of latest DVDs – Thomas Ollier
Summer Tennis Camp - Starr Family
Portrait – Ashley Philips
Mini Tennis net – Ruzansky family

The winners of the flower raffle (entry a tray of bedding plants for the garden), were Ray & Eric Astle, who will receive a free tennis lesson from Luke

There will be pics posted on this website to mark yesterday’s lovely occasion.  Please send me any pics that you took so that I can include a good cross section representing our lovely ‘Avenue Tennis Club Family’

Enjoy the second week of Wimbledon – still 3 Brits in! (Lost Marcus Willis today) If you are going to SW19 this week, and you got your tickets via the club, and you use any form of social media, can I ask you to tag @sally_avenue #avenuetennisclub

Best wishes
Sally
Head Coach

News Letter July 2017 BBQ Finals

Lots of updates and reminders for this weekend:

Tickets for the Day
Lots of people have not paid for the tickets yet and you need to do this on line via the club bank account:

The Avenue Tennis Club
60-08-20
37483218

£10 adults
£5 children

Please reference your payment with name & BBQ, if you wish to pay on the day, you can, but it will cost:   Adults £12 Children £6

The adult finals will start at 11.00 with both men’s singles and ladies’ singles at the same time.  This will be followed by the Men’s doubles and Ladies’ doubles at the same time. Then the adult mixed doubles will be played. The BBQ will be lit at around mid - day and the food served from 13.00 onwards The juniors will start at about 14.30 Prize giving and raffle approximately 16.30 – 17.30.

There will be a raffle with lots of amazing prizes.  For just £5 you can get 5 chances to win one of these; please buy tickets to support your club.
£100 voucher for Paintball party or Laser party for 5 players
A portrait in mixed media of you worth £300
Manicure worth £15
Dinner for two at local restaurant
Waitrose Voucher
Latest DVDs
John Lewis Voucher
Mini Tennis Net worth £400
Summer Tennis camp worth £145
Special edition, Junior Tennis Racquet in GB colours. (you cannot buy them!)

If you cannot get to the club to buy tickets, you can make a credit transfer to the bank account detailed above and tell me and I will add the required number to the pot!

We will also be doing the ‘free lesson’ with Luke flower raffle, so not too late to bring a plant too!

There will be a ‘by donation’ bar of wine, beer, soft drinks and PIMMS!  Meat & veggie BBQ, lots of salads (please donate!), puds and strawberries & Cream.

Please note that the adult drop in on Sunday evening will not be happening and neither will the 18.00 – 19.00 Junior group which will roll over to the 23rd July.

Hope to see you all on Sunday
Sally

News Letter 15th June 2017

Floodlight News
Our 3rd set of floodlights will be installed this summer following the final consent for planning permission being granted yesterday by Barnet Council.  This is the result of 2 years of our Chair, Patricia weaving her way through the planning red tape with precision, care and attention to detail.  She had already secured £20,000 via the London Marathon Charitable Trust earlier this year to pay for the lights.  This is a milestone for the Avenue and our warm thanks go to Patricia for all her hard work and perseverance.

Finals BBQ – 9th July
The day will start at 11.00 with the adult finals, food will be served from 13.00, and the Junior finals will run after the adults.  Full timing details will be published at the end of June.  Tickets for the BBQ will be sold in advance and cost £10 for an adult and £5 for a child.  You can buy your tickets via Sandra Rapley and Sally now!

Raffles
Finals day raffle tickets will be on sale at the club from the end of June – only £1 and amazing prizes! Flower raffle for a free private lesson – bring your bedding plants this weekend – just one tray and your name will go in the raffle.  Could be a spend of as little as £3.99!

Mid Season Update
Ladies 1 is top of their league, but the team at number 2 is only 17 points behind and a game in hand.  Men’s 1 and Ladies 2 both roughly joint 2nd in their leagues, so all a bit nip & tuck – every set counts gals & guys!  Ladies 3 are holding their own – well done everyone!

And the sun is shining – happy hitting this weekend – Go The Avenue!
Best wishes
Lisa Butterworth
Secretary

News Letter 26th May 2017

Spring Bank Holiday Newsletter
A couple of reminders:
There is a small tennis camp next week Tuesday to Friday – only the junior court and one other court will be required at most so you can come and play.  If you want your children to come along for a day or more.

Today is the deadline for the first round of the club championships.  If you have not played by the end of this weekend, we will flip a coin as to who goes through to the next round.

If you are doing your baskets and bedding plants this weekend, please buy an extra tray for the club and go into a raffle for a free private lesson with Luke or Daniel or win a club T shirt or Hoodie.  All you must do is bring the plants/tray/pot to the club – LABEL WITH YOUR NAME, leave by the bins.  Or a bag of soil, or £5 in an envelope with your name and ‘flower raffle’ on it. We will do the draw on finals day.  We need lots and have only had 3 donations so far.  You do not need to spend a fortune!

The subsidized day time programme will not be on during half term, but will continue again on 6th June for 4 more weeks.  If you want any information about this please contact luke@avenuetennisclub.co.uk.

There will be no adult drop in on Tuesday 30th May nor Sunday 4th June.

Sally
Head Coach

News Letter 1st May 2017

The new daytime programme will start on Tuesday 16th May and run for 6 weeks (omitting half term) on 4 days a week at the following times; each session is only £5, and lasts 1 hour and 15 minutes. Whatever your standard, come along at the time that suits you and we will adapt the lesson to the players! (Bring your friends - spread the word!)

Tuesday 10.00 - 11.15
Wednesday 09.15 - 10.30
Thursday 14.00 - 15.15
Friday 14.00 - 15.15

Also do not forget that the Tuesday evening drop in is on again from 19.30 - 21.00 £11 PAYG

The Adult matches start in earnest next week so please check the club calendar on the website; most Mondays and Wednesdays are populated with these matches from 18.00 and therefore courts are not available. But NOT every week.

The Junior matches are well on the way on Sunday afternoons from 13.00 - 18.00 for the months of May and June - again check the website calendar for exact details and timings if you wish to play on a Sunday afternoon.

Junior Club night is alive and well - any juniors who play full court should come and join in - no cost - 16.30 - 18.00 every Wednesday.

Club Championships are on the notice board. First rounds MUST be played by 25th May. Any round robins need to be played at one match a week until July. Please look a the noticeboard. Any questions regarding the club championship, please contact Luke@avenuetennisclub.co.uk
07729 672 965

Happy hitting
Sally
Head Coach

News Letter 21st April 2017

I will be closing the entry to the club championship on Sunday 23rd April so that I can arrange the draws ready for play week commencing 2nd May.  Therefore, it is imperative that you get yourselves and your juniors all signed up this weekend on the notice board.  If you do not understand the age groups for the Juniors please ask!

Then save the date for Finals and BBQ day - Sunday 9th July.  It is always a lovely family day so clear your diaries for the whole family!

Remember that the adult team matches start early in May, and the home matches will be played on Mondays and Wednesdays, thus rendering all 3 courts out of use from 18.00 on those evenings.  Please check the website for dates of fixtures.

The Junior matches start this weekend and the home matches will be played on Sunday afternoons from 13.00 - 18.00, usually using all courts, but check the website calendar for actual dates and times.

Also on Wednesdays from 16.30 - 18.00 we have started the Junior Club Night.  This is for all FULL court playing junior members only.  It is not coaching, there is nothing to pay, just let them come and play socially against their friends.  There will be an adult member to look after them.

Plus the adult drop - ins on Tuesdays from 19.30 - 21.00 (£11) and Sundays from 19.00 - 20.00 (£8) are now back in full swing so just turn up and start practicing for the Avenue Trophies!

All for now
Happy Hitting!
Sally
Head Coach & LTA Middlesex Coach of the Year 2016

News Letter 1st April 2017

Welcome to the new tennis season at The Avenue Tennis Club.  There are lots of things happening and here are some for you to ‘Save the Date’

1. NEW Adult Club Night
On the first Friday of the Month – run by Luke.  There is no booking, just turn up. 18.30 – 20.30 May 5th, June 2nd, July 7th, August 4th, September 1st, October 7th.  There will be a minimal charge of £6 and this will include prizes each month!  Put the dates in your diary now!  You will be playing a mixture of singles and doubles depending on the numbers. Lots of fun matchplay – be there!

2. Club championships
Registration for all sections from Under 8 to Adult Mixed Doubles is now on the notice board.  Closing date is 28th April, with the first round to be completed by 25th, second round by 15th June 3rd round by 30th June.  Please sign up as soon as you can especially for the Juniors.  If you do not know in which age category your child falls, just ask me.

3. Finals Day and BBQ Sunday 9th July
The adult finals will start at 11.00 am and the junior finals will follow.  Tickets for the BBQ MUST be bought in advance so that we can cater accordingly.  They are £10 for adults and £5 for children.

4. Serve Clinic – two more dates for your diary
Monday 24th April 19.00 – 21.00 £8 for one hour of serve coaching and one hour of floodlit playing afterwards.  Saturday 6th May 15.00 – 16.00 £5 for one hour of serve coaching, after which everyone is encouraged to stay and play.

5. Quick reminder of the Adult Social Times
Saturday from 15.00 – 18.00 & Sunday up until 13.00.  During this time, we encourage everyone to simply turn up and mix in with together.  There is no coaching at this time, but there may be one red match on one Saturday at 4.30.

6. Quick reminder of the Adult Drop in Times
Tuesday 19.30 – 21.00 £11 – just turn up – from Tuesday 18th April -Team standard Sunday 19.00 – 20.00 £8 – just turn up – from Sunday 24th April – Beginner & Improver standard.

7. Junior matches
Will be on the website calendar before the end of Easter.  All HOME junior matches are on Sundays afternoons.  Please check the website before turning up to play.  They should all be played in May and June.  From July, the courts on Sundays will all be free again all afternoon.

8. Adult HOME
Matches are on the website calendar now.  They are held on Mondays and Wednesdays and the courts are required from 18.00.  Not every Monday and every Wednesday but most!  So again, do check before you go to play.

