Social Tennis

Wednesday and Thursday Night Social Tennis

By Grant Fry

The winter weather is almost finished, both nights have as usual had a slight decrease in numbers with the cold weather but hopefully we will get the numbers up to fill all our court allocations and even increase the number of courts if possible.

We welcome all Club members and prospective members. Anyone wanting to try it out will be welcomed by both Dennis and Grant. Both of us believe the more players the better. Give either of us a ring, text or email and we will introduce you around to all the regulars. We only have two restrictions, first you must be a member or intend to become one. The other is that you have played tennis to a reasonable standard. Having said that we do have a wide scope of abilities playing so most will fit in. Please just contact us and come out and see for yourself.

The format is 3 sets of doubles, usually mixed but depends on who is playing on the night, (Caution we do have some very good ladies playing with us) the aim in selecting teams is to give everyone a good competitive 3 sets. Two things that I really like to hear while playing, laughter and the word “ Juice or Duece” often. Depending on numbers we do have ladies only courts going but that relies on having 4 or 8 ladies and sometimes we ask people to play a set of singles but that is strictly on a voluntary basis.

The cost each night is $5-00 for new balls, starts at 7-30 and we are usually finished by 10-00. There is no restriction to just play one night we have quite a few that play both. Talk to us we will happily answer any questions. 

Wednesday Night Convenor Dennis Rowler,
Ph 0425 226463 email: dennis.rowler@gmail.com

Thursday Night Convenor Grant Fry
Ph 0407 247800 email: garfish457@gmail.com

Tuesday Morning Tennis, Very Social

Every Tuesday morning we have a very mixed batch of players come out and play social tennis, doubles at this stage but if anyone wanted to play singles and they can find someone to play against I’m sure I can find a court for you.

At present I have 3 courts booked from 9-30 to 12-00 usually courts 10, 11 & 12 but during school holidays we may move to the top courts due to the VIDA holiday programs.

Just a quick idea of the usual format, we play 4 game sets, one service game per player If we get to 2 games each, we play a tie breaker with each player having 2 serves each if it is still a tie then that’s it a draw. Also we always serve with our backs to the north to avoid the sun. We do often have odd numbers so this format allows us to have 1 0r 2 sitting on the side lines but not for very long. Best way to see how it works is to come out or give me a ring and I will explain it more thoroughly. Similarly to Wednesday and Thursday nights we try to balance teams up but it more difficult because of the wide variation of skill levels. So it would be great yo increase the numbers to at least 12 players to enable a better result of matching numbers. So please if you are interested in having a bit of fun and get some match practice give me a ring and I will put you on my list to text every week we could do with a few beginners and a couple more experienced players.

The cost to members is $0 and any new prospective members, we use second hand balls from last week’s night tennis. Great value to get some tennis practice, get up a bit of a sweat and have a laugh.

Contact Grant Fry : Ph 0407 247800 email: garfish457@gmail.com

Mid-Week Ladies Report

By Lyn Carter

Summer 23/24 Season has commenced.

Our Tuesday team is playing in Section 6 of the MEMRLTA Summer season.

We are off to a great start 2 wins, 1 loss (by only by 4 games!)

Currently on a break for the school holidays, but looking forward to a very successful season with lots of fun on and off the court.

 If there are any ladies out there that might be interested in playing competition on a Tuesday morning, please contact the club.  Games commence at 9.30 and usually completed by 1.00 p.m.

Facility Update

By Ross Johnson

Lights

Courts 11 & 12 have now been converted from the old metal-halide technology to LED. The club appreciates the support received from Tennis Australia through its National Court Rebate program, which partially funded this upgrade.

This represents the final stage in the club’s court lighting upgrades with all 12 courts now lit using the same high performance LED lamps. In contrast to metal-halide, LED maintains a more stable intensity over its lifetime, which would be observed by members as a more uniform light across each and every court. In 2019, our two larger “show” courts (7 & 8) were upgraded to LED using slighting higher power lamps to ensure these courts are actually brighter (slightly) than the others. This is in contrast to the previous lights where the same power was illuminating a larger area, resulting in dimmer, more patchy light. In addition to the courts, the car park lights have also upgraded to LED (late last year), with an additional light to better illuminate the driveway.

