Welcome
2022 for Great Ayton Tennis Club was a busy one!
The ethos of the club is to provide a welcoming and supportive environment for players of all ages and abilities. And reading the report below you will see that we are well on the way to achieving this goal.
Hard work from the maintenance team to improve the access to the courts (the start of the programme to become a more inclusive club), junior members gaining certificates in an LTA Youth Leaders Course, the success of the Men’s first team and the first season for Men’s D team reflect the Club’s commitment to providing tennis for all.
Thursday Morning Coffee Group is now well established with up to 25 members attending. If the weather stops the tennis, it certainly doesn’t stop the socialising – when the group meet up for coffee at The Royal Oak instead.
Testament to all the achievements in 2022, GATC was awarded Highly Commended in the Club of the Year category at the annual Yorkshire Tennis Awards event.
Sadly, Jen Barron who coached both adult and junior groups decided to move on at the end of the year. We wish her well.
It’s quite astonishing to think that the club is run by volunteers – a dedicated group who work tirelessly ensuring the smooth running of the club.
And so, to the members. It’s the members who make our club what it is – a welcoming and vibrant place where the standard of tennis continues to improve. Thank you.
Membership
After the huge interest in membership in 2021 - primarily due to tennis being a sport that was an acceptable socially distanced activity during the pandemic - 2022 was always going to be challenging with regard to membership numbers.
In order to counter any expected dip in membership it was agreed to maintain the annual fees, offer free coaching sessions to members and promote the in-house Mixed Winter League.
However, as you can see below, although overall numbers declined, the club gained 66 new members. Looking back to 2020, where a more realistic comparison can be made, the club membership continued to attract new members with an increase of 30% , with many commenting on the friendly atmosphere.
| 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adults | 188 | 220 | 153 |
| Juniors | 73 | 94* | 55 |
| Total | 261 | 314 | 205/8 |
| New members | 66 | 117 | - |
*plus 32 juniors who didn’t join but attended Youth Start coaching Adults includes Honorary, Senior, Guardian, Students18+ Juniors include under 16’s and Freebies (under 5/6 i.e. pre Y2 school year)
Social Events
The annual summer BBQ remains a popular fixture in the calendar while the newly established Thursday Morning group enjoy their Christmas get together at Tennis world.
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Annual BBQ. In July the club held its annual BBQ which welcomed new and long-standing members.
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Open Day – Another very successful event with a range of activities (cardio, ball machine, juniors).
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Prosecco Day
Club Tennis and Teams
Club Tennis
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The Thursday Morning Coffee Group, catering for those just setting out or to those preferring a gentler game, continued to flourish under the guidance of Denise Essex. The session concludes with a little competition and a coffee. With encouragement and support some of these players now join in with club sessions.
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Two afternoons / evenings continued to be set aside for Club Sessions where the standard has continued to rise with convivial but competitive tennis.
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Good use of the floodlights enabled the inaugural Winter Mixed League to conclude with the division winners announced at a New Year Mince Pies and Mulled Wine afternoon which was very well attended. Thanks to everyone taking part and in particular Tony Smith and Denise Essex for organising.
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The Newhouse Trophy took place on a sunny summer afternoon- Jeanette and Phil taking the trophy home.
Teams
In 2022 GATC fielded:
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10 teams in the Cleveland Tennis League.
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1 team in the national Premier League
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1 team in the Cleveland Cup
| Team | League | Captain | Division | Position | ||
| Ladies A | Cleveland League | Jane Joughin | 1 | 7 | ||
| Ladies B | Julie Wilson | 2 | 5 | |||
| Ladies C | Irene Reah | 3 | 6 | |||
| Men’s A | Wayne Stephenson | Division 1 | 1 | |||
| Men’s B | Wayne Stephenson | Division 1 | 4 | |||
| Men’s C | Martin Press | Division 4 | 4 | |||
| Men’s D | David Joy | Division 6 | 7 | |||
| Mixed League | ||||||
| Mixed A | Miriam Fawcett | Division 1 | 5 | |||
| Mixed B | Craig Sheridan | Division 2 | 5 | |||
| Vets’ League | ||||||
| Mixed A | Jane Bourne | Division 1 | ||||
| Mixed B | Craig Sheridan | Division 2 | 4 |
Particular thanks to all team captains for their selfless management of the squads and to all players who represented the club during the season.
Coaching
Our thanks go to our coaches – Mark Barras, Jen Barron and Nic Weschenfelder. GATC was able to provide a comprehensive range of coaching sessions for adults and children, both for individuals and groups.
Adults
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Group coaching for beginners and intermediates increased in 2022. The Wednesday night adult coaching group was proving so successful that an extra session was added.
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Grant funding was used to trial coaching as a freebie to members on a Tuesday evening (claimed back through the ‘Making a Difference’ grant) in order to maintain new members from last year and improve their game. Wheelchair users attended this group and other less able members, with view to improving skills through coaching. It was also a good session to introduce new members to the Club. From October this session continued with members paying weekly.