9. FREE MEN’S TEAM TRAINING!
On Thursday 20th April, Luke is going to hold a free team training session from 19.30 – 21.00 for all those men who would like to play in the men’s team this season.  Luke is then going to run a 5 week programme after that leading up to half term.  Please contact Luke directly if you like to join this programme and come to the first FREE session next week -  luke@avenuetennisclub.co.uk – only 8 places, so book in now.  Luke will be our men’s captain this year and will play in the team if needed.  So, someone could be partnering the coach each match!

10. Junior coaching programme
Restarts on Tuesday 18th April, and is virtually full.  If you have not yet booked your children, and want to keep the place that you had last term, please do it ASAP.

All for now. Happy Hitting.  Welcome all the new members.  See you on court very soon.
Best wishes
Sally
Head Coach & LTA Coach of The Year 2016

News Letter 10th March 2017

Dear Members

Four pieces of important and exciting news from the committee and me:

1. Your Membership renewal & The Wimbledon Draw.
Firstly, the committee has asked me to give you this link to renew your membership. https://clubspark.lta.org.uk/TheAvenueLTC2/Membership/Join

There are 21 days to renew. When subscribing as a family, please add in all the email addresses, for everyone in your membership who is over the age of 12years. Remember if you are not a member by 1st April, you cannot enter the Wimbledon ballot which is on April 1st at 2pm. If you cannot attend, you can write to Lisa, the membership secretary lbutterworth@uk.imshealth.com with details of someone who will attend in your place as proxy.

Proxy voters must be adult members of the club, and your request must be in writing before Thursday 30th March. You will get an acknowledgment from Lisa regarding your proxy. Therefore, if you have not heard from her, re-email her. Proxy voters can only be a proxy for one other member. Therefore, you cannot send one member of the family for a family of 5. Only Juniors 9 years and over by 1st April are eligible to enter this draw.

2. New coach
I am delighted to announce that I have just engaged a new coach. One who will be the club's Assistant Head Coach, working very closely with me to build participation and involvement for the Men's section of the club. We have a thriving female section, and would like to foster the same level of engagement from the chaps!

Luke will captain the men's team and play in it if needed. He will also be focusing on day time tennis and getting some new initiatives going on those fallow hours between 9.00 and 3.00 mid-week. Luke will be full time and starts from 27th March. I will give you his details to contact him then, once I have sorted out his regular schedule.

Luke has played competitive tennis for his county Lincolnshire, and has been coaching tennis for 10 years both in the UK and as a Tennis Manager abroad. Most recently he has been a lead coach at Service Line Tennis Management company, coaching in schools, private houses and clubs across Sussex and Kent. He has a wealth of experience in coaching county juniors at a high level and has vast breath of coaching all standards of adults and juniors. He is very excited to join The Avenue tennis club. As indeed I am looking forward to welcoming him aboard later this month.

3. Junior Club night
We are reinstating the junior club night for players 9/10 years+ on a Wednesday evening from 16.30 - 18.00. There will be no charge for this, no booking, it will be turn up and play, and there will be at least 2 courts available. This will be a great opportunity for them to either arrange to play a box league match, a club tournament match, play some table tennis or just to hit and hang out with their friends. I would like to engender a 'youth club' atmosphere and environment.

We will have the tuck shop open and the kids can buy a drink or a snack. It will be organised by parents and initially run by Benedicte Forde (mother of Jacques, Betty and Luc) and Denis Lecocq, (father of Louie and Lucas). Ben and Denis will be looking for more parents to take a turn in coming to the club to chaperone the children. These are their emails; lecocq.denis@yahoo.co.uk;  benedicteforde@gmail.com; please contact them if you would be happy to assist. Obviously, players who are 14 years and older can come and play on their own. Our insurance does not allow us to have those under 14 on the premises without a guardian. The first night for the Junior Club Night will be Wednesday 19th April and will run for the summer term until mid-July.

4. Tuesday evening drop in
Is being 'dropped' until further notice. The committee feel that whilst there is team training running on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, we need to keep Tuesdays free for members to turn up and play. The team matches will start at the beginning of May and have been scheduled for Mondays and Wednesdays, and all courts are needed from 6.00 on those evenings.

Best wishes
Sally

News Letter 9th February 2017

Dear Members

I sent you all the details yesterday regarding the new Team Training that is starting on Monday 20th February. However I forgot to say that it will be at 19.30 - 21.00 in the evenings. Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.

Tuesdays will become the day for the drop in which will take the place of Mondays, same time 19.30 - 21.00.

Monday 13th February will be the last Monday. Tuesday Drop in will start on Tuesday 21st February.

If anyone is keen to come to the Doubles Tactics sessions on Friday mornings , who is not already registered, please let me know and I will add you to the 'doodle' as that is the only way to book for these sessions at 9.00 - 10.00, 10.00 - 11.00 and 11.00 - 12.00 - only FOUR players per session.

Sundays from 12.00 - 1.00 continues to the Beginner/Improver group and you can use the PAYG system,, paying £8 a session or pay for 6 in advance at £6 a session. This is an on going, programme. and you can book with Nicola nicola.guzowska@gmail.com

Best wishes
Sally

News Letter 12th January 2017

Dear Members

Just two things:

1. Wimbledon Ballot. Only 36% of our membership has 'opted in' to the ballot for the Avenue's allocation of tickets in the club ballot.

Just to explain:

A. You cannot go into the Avenue Ballot unless you opt in. Our ballot will be held in April - more details will follow.

B. The LTA allocate the number of tickets to clubs based on the number of 'opted in' members each club has BY 17TH FEBRUARY 2017.

All you need to do to 'opt in' is go to your LTA/British Tennis profile and use the 'opt in' button. If you cannot find that or do not remember your password, just call the LTA 0208 487 7000 with your name and DOB - they will do it for you.

Just remember you have to be 'in it to win it' - so just OPT IN now!

2. And the second thing is this. I am always being asked for Avenue hoodies - I am about to order some this week, so if you would like one, please let me know asap and what initials you would like on it. (most people use their own! :)

They cost £26 including P & P and come in royal blue and all sizes. In particular I will be insisting that the junior team members wear them, so may as well get it now!

All for now
Sally

News Letter 8th January 2017

Dear Members

Happy New Year - let's hope that 2017 is going to be as good for The Avenue Tennis Club as 2016 was for Andy Murray!

Firstly, to remind you that Saturday afternoon from 3pm is social play time and you can just turn up at the club and mix in with whoever is here. To help those of you who are new to the club and may not know many other members yet, I run a monthly 'Mix & Match', and in January, February and March, I am running 2 per month. These are the dates:

January
Men's Mix & Match - singles and doubles - 10 places - Sunday 15th at 10.00 - 12.00
Ladies and Men's Mix and Match - doubles only - 12 places - Saturday 28th at 15.00 - 17.00

February
Ladies and Men's Mix and Match - doubles only - 12 places - Sunday 5th at 10.00 - 12.00 Men's Mix & Match - singles and doubles - 10 places - Sunday 25th at 15.00 - 17.00

March
Ladies and Men's Mix and Match - doubles only - 12 places - Sunday 5th at 10.00 - 12.00
Men's Mix & Match - singles and doubles - 10 places - Saturday 11th at 15.00 - 17.00

I will pin sign-up sheets to the noticeboard and you can add your name to the ones that you can attend; come to them all if you can. I will then put you all into sets of doubles and singles according to the players on the list, and the type of M & M (doubles or singles). This is how it works: you all turn up at 3, play a short set and then switch to the next set with new players and partners, when one court reaches 6 games. It means that you come to the club without the need to arrange partners etc. and get a minimum of 3 sets with different players. I will try to match people as best as I can, and hopefully this will forge some new friendships and hitting buddies. The first one is NEXT Sunday at 10 am for the men only.

Monday evening drop in - 19.30 - 21.00
This is restarting again tomorrow 9th January - Marcus will be taking it and it costs £11 on a pay as you go basis. (In the summer, it is £10, but the extra pound is to go towards the lights, the cost of which falls to the coach) Please come along and join in - always a fun session.

New coach
I am delighted to welcome a new coach to my team and to the club. She is called Nicola, is Polish and has played to a very high national level in Poland. Nicola is here to improve her coaching experience, her English and is taking a degree in Sports Business and Coaching. She is in her first year and plans to be with us for 3 years and hopefully beyond. She has significant Polish coaching qualifications but wants to learn from the British system too, so I am going to mentor her through her Level 3. She will charge £25 an hour for private lessons, but as an introductory offer for January only, will only be charging £20 an hour. So here is her mobile and email: nicola.guzowska@gmail.com 07874 171 107. Some days she is at Uni but I know that she is free on Monday and Tuesday mornings, all day Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. First come, first served if you want a regular slot!

Floodlights
Remember that you can buy tokens (£6 an hour) from Benedicte, Debbie and myself. Suggest that you buy in batches of 4 or 5, so avoid needing one urgently and not being able to get hold of one of us. Remember that if you are feeding the metre you must put in the second token BEFORE the first one runs out - you can gauge this by the red and green warning lights on the courts (When they come on you have 4 minutes to add another token) - if you do not get there in time, and the lights go out, they will take 15 minutes to re-heat and therefore you lose 15 minutes of your hour...... you have been warned!

Awards and Rewards
I am very proud to tell you that I have been voted Middlesex LTA Coach of the Year 2016 and one of our new Level 1 coaches, Harvey McKellar has won the Middlesex LTA Young Volunteer of the Year 2016. Well done Harvey! Without wishing to sound like I am at the Oscars, or making an Andy Murray acceptance speech of another trophy or title, I do want to thank my team; coaches and committee alike. The committee who work tirelessly behind the scenes has trusted my judgement, giving me a free reign to facilitate the growth and development of the club, to allow us to be where we are today. I am going to receive the award at Queens Club in February and am accepting it on behalf of us all - thank you Committee - without whom none of this would be possible! (Oh dear that did sound like Oscar night speak! But true!)

All for now, if you want me to write up your name for some of the Mix & Match sessions, just email me back and all will be done! Happy Hitting!