Some benefits of the LED lighting upgrade are…

• Better playing experience
• Lower energy usage (around 50%)
• Significantly reduced maintenance (minimising periods when one or more individual lights are out)
• Instant on (no time spent waiting for the lights to come to full brightness)
• No cool down period (lights can be turned back on immediately after being turned off)

Enjoy!

Signage

The MCC is visiting the Club in the next few weeks to discuss opportunities to add/improve existing signage.

Any member with thoughts/suggestions on this matter are encouraged to contact me at facility@mccglenirisvalley.org.au.

Courts

The club has increased its investment in court maintenance. Over the past couple of months, each court has been re-levelled, with some final work to be completed over coming weeks. Several lines have also been replaced. This is of course in addition to the regular maintenance which occurs every couple of weeks.

As we approach summer, members are reminded to water your court before play and after each set. Unless it has rained recently, the court will most likely require watering. Please consider arriving a little early so as to give your court an extra drenching before play, as it’s not always possible to be as thorough between sets. If by the time you have finished watering the second half of the court, the first half is visibly dry again, you probably haven’t used enough water! You are unlikely to over water the court (although if you do create a puddle, you should wait for it to dry of course). Also, should the wind kick up a dust storm whilst bagging, consider an initial very light water before resuming bagging.

A number of new drag mats (baggers) have been purchased and several old ones retired. Some others have been repaired. Should a broken mat (typically the chain) be found, please remove it from the court area so it can be seen and repaired.

Members are reminded to return the rain rollers to their on-court sheds after use. Please don’t leave them out on the path.

The courts at Roy Street are also receiving some extra attention. In particular, the tendency of water to pool behind the court near the south-west corner. While some initial work has been done on this problem, more work is required.

All members are reminded that your membership grants you access to both the courts in Mount Waverley and Roy Street (St Kilda). Note however that a key must first be obtained in order to access the Roy Street courts.

Grounds

Our new gardener has commenced work at the club and will be attending each fortnight. Hopefully members will notice the fruits of their labour.

Rotunda

The Club was able to celebrate the opening of the Rotunda that was constructed from the generous bequest of $25,000 from Patricia (Pat) Anderson (Life Member 1997). A plaque recognising Pat’s bequest has been placed insider the Rotunda.

The opening was held in conjunction with the Club’s working bee on 10 September 2023.

The Club had previously written to the Executor of Pat’s Estate  about the Rotunda. The Executor has since advised that they are not aware of any living family.

Thanks to Director Mark Karpinski for his initiative in have the Rotunda painted with the support of Grant Fry and Dennis Rowler.

Thanks to Life Member Angie Arthurs for researching and speaking to Pat’s membership at the opening.

Thanks to  Angie Arthurs, Lyn Carter, Amelia Charlton, Jordana Dymond  Ross Johnson  Mark Karpinski,  Chiro Mukerjea , Hayden Rees, Pam Rowler, Ben Rowler, David Rowler, Dennis Rowler, Geoff Shallue for attending the working bee/rotunda opening.

Obituary

VALE Beverly Rae (nee Mance)

Long-standing Member Colin Grenfell has advised the Club of the passing of his aunt Beverley Rae who passed away peacefully Sep 10 2023 aged 93 years.

In 1948 she was Glen Iris Valley Recreational Club Tennis Championship winner for the 1st  time and in 1971 she was the winner for the 17th time.  An incredible achievement. Bev was No. 1 Player and Captain of State Grade Tennis firstly for Glen Iris Valley Recreation Club then Caulfield Rec Tennis Club for a record 37 years.

She in later years joined the Veteran’s Tennis and won numerous National, World and European titles. She and husband Alan travelled around the world both playing the Veteran’s circuit for approximately 15 years.  Bev was also a State and Australian selector of woman’s tennis and was awarded a Sports Achievement Award signed by the Prime Minister and the Queen.  Beverley is a Life Member of Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club and was a member of Huntingdale Golf Club for 37 years where she once held the position of Lady President.

Beverley was a recipient of Tennis Victoria’s Spirit of Tennis in 1998.

The Club extend its condolences to Colin and other members of Beverley’s family.