November…
STC NEWSLETTER – NOVEMBER 2018
So the clocks have gone back and already those long, hot summer days are beginning to feel like a distant memory.
We’re almost through the worst of the leaf fall so the next challenge will be colder weather and the inevitable icy/slippery conditions. Please take extra care when using the courts at this time of the year and make sure your footwear is up to the challenge. Tennis shoes with a worn tread are probably no longer fit for purpose.
Winter measures will soon be in place. This means that, if you are the last person to leave the club house, you should ensure that the water is turned off at the mains, the kitchen taps left open and the toilet flushed. These measures are in place to prevent pipes from bursting when temperatures fall below freezing.
BTM, OPTING-IN AND THE WIMBLEDON BALLOT
This is a perplexing subject which raises its head every year, but it is much easier to understand than Brexit (promise!)
In order to be in with a good chance of getting lots of tickets for our Wimbledon ballot, as many members as possible have to ‘opt-in’ on the LTA website. However, you can only opt-in if you have British Tennis Membership. This is free for STC members and it is just a matter of registering as a ‘Lite’ member on the website below:
Once you have British Tennis Membership, you can ‘opt-in’ to the Wimbledon ballot. The deadline for ‘opting-in’ is 22 February 2019. Even if you opted-in last year, you will have to do it again (sorry!).
TOURNAMENTS & TROPHIES
The Cayless Chilli tournament was played on 7 October and the trophy was won by Carol Cook and David Murfitt. Runners-up were Clare Murfitt and Iain Mott.
The inaugural tournament for the newly donated Kitson trophy was played on 26 October and was won by Lisa King and Carol Cook. Runners-up were Diane Brown and Sue Simpson. A brief history of the trophy’s donor is given below (with thanks to Debbie Lane for the info):
“To celebrate his 100th birthday, former Stansted Tennis Club player Dick Sweet has kindly donated a trophy to Stansted Tennis Club in memory of his old friend, Jim Kitson.
Jim Kitson’s father was the landlord of the King’s Arms pub at the bottom of Chapel Hill. He owned the patch of land that would later become the present site of Stansted Tennis Club. During 1933, the ground was cleared and two grass courts were prepared with Dick and a few others helping out along the way. Nets and a shed were somehow procured and, in the spring of 1934, play began.
During the war, Jim had risen to the rank of Major by the time he was demobbed. Sadly he died of a brain tumour in the 1970s.”
The results are in from the various ladder tournaments held during the summer:
Ladies’ Singles: Daphne Lunnon
Ladies’ Doubles: Diane Brown and Daphne Lunnon
Men’s Singles: Jon Budd
Mixed Doubles: Iain Mott and Caroline Mott
There were two additional prizes for participants who played the most matches across the competition without ending up at the top. Well done for an impressive effort by:
Ginette Basten and Fiona Kelly.
The Mix and Match tournament is already underway and those involved should by now have received details from Rick Lim who is the tournament co-ordinator.
If at first you don’t succeed …. after 2 failed attempts to provide a ‘taster’ session for Junior Coaching, another date has been set and this time (fingers crossed), it will go ahead. Please see the calendar below and emails for more information.
CHRISTMAS IS COMING …
Yes, indeed, that season is almost upon us! For the past few years, STC has had a presence at the Angels & Trees Festival in the church of St Mary The Virgin in Stansted and this year, Fiona Kelly has volunteered to create a display for us to enter into the Festival. The Festival runs on 8 and 9 December if you want to see the display for yourself.
There will also be an opportunity to meet up with fellow STC members off the court at the Christmas Social on 13 December. Details will be sent out separately.
Felicity Shakespeare
On behalf of the STC Committee
DATES FOR YOUR DIARY
2 December – Junior Coaching Taster Session
8 & 9 December – Christmas Trees & Angels Festival
13 December – Christmas Social
22 February 2019 – ‘Opt-in’ deadline for Wimbledon ballot
26 February 2019 – STC AGM
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