Best wishes
Sally

News Letter 10th November 2016

Dear Members

Message from Under 8 Red Coach Captain, James Levy:

Would your under 8 player like to take part in an internal mini red tournament at the club on Sunday 27 November 2016 at 9am? Depending on numbers, it should last for 2 hours, although you could leave earlier if you do not qualify from the group stages. Each player will play three or four matches in two groups and the winners and runner ups will go through to the semi- finals and finals. I will go through the rules at the start and give some tips and strategy for match play. The children will play matches up to 10 points, and I wil ask parents to umpire matches? I will provide score sheets to make it easy.

It's £10 entry on the day and I will enter all your players results into the LTA website, which will help them get a rating. This will help them to compete elsewhere. However, you will need a British Tennis Membership number(BTM) for the LTA website to recognize you. To get a BTM number, you can sign your child up for free with British tennis at https://www2.lta.org.uk/Login/ making the Avenue LTC your place to play. Once you have joined British Tennis, please bring your BTM number with you on the day so that I can enter your results. Please reply to me, James Jamesmlevy@hotmail.com if you would like to enter. This is a great way to put all the coaching into practise.

Monday 5th December will probably be the last Monday evening drop in before Christmas and everyone starts getting their tinsel out in earnest! Therefore we thought we would add a little Cheese & Wine to that evening as a bit of festive cheer!

The timing of the play will be slightly earlier and it will be a 'cardio-style' evening. Therefore lots more than 8 can be on the court at once. We will start at 7pm and run until about 8.15/8.30. The cheese and wine will be set up and available from 7.00 so you don't even need to play, just come straight from work and have a glass. The cost will still only be £10, so why not come along?

I am hoping that lots of members will come, especially new members, beginners and improvers. It will be fun on and off the court. If cannot make the on court session, it will only cost £5...........go on put it in your diary now!

And just a quickie, you can start opting in for the Wimbledon ballot now! So as soon as the LTA email you, do it! Or go to your British Tennis Membership and opt in - if you want to go to Wimbledon next summer and watch our brilliant Brits perform, you have to 'opt in' via the LTA to go into our club ballot! 42 of you have already done it, which means I will be hassling the other 158 until you do!!

Happy Hitting!
Sally

News Letter 28th October 2016

Dear Members

Just a couple of things:

We need to make a decision on the fireworks party and have about 24 people interested but need 50 - 60 to make it worth while, so if you are still keen can you let me or Lisa (lbutterworth@uk.imshealth.com) know ASAP so that we can make a decision in the next 48 hours. It will be on Saturday 5th November from about 6.30 - with supper included in a family ticket for £25 - fantastic fireworks courtesy of the Hall School.

This weekend is half term weekend for the junior coaching programme so there is no coaching tomorrow morning - there is no rain forecast so why not make the most of the free courts? Ideal opportunity to play ladder and box leagues matches - juniors and adults.

Now that we have stopped the adult team training, we are just running the following adult programme:

Friday morning - private groups of up to 4 players - bookable by doodle - if you want the link please let me know. This has been set up instead of the drop in to accommodate different timing requirements and keep groups small and focussed and the cost of the lesson is shared amongst the players (1 player £30, 2 players £15, 3 players £10, 4 players £7.50) There is one lesson at 9 - 10, one at 10 - 11 and one at 11 - 12.

Sunday evening - 17.00 - 18.00 Beginners and Improvers. There is a 6 week programme starting this Sunday 30th, which will cost £8 on a drop in basis or £40 for all 6 lessons if you pay for them all on Sunday. Ollie and Marcus are driving this programme - please contact them directly if you want to book a place. They only have one place remaining I believe for this next 6 week programme, so get in touch now! (Ollie-gan@hotmail.co.uk; marcusgan@hotmail.co.uk)

Monday evening 19.30 - 21.00 Adult Team standard drop in. £10 PAYG. This has not been very well attended so far. It is coached by Marcus. We are giving it one more week - 31st October and if the response is low, we will probably adopt the same system as Friday mornings. So if you want to keep the Monday night drop in alive for the next 5 or 6 weeks (It will not run in December), you need to come along this Monday and encourage others to do so.

Don't forget to change your clocks this weekend! The autumn has arrived! If you want tokens for the lights, they cost £6 and you can buy them from me, Ollie, Marcus, Benedicte or Debbie

All for now
Best wishes
Sally

News Letter 23rd July 2016

Dear Members

The sun is shining and the courts are empty! If you have not gone on holiday, come and play - Monday 25th is the last team training session until September and the junior coaching programme has finished. Therefore there are pretty much courts available all the time. There is no coaching now on Sunday mornings - all the courts are yours to meet and play socially or start some ladder matches. Lets make the most of the summer.

If you look on the adult notice board, I have put up a 'Ladies Doubles Challenge Ladder' sign up sheet. This is something that I am starting now for the summer and the autumn to get the ladies to try out some new doubles partnerships and/or consolidate some existing ones. Just sign up with or without a partner - if you do not have a regular doubles partner but would like to play, either ask one of the ladies, or put your name up and I will match people of similar standards together. Then once the ladder is up all you do is challenge a pair up to 3 levels above you, and if you beat them you take their place - its like snakes and ladders - you go up and they go down! If you are not the victors, you just stay where you are.

The men already have a singles ladder, but if you want a doubles one, it can be arranged.

SAVE THE DATE - Saturday 17th September - The Avenue Family Quiz night - from 6pm with Supper. You can book a family table or a kids table and an adults table, bring family and friends etc. Just put the date in your diary and watch out for more information on the notice boards this week.

Under 14s - please remember that if your children are under 14 years old, they are not allowed at the club on their own. Our insurers do not allow them to be at the club unaccompanied, unless they are having coaching. Please do not ask the coaches to 'look out' for them, as we are not insured to do so.

Also please remember to take away all your belongs. From now on, the lost property box - far right hand corner of the club next to the big fridge - will be emptied once a month into the bin or the local charity shop!

The junior coaching programme for September is rapidly becoming full and in fact some squads are full. So, if you have not booked yet, here is the link - do it this weekend - especially if you want a Saturday lesson!
http://www.avenuetennisclub.co.uk/autumn_term_bookings.html

All for now - enjoy the sunshine
Happy hitting
Sally

News Letter 17th May 2016

Dear Members,

I wanted to talk to you about the club championships - sent earlier - separately so that you would all listen! Lisa, our Club Secretary will be sending out a full up to date list of members shortly, so that you can contact each other for the club championships - and don't forget to put the 3rd July in your diary for the BBQ and finals.

So here is the rest of the news!

On Sunday 29th May, Lucy is starting another 6 week beginners course from 9.30 - 10.30 - if you know anyone who would be interested.  It is £36 for the whole course if you book and pay up front - amazing deal - or on a one off basis it is £7 for members and £8 for non-members.  The usual improvers from 10.30 - 12.00 just carries on like normal, as do the other drop ins to which we have added 9.30 - 11.00 on a Tuesday - just turn up! Please contact her directly to book a place -  lucy.o.dean@googlemail.com for the beginners group - that must be booked in advance.

The men have asked me to set up a ladder so this is now available.  I have made a bit of a Blue Peter affair, but I think it does the trick for now - if anyone can think of a better way of doing it then please let me know.  It is for singles only and you simply challenge the person above you and if you win you change places with them - so chaps, get challenging!  (best of 3 sets - 3rd one championship tie break to 10)

Hitting Coach - some of you may remember Adam Chan, who worked with me last summer.  Adam is a young very talented tennis player who won a scholarship to collegiate tennis in the US.  He played at a National level with a career high of 12 in England when he was 16, just a few years ago.  He is working with me again from next week and would be very happy to give some hitting sessions for £15 an hour.  These sessions will not be coaching, just hitting and letting you try out some of the techniques you learn in your squads and 121 training.  The days that work for him, mainly at the moment, are Monday, Wednesday and Friday - just because they are the days that he will be working for me and as he lives in Uxbridge, he would like to concertina his time.  Therefore I am going to ask you in the first instants to contact me to set up your hitting and then you can exchange numbers with him and sort things out between you.

Open Day - The LTA are running something called the Great British Tennis Weekend and we are holding one such afternoon on 18th June from 3.00 - 6.00 -if you know anyone thinking of joining a club or taking up or returning to tennis get them to sign up to this day - here is the link - they need to register to come  - its FREE https://clubspark.lta.org.uk/OpenDays/TheAvenueLTC2/067df156-6b49-4900-8b39-3f7960f27d68

The next Mix & Match is Sunday 19th June 2.40 - 5.00 - if you have not signed up, there are still 4 places - have a look on the notice board.

Also if you are thinking about holiday camps for your children, we are running one at half term 31st May - 3rd June - book here http://www.avenuetennisclub.co.uk/camp_bookings.html Plus a two day Shavout camp on 9th and 10th June.  You need to book quickly for both.

Best wishes
Sally

News Letter 1st January 2016

Dear Members,

There is a lot of information here, so if you do not have time to read it now, print it and read on the train! – but don’t ignore it!

I hope that you have all been playing during the holidays, but if you haven’t and you are raring to get back on court, you have no excuses now; everything is back to normal from THIS weekend!

From Saturday 2nd January
Saturday – social – 3.00 – 5.00 – just turn up and mix in
Sunday – drop in 10.30 – 12.00 – adult group coaching
Sunday – social – 2.00 – 4.00 – just turn up and mix in
Monday – drop in 7.30 – 9.00 in the evening – adult group coaching
Wednesday – NEW drop in – 1.30 – 3.00 early afternoon – adult group coaching
Thursday – NEW Men’s Team Training – 7.30 – 9.00 (only 8 places, 7 are booked, just one remaining)
Friday – drop in 9.30 – 11.00 – adult group coaching

Junior coaching programme restarts on Monday 11th January and runs for 10 weeks (Monday to Thursday) and 9 weeks (Fri – Sun) Due to Easter

However the Saturdays squads 10 o’clock, 11 o’clock and 12 o’clock all have a ‘make up day on Saturday 9th January

Easter Camps
I will run camps this Easter and will operate the ‘bring a friend for free’ offer, however which weeks I will do is still in the lap of the Gods!  The Catholic schools are on holiday from 18th March, the Barnet schools from 1st April and the Jewish schools from 22nd April – and there may be more connotations in there too!  So I think I will probably do the weeks commencing 4th April, 11th April and 25th April – if anyone would like something else, just let me know and I will do my best to accommodate.  I will post these on the website next week for bookings as many of you have already asked me – sorry for my tardiness!

