Committee and Club Rules
Committee Members
Club Rules
Please click here for a full copy of the TWLTC Rules
Court Etiquette
Please be courteous to other members. Do not cross behind players during a rally; try to use another entry/exit gate if you need to get to or leave a court.
If your ball rolls onto another court, please wait until the other members have stopped playing before encroaching onto their court and always ask to cross.
Nets generally are pre adjusted and should not need further adjustment. Please, no bad language
Dress
The Club does not have an ‘All White Rule’. Members should be dressed in appropriate tennis clothing - no jeans or trainers.
Some equipment, clothing/ shoes and a range of rackets etc are available from the coaching office. Balls can be obtained from Brian in the General Office or in the bar. Slazenger Balls cost £5 for a tube of 4.
Court Booking
There is a Court Booking Sheet displayed on the club notice board. If you require a court, either call into the Club and write your name in the time slot you need or call the Club Office and ask Brian to book the court for you. The first time slot is from 9.00am until 11.00am and thereafter all courts are timed for a one and a half hour period.
If you book a court and are unable to use it, please cancel it as soon as possible so that another member has a chance to use it. There is no charge for court booking.
Booking of courts only applies to the hard courts. Grass courts cannot be booked. If there is one available, you are free to use it.
There is a time displayed (near court 1) during the summer months when play should stop on the grass courts. Please be aware of this and abide by the time. Dew is experienced in the evening and playing on the grass courts when wet can damage them. Generally the grass courts are available for play from about 11.00am.
Committee Meeting Updates
Dear Members
As your new chairman, I can report that following on from the AGM, the committee met twice in January in its new format and we are very excited about the developments we are planning for the year ahead.
Our emphasis this year will be on the following:
Further develop the excellent work done by Ruth and Kate to create a more vibrant club
social scene
Increase the membership and income by an active marketing campaign
Instigate changes and projects already agreed upon, quickly!
Further improve upon the facilities.
We will be meeting more frequently (monthly) so we can make decisions quickly and we will no doubt publish our development plan as it comes together.
We are also keen for our members to become more involved in the running of the club. For example, assisting/running social functions, ideas, new and views etc
All the committee member contact details are on this board, please feel free to contact us so we can take your ideas or views to our next meeting.
Here's to an exciting 2010!
January's Committee Updates
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Graham Cowing was voted in as club Secretary by committee members with Cathy Kirwan also standing for the post. During our last AGM we were not able to confirm this position due to technicalities. The minutes of that meeting state that the new committee would complete this process
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Administration has been undertaken to put new account signatories in place to allow the new committee to fully take over all aspects of the club management. We are keen to show members that all decisions and detail are transparent. New updates will be on display each month detailing progress.
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The treasurer has tested new accounts packages and will implement a new system in March once all subscriptions have been collected.
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A new social committee has been created to plan social events for 2010. A calendar of events will be advertised on notice boards, web site and bar television. The members are: Ruth Marshall, Kate White, Shan White, Nick Sohail and Cathy Kirwan.
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A marketing committee has also been created to increase the club membership and seek sponsorship and additional funding to further improve the club for all. Members of this committee are: Jason Baker, Shan White, Nick Sohail and Dave Stockton.
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All coaches received a 50% discount on their court rental for one month due to bad weather; this was offered following a letter received from the coaches.
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The men’s cloakroom has been painted and generally smartened up. Plans are being discussed to upgrade the ladies next month.
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The new floodlighting is due to start soon and planned to be completed by the end of March/April. Courts 5, 6 & 7 will also be resurfaced in preparation for the new artificial clay surface due soon. A final decision on the new clay surface will be made once subscriptions are collected and sufficient money is confirmed to be available.
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During last years AGM (previous committee) a point was discussed stating that the club administrator had been given an 11% pay increase. Since that was announced it has caused some concern among some members who believed that the increase was excessive. I have asked the treasure to look at this point again and we find that the 11% figure was in fact not the gross increase. The gross salary increase is in fact 4%, this being fixed for 2010 and not being reviewed until 2011. The treasurer’s statement on salary increases has been pinned on the notice board in the club bar.
February's Committee Updates
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To prevent non members using the courts without permission the committee have decided to bring back a previous idea of issuing a “Trainer Tag” to be worn when using the tennis courts. This will assist in recognising club membership. The club administrator will also be asked to check membership during quieter day time sessions and monitor the situation. It is not thought to be a serious problem but something that needs minor attention.
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Club administration improvement continues with contracts and job descriptions being given to the administrator and grounds man for their initial comment and agreement. The new “Sage” accounting package is being installed in March along with a new Microsoft office package.