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A Cardio session, mainly to improve fitness, was advertised to members and non-members. This proved very successful as it was for all ages and abilities and as many as 17 or 18 attended each week. It was also nice to see families enjoying playing tennis together at these sessions. After such a long spell of lockdown, exercise proved important in improving the mental health and wellbeing of the local community.
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A more advanced session took place for members who wanted to keep fit through the winter and improve
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skills and technique was also introduced to help maintain membership.
Juniors
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Coaching for junior groups was well supported with several groups each week throughout the year.
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A number of juniors had individual coaching.
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In the spring a half hour LTA Tots Initiative (5 years and under) was set up, 10 or 12 attended every week.
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Jen visited the local primary Schools and offered the LTA scheme for schools (£250 for them to pay her to run sessions within school). This was a good opportunity to offer the Youth Start Programme to pupils, which in turn encouraged kids to take part in YS at the Club, hence the new members increased.
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LTA Youth Leaders Course . In March Jen took 7 of our Junior Members to Tennis World to take part in an LTA Youth Leaders Course. This is recognised nation-wide and helps juniors to assist coaches, gain confidence on court and establish many skills that help in organising and running a tennis session. All players passed and got their certificate.
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Holiday Camps - a couple of these boys with the Youth Leader’s Course Certificate helped to run the Easter Camps. Camps were held during the school holidays catering for a wide range of ages and abilities.
Maintenance
The maintenance team headed up by Sid Blackmore were kept very busy throughout the year.
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The car park and path to the clubhouse were resurfaced with improved accessibility.
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An external noticeboard has been placed on the club hut.
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Many hours were put in throughout the summer painting the outside of the club hut.
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Motion activated lights have been fitted to corners of the clubhouse to ensure safe passage.
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The problem of court 3 holding the water continued making it unplayable at times. The club purchased rollers and a sponge roller for players to use to remove excess water. Unfortunately, Fosse was unable to clean the poraflex courts when the club wanted due to snow. This was frustrating for all.
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Tree lopping and general grounds maintenance.
Fundraising
Fundraising has not yet recovered to pre pandemic levels.
A new fundraising initiative was proposed by Sarah Dixon who kindly volunteered to investigate opportunities for the club. Her first initiative was for the club to join Easyfundraising . In simple terms, when members sign up and make an online purchase, the company donate to the club.
A membership raffle and BBQ also raised funds.
Financial review
The club started the year with funds of just over £15,000, once the LTA loan of £5,000 was taken into account. The main source of income continues to be from members’ subscriptions which was £14,367.50 from over two hundred and fifty members. New members continue to be attracted and are welcomed by such activities as Thursday morning social tennis which caters for members of all abilities. Following two years of covid restrictions fund raising got underway again and £619.96 was raised during the year.
A grant of £2,263.25 (Making A Difference) was obtained from Hambleton District Council and went towards increasing membership and providing more coaching.
Other incomes were from the lights and match fees, but these have to be considered against increased electricity costs and the cost of balls/league fees respectively.
A large portion of the expenditure is unavoidable and is made up of utility bills, rent and insurance. Maintaining the website was expensive, £1,902.70, and this year ground maintenance was higher than normal because the path from the car park to the clubhouse was improved to aid wheelchair users. It has become apparent that courts 1,2, and 3 will need to be regularly cleaned which will cost over £2,000 each time they are done.
The overall profit for the year was £7,385.98 which gave total end of year funds of £23,691.14. The club house needs revamping and there should be a sinking fund for future repair of the courts. However, with now more opportunity for fundraising and the new initiative of “easyfundraising” the club should be better placed to meet its future financial needs.
Governance
The club complies with Privacy (GDPR) legislation introduced in 2018. Furthermore the club is an LTA registered venue and has in place policies to include Safeguarding, Diversity & Inclusion and Whistleblowing.
These policies are displayed on the club noticeboard as well as being available from the members area of the GATC website. A full review and updating of all our policies are planned for 2023 and will be updated prior to the 2024 financial year commencing.
All coaching staff undertake Criminal Records Bureau checks with the LTA and are required to maintain relevant Emergency First Aid Training. GATC had access to the support of a welfare (safeguarding) official from the local Hutton Rudby Tennis Club during part of the year but were delighted to appoint our own trained Welfare officer, Richard Grahamduring 2022.
Groat Ayton Tennls Club Incom• and Expndltyr•Ac¢ount 1st January 2022. 31•t D•¢•rn 2022 BaLin t•& J•RW 2022 urrpntAtt41Ullt £19,92Z02 £51&( Sut6(rylian 1189 £14,367.50 Loan ent £833.33 £1.443.Cl) £1,707.91 £104.97 £927.81 £1.797.42 £t,415.CKI £1.W2.70 38724 £1.045. Malc F99¥ £1.678.10 £15.1)J £619.gB Court Hirè FuThJ Rs fB8811TA £129.09 Totsl: £49.74 Tc# £27.8%.f t4.17 B•l•n £23.691.14 John H•rrknon '1MA