Sunday 10th January – I will be running a Tennis Leaders Course
This is for all those teenagers who are 14 and over.  It is a 5 hour course which acts as a precursor to the LTA Level 1 Assistant Coaches course which can only be taken at 16.  The LTA introduced the Tennis Leaders course as a way of keeping teenagers engaged in the game.  It is indeed a great thing for them to do.  Some use it for Duke of Edinburgh, and it is great for their CV and pocket money – the latter seemingly holding the most attraction!  They have to do the 5 hour course followed by 6 hours on court practice/experience with a coach.  The hours are supposed to be free (But I ‘cover their expenses’).  The cost for the course is £35.  It will be from 10.30 – 3.30. (They need to bring their lunch!) Part of it is classroom style and part of it is on court.  They will learn how to organize warm ups, assist the coach in rotation, feed different balls for different drills, and run and score in competitions of all ages.  It is a fun 5 hours, promise!  Let me know if you have anyone who would like to join this one.  I know that we have lots of 13 year olds who are going to turn 14 in the summer next year and so I will run another one before the end of the summer term.  To register I need your child’s British Tennis Membership number and their DOB, and T shirt size – small, med or large – I will get more measurements on that shortly – they get a book, certificate and T shirt from the LTA – wow isn’t this just getting better!

Going into the New Year, if you know anyone that is thinking of joining a club, The new Chandos on East End Road is £575 a year – The Avenue on the other hand is £60!! (Until April 2016, and a fraction of that for the whole year!) I will attach the reduced subscriptions for all of the subscription categories.  The 2016/17 subscriptions will be announced in February and you will renew your membership next year ONLY via the website using the LTA Clubspark system – This will mean that you can only pay by credit or debit card – there will be no option for credit transfer, cash or cheques.  I will be putting this system onto the website in January with the reduced subscriptions, so that we can give it a trial run, but  this is how everyone will now pay their subs.

The Wimbledon Ballot
We will be holding the club’s ballot on May 8th 2016 at 5pm in the clubhouse.  Things you have to do:

1. Opt in on line or call the LTA 0208 487 7000 and give them your name and DOB and they will do it for you.

2. If you do not know your British Tennis Membership number, ask me and I will give it to you, you will need it to enter the draw.

3. Have paid your subs for 2016 by 1st April

At the moment 86% of our members have ‘opted in’ – you have to do this NOW – tomorrow – 31st December is the deadline !!!  It is only to all members 9 years and over at the end of February 2016.

Ladies days
I have been asked to run two afternoons for the ladies to have some match warm up practice before their evening training begins.  The two dates are Saturday 27th February and Saturday 5th March from 2.30 – 4.30.  Apologies that it is on two Saturdays, but for a myriad of reasons these were the only two afternoons that we could use.  (They are both on the club website calendar) – please look at the calendar on the website; I do keep it up dated weekly. There will be a sign-up sheet on the notice board next week.  If the men would like to do the same, please let me know and I will arrange the same for you.  Would you prefer Saturday or Sunday?  You only have to say and you can consider it done!

The men’s Team Training
Is starting another 6 week programme next week starting on Thursday 7th January – there are 7 men signed up and therefore one place remains.  Please let me know if you are interested, there is a cost of £48.  If you would like to go on the reserve list and just do a couple, there are always people having to cancel and therefore you are likely to get last minute chances – so do let me know that as well.

The Ladies Team Training
Will restart after half term (Tuesday 23rd Feb) on Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 7.30 – 9.00 again only 8 places available on each evening so I will talk to you all about that in January – my plan is to have 1st Team Training on Tuesdays and 2nd Team Training on Wednesdays – if you don’t know in which squad you sit, please ask.  We will definitely do 5 weeks this term, maybe 6 depending on who is away or not.  In the meantime, I will redo the Ladies SLAMS and send you the details tomorrow or Friday with your new partners and opposition to play in January – Then I will do one more round in February.  If you didn’t play in the last round and would like to, please let me know – it is not too late to add you into the January round.

Court Usage – January 2016
You will see that social time on Sundays is now 2.00 – 4.00 and there is NO coaching during this time.  Saturdays is 3.00 – 5.00 and likewise there is no coaching in this time.

Tokens for lights
These are £5 for an hour – I suggest that you buy 4 at a time and keep them in your tennis bag.  You can buy them from me, Debbie Gispan and Benedicte Forde.  They both live very near the club and are always around.  (and copied into this email) But as you know I am there every day and can sell them anytime.  I am coaching this Saturday and have a space at 12 – 1 if anyone wants a 121 lesson – just let me know, as I have a space.

I think that is all for now.

Get that kit out and get on court – the days are already getting longer!

Best wishes
Sally

News Letter 14th December 2015

Dear Members,

During December I have been working on the court usage so that there are more playing opportunities and social playing times for the members.   Things that I have added to or changed are:

1. Wednesday Adult drop in 1.30 – 3.00 – this starts on Wednesday 6th January.

2. Sunday – I have changed the timing of the junior coaching programme to accommodate an earlier social play time – 2.00 – 4.00 affording members 2 hours of play before the lights are required on ALL three courts. (Saturday will remain the same) but during BST and from the first day of BST (Sunday 27th March) BOTH weekend social play times will be 3.00 – 6.00 – again on ALL three courts.

However I urge you to look at the website calendar which I update weekly with any activities, such as:

1. Junior matches which usually happen on Sunday afternoons.

2. Adult matches – home matches are usually always on Wednesdays from 6.30 – occasionally these may happen on other nights to accommodate other clubs, but my ‘rule’ is home matches on Wednesdays so that you, the members, know what to expect most weeks.

3. The hiring of the clubhouse – these are mainly children’s parties which render us £100 a time and since we need circa £3 - £5K p.a. to run the club, these little events are vital to us.  I also use these events as a way to market the club to other local families to grow our membership.

 Here is a link to the club calendar http://www.avenuetennisclub.co.uk/calendar.html I update it as soon as I know about events.

In January the men’s training will restart on Thursday 7th January from 7.30 – 9.00.  Because the lights will be needed at this time, the numbers are restricted to 8.  I have had enquiries from 10 members for this so it will be first come first served.  The dates are:

January 7th, 14th, 21st, 18th,

February 4th, 10th,

My plan is to get in 6 weeks before half term – if one week is rained off, it will be on Thursday 18th February (notification of this wil be on the weather status on the website within the hour before the lesson is due to begin)

The cost for this course is £48
Ollie and Marcus are the coaches.

The only way to book is to pay £48 up front.  If you cannot make one week, you can ‘sell’ your week to someone else on the waiting list!

Please let me know if there is anything else with which I can assist.

In the meantime, please remember that Pedro is still looking for Guinea Pigs for his assessment lessons and has spaces in all the groups on Saturday and Sunday 2nd and 3rd January.

All for now – Happy Christmas everyone
Best wishes
Sally

News Letter 6th December 2015

Happy Seasonal Greetings everyone.

I always say that I will not discuss Christmas until December, and we’ve arrived, so here is what is happening over the next month:

1. Monday 7th December there will be no evening drop in as I am taking my team out for dinner – we may be on the bubbly as Ken is in the final of a National Tournament today in Brighton – I will let you know how he does.

2. Friday 11th December is the last Friday drop-in 9.30 – 11.00 followed by Cappuccino and Minced Pies!  I am running a parental inter schools fun tournament – St Theresa’s vs St Mary’s vs Akiva – don’t worry if you don’t have a child at one of those schools, you can sub for the school that has the least representation!  Just let me know if you are planning to come so that I know how many minced pies to buy (there will be a veggie option too!)

3. Sunday 14th December is the last official day of the junior coaching programme for this term.  However there are 3 make up days:

1. Saturday 19th December – all ages groups from 9 - 1

2. Saturday 9th January – all age groups from 10 - 1

3. Thursday 17th December – 4 – 5 and 5 – 6.  There will be no fitness on this day so the Under 12 match play session will finish at 6

4. On Monday 21st December I am running a teenage fun competition day for all our teens – see attached – my plan is to set up a regular teenage session monthly to get these kids on court more!  If you are with me on this, please sign them up for the 21st 11 – 1 or 1 – 3 depending on numbers, but am hoping that it will be a day that they will play pool and table tennis in between matches (so far I don’t have many of the older age groups signing up, so I may change the time for everyone from 12 – 3, so do please let me know for sure if your teenager is joining us – they need to sign up on the junior notice board with their DOB.

5. The Spring Junior Programme restarts on Monday 11th January and will run for 10 weeks on M – T and 9 weeks on F – S – This is due to Easter.

6. The Spring Adult Programme restarts early in January and I will give you exact information later, but the men’s team training will definitely restart on Thursday 14th January.

7. And lastly and completely unrelated to all of the above – The Wimbledon Ballot!  40% of you have not signed up.  You need to ‘opt in’ with the LTA 0208 487 7000 with your name and DOB to have any chance of going into our club Wimbledon Ballot in March 2016.  You MUST ‘opt in’; BEFORE 31st December.  JUST DO IT!  If you are unsure as you whether you have done it or not, ask me as I can find out easily!  But it is one phone call and you only need to know your DOB!

Happy Holidays
Sally

News Letter 30th September 2015

Dear Members

Quiz Night
Firstly we seem to have chosen a bad weekend for the quiz night as so many of you that wanted to come seem to be away………….so it is postponed until the Spring, I will give you another date soon.

Wimbledon Ballot – VERY IMPORTANT INFORMATION
We have been contacted by the LTA to ask our members to start the ‘opt in’ system for the Wimbledon tickets.  We have also been notified that some juniors who won tickets in the ballot did not attend the Championships.  Tickets for the ballot are won on the basis that the named winner attends.  They can take a non-member and this guest can also be a non-British Tennis Member, but juniors, for example cannot give their tickets to their parents.  If juniors cannot be taken out of school to attend in their own right with a parent, then that family must return the tickets to the club for a re-draw.  The LTA take this issue very seriously and it is our responsibility to adhere to the rules.  Non-compliance will mean that the club will lose its allocation next year and for the following 2 years.