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The social committee have extended their remit to cover Marketing. This seemed a sensible arrangement as the social and marketing were starting to merge together. The social committee have been very active planning the coming year’s events; the social calendar is on the notice board and the club web site.
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Nick Sohail has managed to sort out the technology to be able to use our bar television to run advertising/powerpoint presentations. An additional screen will be installed on the ground floor area where it is believed more people will be passing through.
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The club now has a new forum running to enable new online discussion. Members can log in and chat about anything they want. The committee will control the forum but it will be a great opportunity to get everybody talking. It is very early days but once we are moving all members will be asked if they would like to join. Go for it !!
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Shan White has taken over organising the Tuesday evening match practice sessions and will be e-mailing all team members to come along and take part. Progress on the floodlighting and court resurfacing seems slow but we can confirm that we now have enough money to pay for the artificial clay court resurfacing. Graham Cowing will be taking a few players down to Torquay to play on the new surface prior to installation.
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A Club asset Register is being created noting equipment inside the club and outside in the Groundsman’s garage.
March's Committee Updates
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The committee have proposed and started the discussion and creation of a 3-5 year financial plan to ensure future security for the club. The plan is based upon the marketing and promotion of the club through sponsorship and increased membership. The marketing committee have worked very hard so far on this project that is seen as a long term goal rather than an immediate noticeable improvement.
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The committee are still seeking a final quote to improve the ladies changing area.
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Cathy Kirwan has worked very hard on the improvement of the grass courts working closely with Park Langley staff in seeking advice on how to best ensure that we have first class grass courts this summer. Cathy has sourced and purchased through the club a new powered roller for Kevin to use. Rolling the grass courts was deemed to be a major shortfall so far with our maintenance plan.
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The clay courts are getting closer to installation with some members travelling up to Torquay on 23rd -24th April, hopefully we will be placing our order at the end of April with a June installation.
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Flood lighting and resurfacing of courts 5, 6, & 7 has still not started but April is the proposed start for these works.
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The committee have arranged a meeting with the LTA on 19th April to discuss future projects and how the LTA fits in with TWLTC.
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The committee have put in place a policy for members that may suffer injury and require adjusted subscriptions based upon a reduced tennis season. We have decided to have each case discussed individually at committee meeting and decisions made on the night based upon individual circumstance. This was discussed based upon a couple of members who felt that they needed some consideration during a difficult injury period.
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A Sage accounting package is now being installed into the club system to allow a more detailed analysis and efficient accounting system.
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We don’t usually highlight individual efforts but this month a special thanks to Nick Sohail who has spent many hours at the club installing a new screen in the ground floor club area showing PowerPoint presentation advertising and web pages from our site. We are looking closely at systems to advertise club events and increase marketing abilities of the tennis club. We are hoping in time to be able to do more with this but at the moment it is restricted to PowerPoint presentations. Nick has also been helping Brian with IT systems and office improvements improvements – Thanks Nick
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The Marketing Committee have been working hard planning and promoting the TWLTC open day on 16th May. This will be a great fun event with a serious marketing side to it.
April & May's Committee Updates
1. Progress with the floodlights and resurfacing of courts 5, 6, & 7 is moving forward. The wiring and installation of the light units are now complete and the connection point in the rear car park will be completed soon. The courts were resurfaced and completed by 21st May and awaiting an inspection by AMB Sports who will install the new clay surface. The project is expected to be complete by the end of June. New fencing between courts 4 & 5 will ensure that the clay material does not migrate to other courts. Foot baths will be fitted by all gates. This will be a very exciting month for the club who are proud to offer members another court surface
2. Rusthall Village Fete Association has requested a raffle prize and the committee have donated a free tennis lesson from one of our coaches.
3. The Ball Machine has now been repaired and can be hired for £5 per hour. This will be monitored by our administrator.
4. A new suggestion box has been made and will be on the bar area where you will be able to offer suggestions and ideas.
5. We now have a club forum where all members can sign in talk and exchange views on anything they like. The system is monitored and inappropriate comments removed. This is a new concept that will need time to become popular.
6. The new Sage accounts package is almost up and running now, this will make the daily accounts and long term planning easier in the future.
7. The annual club insurance policy is being renewed with Graham investigating and sourcing new quotes that will give the club increased value and additional benefits. The new policy will be displayed on the notice board once confirmed.
8. It has been agreed by the committee that the coaching staff will be allowed to receive incentive payments when they introduce new memberships.
9. There has been another complaint from a local resident regarding speeding drivers in Upper Cumberland Walk and Blatchington Road. The committee has responded with a letter to the resident and we have placed new notices on the notice boards and we will place an article in the next news letter. This is serious and we ask you all to slow down when driving to and from the Tennis Club.
June's Committee Updates