So although it might seem a tad early but, as of now, it's possible to opt in to the 2016 Wimbledon Ticket ballot. As a result of the number of us that opted in last season we got the highest number of pairs of tickets allocated to the club: We have never had so many tickets as we did in 2015. Opting in is needed to participate in the ballot, so please opt in now and you won't have to think about this again.  Either login to the LTA website and opt in from there or else call British Tennis on 020 8487 7000. If you phone, you can get all your family members who will be 9 or over by next April opted in as well. It would be best to have your BT number(s) to hand.

Juniors under 14
We just want to remind everyone that Juniors Under 14 are not allowed at the club unsupervised.  We are just not insured for this.  It is difficult for me and my coaches to tell juniors that that cannot play, but we are under instructions from the committee to do so.  Therefore may I request that you do not send your children to play at the club if you cannot be with them.

Men’s Day
There are 9 players booked 10th October – 2.30- 4.30 – Pedro will run the afternoon and you will play lots of matches – 3 places remaining! –Sign up or email me today.

Ladies day
There are also 9 players booked 17th October – 2.30 – 4.30 – I will run the afternoon and you will play lots of matches – 3 places remaining! – Sign up or email me today.

Serve Clinics
Sunday 18th October 3 – 4 and 14th November 2.30 – 3.30 – Just turn up – cost £5 for an hour of pure serving tuition! Then stay and play with each other.

Social Drop in times
Just to remind everyone that the social drop in times on Saturday and Sunday afternoons from 3pm – 5pm are for you to turn up, mix in and play with whoever else turns up.  Juniors can join these sessions if they are full court players of a good standard – please ask me before turning up – Adults have priority at both of these times. Also there is no coaching during these two hours, so if you risk having a lesson during these times and a member wants the court, you will have to terminate your lesson.  The coaches will not be booking lessons during these times from now on.

Floodlight Tokens
They are £5 each and you can buy them from me, Benedicte and Debbie Gispan who lives on Lichfield Grove, number 76  - it is on the corner of Sylvan and she is happy for you to knock on the door for tokens.  I generally advise members to buy 4 at a time.

Best wishes,
Sally

News Letter 10th September 2015

Dear Members

This Sunday 13th September 3pm – we have our very own US Open final!  The Gans verses the rest of the world!

Ollie and Marcus are taking on Ken and Pedro in an exhibition set of doubles.  It will be a great opportunity for you see how it is really done.  Ollie and Marcus got to the final of a national tournament two weekends ago – they are playing very well and this is an opportunity to see them for free!! (one day you will probably have to pay!)  Ken also is having some great results on the same circuit playing in the singles and Pedro’s pedigree goes back to his championship days in Portugal as a teenager.  So it will be QUALITY all round on Sunday!

As it is UP Open finals day and we are very hopefully of having a Brit final I thought it would be good to make a bit of a party of the event.  All the children too young to want to watch the boys battle it out, will be entertained on the junior court by one or two of my team and there will be prizes for everything!   I have pens, key rings, little medals, teddy bears, colourful grips and all sorts so need lots of little recipients!!  Bring them no matter how young, we will entertain them!

I am also asking people to bring cakes for us to sell in The Avenue Café – the café turned into a tuck shop during the summer camps so there are lots more goodies on offer now.

After the match I will be doing the draw for the free lesson in exchange for the plants donated to the club this summer.  If you have not told me that you brought a plant, tell me NOW or your name will not be in the hat!  Also it is not too late, to bring something evergreen to climb over one of our bare walls – please donate now!

October Activities - Two dates for your diary

10th October – Gentlemen’s day – 2.00pm – 4.30pm – Fun mix in tournament – suitable for all men and full court playing teens.

17th October – Ladies day - Fun mix in tournament – suitable for all ladies and full court playing teens.

Teens should check with me first that they strong enough for this – it is really an adult event, but strong full court teens will be permitted!

Please put this in your diary, sign up on the notice board so that I can get an idea or how many people are attending and what sort of tournament I should run.

Happy Hitting!
Sally

News Letter 24th August 2015

Dear Members

I know that people have been away and so I am sending you a few updates in no particular order!

Summer BBQ & Finals
Firstly here is a somewhat belated link to the news about our BBQ and finals day on 5th July – there are many more photos in the gallery.

Adult Drop ins
Due to coaches holidays we are not able to run the Monday drop in again until 7th September when Pedro will be back and the session will restart – 7.30 – 9.00 – only £7 (This will go up to £8 as soon as we start to use the lights) The day time drop ins will return on Tuesday 8th September.  Here I have some news!

The timing of the Tuesday drop in is changing to 10.00 – 11.30 – it will also cost £7 and £12 for non-members.  However I am sponsoring a FREE session to any one NEW to club – no coaching fee and no guest fee for their first visit.  So if you know anyone that would like this, please give them this information – I will be printing some leaflets this week, if you have a school/shop/library/synagogue/church who would be happy to display some please let me know and I will get some to you.
THIS OFFER IS ONLY FOR TUESDAYS 10.00 – 11.30 AND ONLY FOR THEIR FIRST VISIT.

The regular Friday drop in will reconvene on Friday 11th September 9.30 -11.00

 And remember if a drop in is cancelled there will be a message on this website, just click the green umbrella to the left.

Members list
There is a new members list, please contact me for a copy.

Things to look forward to!

Sunday 13th September at 3pm
Four of my wonderful coaches are going to put on an exhibition match to show us how to play doubles!  Marcus and Ollie will take on Pedro and Ken in a one set match.  The exchange partners for another!  Bring the children.  The Avenue Café will be open and we will be selling a wide variety of cakes, teas and coffee, probably followed later on by a beer and a glass of wine! (so bring your wallet)

Saturday 3rd October
The committee will be running a family quiz night from 6.00 ish so that all the children can attend.  We will be serving food and running a small bar.  Lisa and Steve are kindly doing the questions and the evening promises to be fun!  We will be asking members for donations of puddings – so put that in your diary! Tickets will be on sale for this in September.

7th November at 6.30
We will be holding the, now, annual fireworks evening.  This was a huge success last year.  A great one for all the family with supper served too.  Tickets for this will be on sale in October.

Court usage
Please see the new court usage schedule that shows the court usage from September.

Adult Team Training
This starts on Tuesday 8th and Wednesday 9th September for the ladies and Thursday 10th for the chaps.  There are only 8 places for each evening.  I have one space on Wednesdays available for the ladies and 3 places on Thursdays for the men.  Even if you are new you may like to join the men’s training – we need more men!  This winter we are running 2 ladies teams and 1 men’s.  I will get the fixtures in September and the home matches will be on Wednesdays starting from October.  More on this nearer the time.

Guest Fees
May I remind everyone that you are welcome to bring guests to play at the club – but there are a few rules!

They MUST sign the visitors book and pay £5 – this applies to all players adult and juniors – the only guests who pay £2 are the under 10s.  If a junior is using a full court, they pay a full guest fee.  It is an honesty system – you write in the book – put your money in the money box – new white one in kitchen.

Guests are not allowed to play more than 4 times – after that we expect them to join.

Subscriptions
We have reduced the subscriptions now as we are half way through the year – please see the Membership Subscriptions page for full details, £150 for full membership until April 2016 – a very good deal – tell your friends.

I look forward to seeing you all on court soon.  This week is the last our summer holiday camps but if it isn’t raining the courts are free from 3pm so do come and play.  If you have a child booked onto the Autumn Term and have not paid yet, you will lose the place if it is not paid by the end of this week.  I have a waiting list for several of the squads and will release the places this weekend BEFORE I go away on 1st September!  Don’t say I didn’t warn you!

Best wishes,
Sally.

News Letter 10th May 2015

Dear Members

Welcome to the Avenue Tennis Club, whether you are a new or re-joining member, welcome to the club.

Lots of exciting things happening at the club this year, starting with the Annual Club Championships, there are several categories and there is something for everyone from Under 8 singles to adult mixed doubles.  Please sign up yourself and your children in the next 2 to 3 days so that I can put up the draws and you can start playing.  The Adult competition is knock out, so runs just like Wimbledon (naturally I’m hoping for similar standard of play too – especially if you are coached by me or one of my ‘boys’!)  The junior competitions will probably have 2 rounds – a round robin and knockout but I cannot make that decision until I see the numbers, so please sign up asap – if you are not at the club in the next few days, just email me and I will add your name or your child to the appropriate draw.  If you are in any doubt about which age group to play your child, please just ask.  Usually it goes by the colour of the ball – Red Under 8 – Orange Under 9 – Green Under 10, then there is a yellow Under 12 and a teenage for all the rest of the teens.

This tournament culminates in a finals day event with a BBQ – this is on Sunday 5th July from 1pm – all the family is welcome irrespective of their membership status, and we will be selling tickets in advance with a family ‘deal’.  We always cook vegetarian and if requested we will have a Kosher BBQ too.  I hope that you will all put this date in your diary now.

There is a new court usage programme for the summer that starts in June.  The ONLY difference being that the Monday adult drop in sessions returns on 1st June from 7.30 – 9.00.  This will be with Pedro.

If you are the parent of a junior member, we warmly invite you to come and play with your child.  However guests are only allowed to play 4 times before we would expect them to become a member.  There are two things that the Club Committee insist upon and that is that you play in tennis shoes (ie flat soled shoes, not chunky trainers as this is bad for our new court surface) and that you sign the guest book and pay £5 guest fee (£2 for children).  We run an honesty system, there is a money box in the kitchen in the shape of a pound painted with a union jack – just put your money in there.  If you do not have change just write in the visitors book IOU and give it to me, one of the coaches or a committee member when you see us.

I have left a hoppa on wheels in the clubhouse with some old junior balls – so if you come to play and do not have junior balls, please feel free to use these – however you must return them to the hoppa after use.  Adults you need to buy your own balls – sports direct - £3.99 a tube!

Also the kitchen is well equipped with tea and coffee – again help yourself and pop a small donation in the money box – there is a list of the prices but it is something like 50p for tea.  This just covers the cost of buying it and keeping soap and loo rolls in the loos!  On Saturday morning, Benedicte runs a small café with other snacks and drinks.

After Tuesday I will send you a full and updated list of all the members their mobiles and emails so that you can arrange matches and social play.

One last thing – It is that time of year where I am looking for bedding plants to keep the club looking pretty – much thanks must go to one of our ladies Helen, who looks after the plants and the garden which is looking lovely.  However the winter pansies will go soon and we want to replace with bedding plants and more shrubs.  So if you bring a tray of plants or a bag of peat free soil or a tub, I will put your name in a hat and you go into a raffle for a free lesson with Ollie or Marcus or I will give you a free summer tennis camp – so for a tray of petunia’s you could get a camp worth £135! Or an hour on court with one of my lovely twins – so for every tray you bring, your name goes in the hat – 5 trays = 5 chances!  We badly need soil and BIG pots – they don’t have to be fancy, just big so that we can plant some bigger shrubs this summer.  I have bought a lovely outside two way clock to put on the clubhouse wall, but I need a volunteer to put it up – my usual handyman is away for 10 days and I really want to get it out there as soon as possible. So any volunteers?  I think it is all about raw plugs and a drill!

All for now, happy hitting – and for those Murray/Nadal fans – they are playing in the Madrid final tonight at 6!!  I have an under 12 match starting at 3, so to my Under 12 team - boys you’ve got to play fast – I want to be home for 6!!

Sally

News Letter 18th September 2014

Dear Members

Lots of news and information so in no particular order!

New Members

I would like to give a very warm welcome to the Gispan family (Kfir and Debbie and their three children) returning from Nigeria and live on Litchfield.  Also The Alexander family (Erik and Adriene and their three children) also living on Lichfield. Also Sal Shapiro and Mateus Mario (parents of existing junior Jack Florea), and three new juniors, Alexander, Dominik and Rosie, and Christina (new lady – welcome – must get you in the Team!), and the Bryden family, Natacha and Ian and their two daughters Juliette and Emilie.

And last but by no means least Michael Cohen – another Lichfield resident!  They are taking over!  On behalf of the committee, we would like to welcome you to the club – I will be attaching a list of the adult and Teens members to this email, so I hope that other members will be in touch and get you all involved – Read on – Saturdays at 3 especially – this is for you!

Winter Teams

We have entered 3 Teams in the Middlesex leagues; Ladies, Men’s and Mixed – The captains for the winter are Lisa Butterworth lbutterworth@uk.imshealth.com Jonathan Summers jonathanmsummers@hotmail.com and Heather and Bernard Gross for the Mixed bgross@winstongross.co.uk  hmgross54@hotmail.com .

There are only 4 players needed in the winter league matches, but you still play 4 sets.  They start in Early October and go through to October – there are only about 6 matches per team and 3 in each are home matches – all home matches will be played on Wednesdays, though there are two afternoon weekend matches at Mercury as they don’t have lights.

The winter league is all about fun and keeping your eye in for the tough stuff in the summer. The fixtures will be published this week and I will be working closely with our new captains to get you all involved.  But in the first instance, if you are not already embroiled in team play and would like to be, please let me know.

Team Training

The ladies have got off to a good start and the group is fully booked – however occasionally someone is ill or unavailable for various reasons, so if you would like to be on the reserve list when this happens – please let me know – the session is from 7pm – 9pm and the lights are fab!

If you come just for a one off it costs £11 – that includes the lights.  Those who have booked the course in advance, got a much much lower rate including one free session – so get in early next time.

The men’s programme has been slower to get going – there are only 4 players booked – and there are 8 places, so if you want to come to a one off please let me know, and you can pay Marcus £11 on the day.  Then ladies if you want to come on a Thursday if you miss a Tuesday you can for no charge; if you want to come in addition, it will only be £7 as you have already made one commitment.

Social Saturdays

Where have they gone?  In an effort to re-invigorate this social play session and to welcome all our new members, the coaches and I will be there this weekend and next weekend to give you a little encouragement!  And make up the numbers if needed.  So if you fancy a social hit and a couple of sets on Saturday afternoon, come along on Saturday at 3pm.

Social Sunday

 Then on Sunday 27th we are going to have a little ‘tennis and tea’ session again from 3 – and there may be some ‘left over’ matches from the summer tournament being played too – so maybe we can drift into celebratory tea and a few ‘pics and cheers’ as the sun gets over the yard arm!!  Put that one in your diary!

Floodlight Tokens

They cost £5 an hour and we are selling them at £20 for 4.  No point in messing around with £5 here and there.  You can buy them from any of the coaches, me, Patricia, Richard or Jonathan.  Remember that they go off at 9 in the week and 8 on Saturday and Sundays.  If you put in a token at 8.15 you will only get 45mins as there is an over-ride system and the lights will turn off automatically 5 minutes after you see a flashing light to give you time to collect your balls before you are thrown into darkness.

Leaving the club at night

Unfortunately we had an unwelcome visitor to the club after 9pm on Monday evening when Patricia had been left locking up alone.  The guy was very threatening and made her feel most unsafe.  She manoeuvred herself out of the building in safety, but she should not have been left alone to lock up.  Can I ask that we leave the club in twos.  The coaches will always stay if no-one else is around, but please don’t leave someone alone.  It is a very dark space.

Court Usage

A new programme is now on the notice board and here on this website. Court Time Table 

Adult Drop-ins

There are lots of these during the week, during the day and evenings.  It is the best way to meet other players and improve your game with coaching  - for only £7 (£5 on Tuesdays as that session is only 1 hour, all the rest are an hour and a half).  No need to book, just turn up!

Cancelled Adult coaching

Just like the junior programme, If a lesson is to be cancelled due to rain, there will be a notice on the website on the home page under weather status.  No message means the lesson is ON!

I know that was rather long – but all needed to be said!

Guys – Team training tonight at 7 – if you haven’t been before, come along tonight – Marcus is back!

Hope to see lots of you on Saturday at 3pm – bring your children, they can play on the junior court!

And don’t forget drop in tomorrow morning 9.30 – 11 – all welcome.

Happy Hitting!

Sally

News Letter 26th May 2014

Dear Members

Just had a couple of new members join - please welcome Oz Myerson (15yrs) great player - call him for a game!  Emma Hazen - has new baby - just getting back into tennis - lovely player - get her on court before she goes back to work after her maternity leave!!

Remember its not long now until the summer junior tennis camps start, only £135 for the whole week of coaching for members. That is ONLY £5.40 an hour - small groups, same term time coaches - book now on line on this website.

Also remember that Cardio still has a few weeks to run - ALL FREE for everyone now whether you have been before or not - just come and play - bring friends - no fee, no guest fee!!  7.15 - 8.15 on the next 3 Thursdays.  Remember if it is raining I will put a message on the website - home page under the Weather Status umbrella.

Also I have only had plants donated by 5 people and I have two free 121s up for grabs........... so bring your tray of bedding plants and tell me and I will put your name in the hat - bring 5 trays, get 5 chances to win the lesson!!

All for now,
Sally

News Letter 14th May 2014

Dear Members

The sun is shinning and hopefully the summer is on its way.  If you are planning to play this weekend, please bear with us - the new junior court is nearly complete and all the builders debris will be gone in just over a week.  There is a men's team match at the club tonight so all 3 courts will be in use from 6pm.  However, tomorrow the free cardio session will definitely be on as the forecast is fine, dry and sunny - so come along, bring family, teenagers, anyone who would like a free aerobic tennis workout.  If you have never been before, it is FREE for you - if you have been before, it is only £5, and guest fees are waived.

Flowers at The Avenue

This time last year we had a very successful appeal for members to donate a tray of bedding plants or a plant for a tub or hanging basket.  This year I am doing revisiting this but with a raffle included.  This is how it will work.  If you bring a plant to the club, tell me and I will put your name in a hat.  If you bring 3 plants to the club, I will put your name in 3 times.  Once we have a good selection of plants, I will pull two names out of the hat and those two people will have a FREE lesson with Marcus or Ollie.  The boys have kindly offered to do this to help my flower appeal.  So when you are buying your bedding plants this year, just pop another tray in your basket and bring to the club, generally these are around £3.99, so it wont break the bank!

Balls

May I just politely remind members that I do not supply the club with balls.  Match balls are put into a draw in the kitchen after matches and you are welcome to use them as long as you return them for everyone to use.  There is always a couple of boxes of balls in the clubhouse - one full of my old coaching balls and one I call 'dog' balls - please feel free to use/take both.  However I have discarded these balls from the coaching programme for a reason; it is not advised to play with old balls as it can cause tennis elbow. Therefore I recommend buying a tube and keeping them in your tennis bag.  At Sports Direct a tube costs £3.99.  However if you do not want to go there - and lets face it, no-one goes there unless they absolutely have to!  You can buy a tube from me for £5.

Club Annual Tournament

The sign up sheets are all on the notice boards; they will be there for two weeks ONLY - get your name up today - Men's team - I shall expect to see your names up there tomorrow!  The draws will be on the notice board at the end of May to allow 6 weeks for matches to be played; finals day is Sunday 13th July - when we will also be holding the summer BBQ.

 Match Fees

I would just like to remind everyone that if you play in a match for the club, home AND away you have to play a £7 match fee, irrespective of whether you stay for the match supper.  It would be appreciated if you give the £7 to your captain, Benedicte or Jonathan on arrival at the club.  There are no exceptions for not paying this, and that includes juniors - if they play for the team they pay the match fee.

Looking after the clubhouse

In spite of my efforts to educate everyone on this subject, I still find myself constantly tidying and cleaning up the pavilion - we have a dish washer in the kitchen - please use it. When you have played table tennis please do not leave the balls and bats all over the floor - the same goes for the pool table - already one ball has been lost.  When you leave the table please put ALL the balls back in the box.

Blue Avenue Hoodies

I now have a stock of these in Adult and Junior sizes - Adults are £22, Juniors are £15 - I think everyone should have one! - Especially team players - so if you have been waiting for one I will have them at the club from today.

Website

Can I urge everyone to have a look at the site and tell me if you think that there is anything missing - I try to keep it as current as possible - last weekend's junior match reports will be up tomorrow.  But if there is anything that you think we need on there just let me know.

Keys

If anyone needs a set of keys, I have some - you just have to pay a £15 deposit.

Juniors playing without Adults

If your junior wants to play at the club without parental guidance, they must have a junior induction with me or the Child Protection Officer Jonathan Summers first. (This applies to 14 and 15yr olds - no one under 14 is allowed to be at the club unaccompanied)  Please see Junior Induction Policy attached - This is also on the club notice notice board.

Sunday 10.30 - 11.30

Drop in Adults Coaching and social play afterwards - don't forget!

Well that was a much longer newsletter than I had intended - sorry - hope you got to here without too much skimming - there is lots of useful and important information here!

Best wishes,
Sally

News Letter 2nd May 2014

Weekend Reminders:

Saturday 3pm - social play - just turn up.

Sunday 10.30 - 11.30 - drop in adult coaching - no matter your standard please come along - Ollie is on duty this weekend - so come and keep him company!!

Sunday 3pm - 5pm - family 'beginning of season' fun doubles comp - again all standards welcome and full court playing juniors (There will be a small bar open at 5pm to toast the new lights!  (Very reasonable contribution for all drinks - beer wine and soft drinks)

Sunday 5pm - Wimbledon Draw - let me remind you of the rules:

1  You have to be at the club to be in the draw

2. You have to be a member - some parents of juniors have put their names on the list - you cannot enter unless you are an Avenue member and a British Tennis Member

3. Juniors must have been 9 years old on the 1st Feb this year - again there are some under 8 names on the list - they cannot enter

4. One one pair of tickets can be one by one family.  So if your name comes out of the hat and you want the tickets the rest of your family are out of the draw

 5. You will then pay for your tickets directly and if you do not claim them we will give them to the first person on the waiting list.  We will draw 3 more names for the waiting list.

We have 7 pairs of tickets.

See you all over the weekend,
Sally

News Letter 27th April 2014

Dear Members - we are officially floodlit!

Courts one and two have been floodlit and we hope that you will make use of them shortly.   The tokens cost £5 and can be purchased in the first instance from me.  They last for one hour and the meters are behind the kitchen wall where the tall fridge stands.

When your token is about to run out you will see a flashing light on the court, you have a few minutes to feed the metre.  When the lights go out there is a small light on the court that will come into operation immediately allowing for time to find balls and belongings.

Please note that the lights can only be used until 8pm at weekends and 9pm during the week.   Please also note that when they go out, they take 15 minutes to warm up and relight the court, so you need to make sure that you watch out for the green or red flashing lights.

The first official use of the courts will be Monday 7.00 - 8.30 for doubles training, so why not put that in your diary and be part of history!

In order to network the members of the club, I am going to send out on Monday a list of the names of the Adult members with their mobiles and email addresses.  If you do not wish for your details to be distributed in this way please contact me and let me know BEFORE Monday. I hope that everyone will agree and you will all start playing tennis with new members.

See you on court,
Sally

News Letter 1st April 2014

Good Morning Everyone.

Today is the 1st April and what I am going to tell you is not a joke!  We have just been awarded £50,000 funding from the Lord Mayor's Fund to build the junior zone which will be an Under 10s court to the side of the clubhouse.

This work will start on 21st April, the week after the lights are installed.  By the end of May we will be completed by the addition of an outside table tennis table.   So if you have not rejoined, there has never been a better time.  Also do it today and go into the Club's ballot for a pair of Wimbledon tickets!

ADULT COACHING AND SOCIAL PROGRAMME - Starts NEXT weekend.

Saturday 5th April - 3pm - 5pm - New social drop in sessions begin.  Just turn up at 3 and be guaranteed a game and to meet other members Sunday 6th April - 10.30 - 11.30 - New drop in adult coaching begins - £5 for members, bring friends for £10......... Followed by Social play from 11.30 - 1.30

Monday evening drop in coaching from 7.00 - 8.30, Tuesday evening club social play from 7.00 - 9.00 and Wednesday Team Practice from 6.30 - 9.00 ALL start after 14th April - I will give you further details in a week or two.

Also following the success of the Serve Clinic, we have decided to run this one weekend a month.  So there will be a Saturday and a Sunday clinic once a month - I will confirm the dates shortly.

Please see the court usage timetable - print it and put in your tennis bag so that you know what is going on when.

See you on court soon.

Kind regards,
Sally

News Letter March 2014

Dear Members and potential new members

We have lots of exciting news to share and look forward to you all renewing your membership this month so that you can enjoy the new facilities.  I will try and make this newsletter brief by giving you all the relevant attachments - all these attachments will be on the notice board this week - on the website next week (latest) and in a file on the table in the clubhouse for your to read but please leave it there for others.

Floodlights

The power has been installed and the actual lights and standards will arrive in the next ten days - so we should be alight by the end of April!

Junior Zone

We have been awarded £50,000 from the Lord Mayors Fund to build this new court and the work will start this month for completion by the autumn - more detail next month.

Subscriptions for 2014/15

We have made very small adjustments to the subscriptions for next year - with minimal increases for adults and DECREASES for Juniors - The LTA encourage us to make tennis accessible for all juniors so we are encouraging all the juniors on the coaching programme to become members this year instead of paying the guest fee every term.  We are a members club and we want to encourage all users of the club to be a part of it. Please pay your subscriptions by bank transfer to The Avenue Tennis Club 60-08-20 37483218 referencing the payment with your name and 'Membership 2014'

Matches

Jonathan Hart is the mens captain - jonathan@avenuetennisclub.co.uk
Benedicte Forde is the ladies captain - benedicteforde@gmail.com
Please contact them if you would like to play in the teams

New Serve Clinic

This is a brand new session that I am setting up - just 4 hours of serve coaching - Ollie and Marcus will be running the session at the 4 following times - just turn up!

Sat 15th March - 3.30 to 4.30
Sun 16th March - 11.30 to 12.30
Sat 22nd March - 3.30 to 4.30
Sun 23rd March - 11.30 to 12.30

The sessions will all cost ONLY £5 for two coaches to sort out your serve - I am recommended that those wishing to play in the teams this season come to ALL sessions.  The serve is THE most important part of the tennis game.  Please come - I guarantee that you will have fun with the boys and then you can stay and play afterwards.  However do not expect to play within this coaching hour - it is ONLY for serve coaching and at the moment these are the ONLY four sessions that we are doing pre-season this year. (not all courts will be used so please don’t let this stop you playing on the other courts.

Calendar of Events – see calendar page

Junior Summer Term Programme

The programme was nearly full this term so there will not be many spaces in the summer term, please book/confirm with me asap if you want your child's place – Junior page on website.

Summer Holiday Tennis Camps

Note that there is a 'bring a friend for free' week in August - book early - this week was oversubscribed last year with a waiting list – Camp page on website - note that the 'friend' MUST be new to the Avenue Tennis Club.

Passover/Easter Camp – See camp page on website

Guest Fee Reminder

If you wish to bring a friend please sign the visitors book (in the kitchen) and put £5 per adult and £1 per Junior in the Union Jack money box.  If you do not have the correct change on you, please write an IOU in the visitor’s book and give me the money when you next see me and we can delete the IOU.

I hope that I have not missed anything.
See you on court,
Best wishes,
Sally
Head Coach
07958 758 580

News Letter 23rd April 2013

Dear Members

Guest Fees

From now on the adult guest fees will be £5 and each guest needs to sign and date the visitor’s book.  This is kept in the kitchen.  The member can then give the £5 to me or a committee member OR use the envelopes inside the book and the money can be put through Richard Stephen’s door.  He lives at 109 Lichfield Grove.  Guest fees are paid on an honesty basis and we hope that everyone will honour this.  It is not fair on people who pay to be full time members, for guests to come for free.  In Hendon Park a court for an adult is £6, so it is cheaper than playing in a park and far nicer, so co-operation in this would be appreciated.

 Family Day

12th May from 2.30pm will be our next family fun day.  I will arrange games/matches on two courts and a Tennis Leader will look after the children on the third court.  So everyone will be entertained.  There will be a sign up sheet on the notice board this week.  Please sign up – entrance is by way of a garden plant, tray of potting plants, a hanging basket, a tub, a bag of peat, some bulbs, anything that we can use to make the club look pretty again after having had to cut down so many trees. At the end of the afternoon we will do the Wimbledon Draw and I am giving you all the details on that again below.  There will also be a raffle after the Wimbledon Draw so bring your wallet!!

Wimbledon Draw

As a club we have 5 pairs of tickets for Wimbledon - they are on the following days:
Day 1 - Monday 24th June - I pair for Centre Court
Day 2 - Tuesday 25th June - 1 pair for Centre Court
Day 3 - Wednesday 26th June - 1 pair for Number 1 Court
Day 4 - Thursday 27th June - 1 pair for Number 1 Court
Day 7 - Monday 1st July - 1 pair for Number 1 Court

If you would like to go into the draw, which will be held on Sunday 12th May after club time around 4.30/5.00, please sign up on the sheet on the notice board in the clubhouse.

There are certain stipulations:

1.  You must have a British Tennis Membership number so please write that next to your name - if you do not have one, just Google British Tennis Membership and fill in the form on line - your County is Middlesex, your club is The Avenue Lawn Tennis Club N3 - please make sure that you click the right club - there is another club in Essex called The Avenue

2. If you have a family membership, all members 9yrs or over will be entered into the draw if you sign up.  However families are not allowed to win more than one pair.  It just means that families have a higher chance of winning a pair of tickets.

3.  A junior is eligible to go into the draw if they were 9 years old on or before 1st February 2013.

ONLY PEOPLE WHO HAVE SIGNED UP WITH THEIR BRITISH TENNIS MEMBERSHIP NUMBER CAN ENTER THIS DRAW.

Cardio Tennis - 6 free sessions

If you have not already signed up to this, please let me know that you want a place.  You can come to all 6 sessions or just one.  They are Monday and Thursday evening at 7pm-8pm and will run every week until and including 2nd May.

Open Day

We also have another Open Day next Sunday at 2.30 if you know anyone who would like to join the club, invite them along to play next weekend.

Sally Bentley
Head Coach   

News Letter 15th April 2013

Dear Members

Keys & Security

We are now using the new lock on the front gate, so if you have not collected your key from me, Jonathan or Richard you will not be able to access the club. If you have not paid £10 deposit for the keys, please do so when you collect the new key.  In the interests of security, it is vital that everyone remembers to double lock the gate from now on Padlock AND lock.

Wimbledon Draw

As a club we have 5 pairs of tickets for Wimbledon - they are on the following days:
Day 1 - Monday 24th June - I pair for Centre Court
Day 2 - Tuesday 25th June - 1 pair for Centre Court
Day 3 - Wednesday 26th June - 1 pair for Number 1 Court
Day 4 - Thursday 27th June - 1 pair for Number 1 Court
Day 7 - Monday 1st July - 1 pair for Number 1 Court

If you would like to go into the draw, which will be held on Sunday 12th May after club time around 4.30/5.00, please sign up on the sheet on the notice board in the clubhouse.

There are certain stipulations:

1.  You must have a British Tennis Membership number so please write that next to your name - if you don't have one, just google British Tennis Membership and fill in the form on line - your County is Middlesex, your club is The Avenue Lawn Tennis Club N3 - please make sure that you click the right club - there is another club in Essex called The Avenue

2. If you have a family membership, all members 9yrs or over will be entered into the draw if you sign up.  However families are not allowed to win more than one pair.  It just means that families have a higher chance of winning a pair of tickets.

3.  A junior is eligible to go into the draw if they were 9 years old on or before 1st February 2013

4.  The draw will be held at about 4.30 on Sunday May 12th.  This will be after the family day which requires a plant as your entrance to a fun afternoon or matches and games.  Any sort of plant will do; it could be a tray of bedding plants, a bag of peat, a pot or a trough.  Anything that we can use to make the outside of the clubhouse and surrounds green and pretty again.  We will also we holding a small raffle at this event to raise some money to go towards an outside table tennis table, so bring some money too!

Cardio Tennis - 6 free sessions

If you have not already signed up to this, please let me know that you want a place.  You can come to all 6 sessions or just one.  They start this evening at 7pm-8pm and will run every Monday and Thursday until and including 2nd May.

Twitter

And finally if you are a twitter user, please follow me Sally_Tennis (case sensitive) - I have set this up and linked it to the website for News and Updates.  Everytime I tweet it will be on the website on the home page.  This is NOT the same as the weather one which will ONLY give updates on weather for classes - for that you have to go to the weather umbrella on the website and my name for that is SplitSecWeather. Sally_Tennis will bring you useful updates of activities happening and reminders of what is going on at the club.  If you do not want to have the messages come to your phone or you are not a twitter person, you can just look at the home page on the Avenue Website to see what is happening.  I will keep this up to date almost on a daily basis, so the website looks fresh and active.

That's all for now folks - see you on court
Sally Bentley
Head Coach 

News Letter 15th November 2012

Dear Members

Very exciting news for you!

Floodlights

We have been granted planning permission to put up the lights - they will have a cut off time of 9pm Monday to Friday and 8pm Saturday and Sunday.  We will be erecting poles next summer (we already have the foundations completed), so this means that we will have the lights for winter 2013/4).  Much thanks should go to Patricia Moore and the committee for all the technical work and negotiation that went on to arrive at this decision.

Saturday social tennis

The social club time on a Saturday afternoon has been very poorly attended for the past 6 months.  Therefore it has been decided to open up this session to everyone for a 4 month trial period to encourage more members to come and meet and play with others.  So these are the new rules.  ALL full paying members are welcome to come and play (except complete beginners - if in doubt about this ask me)  Also all juniors who play competently on a full court with a yellow ball.  If you are in doubt as to whether your child fits this description, again please ask me.  However for those competent juniors who can play with an orange or green ball, court three will be dedicated to them.  So this now means that families can come and play on Saturday afternoon.  Unfortunately this does not apply to juniors who are only playing on a red court with a red ball.  For this scenario, the court is played 'across' one quarter of the court and this would not be suitable when others are playing on a full court on the next court.  In the spring we will be building the Junior court and then ALL juniors will be invited on Saturday afternoons.  Social play on Saturday is from 2pm - 5pm.

Christmakkah or the Hanukkahmassy (!)

This is an event I have devised for everyone to celebrate the festive season together!  It will be held on Sunday 16th December at 2pm.  I will organise some games for everyone and then we will have tea, cakes, minced pies and mulled wine. (As well as other religious delicacies and traditional foods for this time of year.)  If you would like to come and bring a small plate of something to share please sign up on the notice board in the pavilion.  I will be running a raffle so bring your money, to help raise funds for the club to finish off our massive redevelopment.  More news on prizes next week and on the notice board.  Ollie and Marcus will be playing tennis in Cambodia so will not be at this event but are looking forward to attending our next social event so that those of you who do not know them, can meet them.  Hopefully James will be able to attend with his wife Sophie and little boy Gabriel so those who do not know him will meet him at this party.

Singles Ladder

I have now put up a ladder to the left of the Junior notice board.  The rules are that you can 'challenge' somebody one or two places above you and if you beat them you move your up above them.  You play the best of 3 sets.  If you get to one set all, you play a championship tiebreak to 10.  Everyone who has shown an interest is on the board and I have arranged the ladder quite randomly.................so get challenging (All mobiles are there)

Parking

Just because I put this subject at the end of this email, does not mean it is of lower importance.  We owe it to our neighbours to park courteously around their houses.  Basically there is no parking on Sylvan Avenue.  You CANNOT park on the Avenue AT ALL.  Please do not do it - this is an emergency route and we are constantly being contacted by the Council about you parking there.  Please park on Lichfield or better still on East End Road - it is easy, free and then you spend 5/6 minutes walking through the park.  Our neighbours are very patient with us - please respect their road particularly Sylvan Avenue.

Best wishes
Sally

News Letter 18th September 2012

Dear Members

Many thanks for all the emails and texts to say how much everyone enjoyed the Avenue's first quiz night.  Everyone did seem to have fun and we made £450 into the bargain and thank you to everyone who made such lovely food!  I will put the pictures of the evening onto the website soon.

Just to confirm that the raffle prizes were won by the following people:

Vicky Stephens - Spa Facial
LiJun Wan - The Restaurant Voucher
Peter Campbell  - The tennis lesson
Korana Popovic - The Kindle
Lots of people won tennis balls!

The money will go towards shrubs and plants that will be planted this Autumn to rebuild our garden after the Junior Courts are completed in October.

Mix & Match

Dont forget that the next Mix & Match Family day is Sunday 30th September at 2pm.  Everyone welcome - I will organise some games and matches and hopefully some more of the new members will come to meet others.  We are also making this day into an open day so if you know someone that would like to join the club please tell them about this event.

Shed

We have had a shed bought for us to house the garden tools, (Kindly donated by Kay Shepherd - one of our long standing non- playing lifetime members) but we need somebody to erect it on a concrete base.  Kay has also offered to pay for this - does anyone know a builder who would come and do this - it will probably only be one day's work.

All for now, see you on court,
Sally  

News Letter 5th September 2012

Dear Members

 Welcome back after the summer and what a summer we have had - the sun shone - Team GB were riding high and we have had 6 weeks of lots of tennis and fun and games at the Avenue.   September is usually one of our best months weather-wise so here are some of the ways you can get involved and meet other members in the next few weeks.

Fun Quiz Evening to raise some funds.

Our first fundraising event is The Avenue Quiz Night on Saturday 15th September - 6.30 for a 7 o' clock start.  Make your team (up to 5 members) and register your name on the notice board in the clubhouse.  You may want to make it a family affair or your kids may wish to buddy up against you.  All combinations accepted but their will be a prize for the best name!  We have tried to make this financially acceptable to all, but please bear in mind that this is a fundraising event.  The donation suggestions are £5 per Adult and £2 per child.  There will be soft drinks, wine and beer available for a small donation per drink.  And we are asking that each family brings a dish to share with everyone else.  I will put add this to the sign up sheet on the notice board - for instants I will bring a healthy vegetarian cracked wheat salad and an unhealthy pud! (please state exactly what you will bring so that we dont end up with 16 tomato salads and nothing else!)  Questions will be suitable for all ages.  The money that we raise from this evening will go towards replanting some shrubs this autumn to rebuild our garden.  Oh and btw Richard Stephens is the club's 'Director' of Fundraising - if you have any fun fund raising ideas please email him (foxstepfamily@gmail.com) Richard only accepted the job as he misread the job application - he thought it was Director of Fun!

Sunday 30th September - from 2pm

Following the great success of last weekend's family 'mix & match' day, I am going to organise another one on the 30th.  Just turn up and I will organise everyone into mixed doubles, men's doubles, ladies doubles and some family fights (You know that one, when you are playing with your son and you put the ball in the net at match point!)  There will also be competitions on the red courts and this will not be restricted to the under 8s - an opportunity to see just how good is your topspin - and we'll have some speed testing on your serve!  Something for everyone (except I am afraid no singles until we get our junior courts completed).  Entry for this is a smile and a pack of biscuits or maybe a plate of cupcakes - I will provide tea (various flavours, fresh coffee and milk)

Tuesday nights - play, pay and practice!

From next Tuesday for as long as we still have the light I am going to run a series of evening coaching/drills session.  I will start it at 6.30 on Tuesday 10th September (needs to be early to get a full hour and a half).  I will run some coaching drills and practice games looking at technique and tactics, then get some matches going for as long as the light holds.  I will charge £5 for members and £8 for guests - so please bring friends to introduce them to the club.

Other Adult Coaching

The Friday morning drop in will restart this Friday 9.30 - 10.30 (£5/£8 members/non members) and the Tuesday drop in 10.30 - 11.30 (£5/£8 members/non members) will restart on Tuesday 10th September.  Again please tell your friends, the club needs more members and this is a good way to start.

Other club news

The committee are working very hard to complete the redevelopment of the club.  Towards the end of September/beginning of October the land to the side of the pavilion will be flattened and the junior courts will be laid.  Depending on the space available (we have allocated 20m - we will be able to build 2 or 3 purpose built Red Under 8 courts).  After this building work is complete, the main 3 Adult courts will have the practice wall added to court 3 and then they will be painted and we will have proper lines to replace the temporary ones.  There was no point in doing the painting before all the messy work was finished, and now the end is in sight!

See you on court!
Sally Bentley Head Coach
07958 758 580