Chestnut End
Halton Village
Nr Aylesbury
Bucks HP22 5PD
Tel : 01296 623453
www.haltontennis.co.uk
HVLTC
haltontennis@btinternet.com
06 February 2016
Dear Member
CHAIRMAN’S REPORT
Welcome to my first report as your new Chairman of Halton Village tennis club
It’s been a real privilege and honour to follow John Walker as your new club chairman; whilst I’ve
been involved with the club for many years (starting in 1993) on the coaching & operational side, it’s
been great fun and a new challenge having a much wider role as Club Chairman.
I would like to start with a ‘thank you’ to the many people who continue to give their time and
expertise to help run & improve our club, especially the Club Playing Committee and those who do
the Mix Ins at Club Sessions plus all our Team Captains who have all helped to make it another busy
and successful year. Thank you for your invaluable commitment to the club.
Our ambition is to ‘create an outstanding club experience’ - something for everyone so we all feel
at home and where everyone is a host as well as a guest. We regularly receive feedback from new
members about how welcome they have been made. Thank you to those who have helped maintain
this incredible level of support to new members.
We really try hard to keep the club feel; although over the years we have grown our facilities,
our membership numbers have remained roughly the same, and your feedback has always been that
“retaining the club feel” is very important.
Thank you to Pete Taylor & Lisa Hale for keeping our tennis club looking magnificent throughout the
year & keeping up with the constant cleaning challenge.
As a club we sit within Halton Tennis Centre, the umbrella organisation that provides the
management/operational, financial and facilities support for each of the 8 activities (Club Tennis,
Everyball Coaching, Junior Performance Tennis, Disability Tennis, RAF Tennis, Health & Fitness
Club, Cycling and Pavilion Bar/Catering).
This structure provides us with stability, consistency and a professional input, as well as
employment opportunities for over 50 people and work experience/apprenticeships for local
youngsters.
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AGM
The date of our next AGM is Tuesday 19th January 2016 at 8pm.
Even if AGMs are not your thing, hopefully we can tempt you to join us with a free glass of wine and
nibbles !
Most if not all the news and activities of the past 12 months have already been published in our
regular e-newsletters, and website. I have therefore kept my report to the main highlights and
thoughts for 2016
MEMBERSHIP
Adults: Our membership levels have remained similar over the last 12 months (with new members
matching those leaving). We currently have approx. 220 full adults, and 34 off peaks; evenly split
between Men & Ladies. Whilst it is not our intention to grow much beyond current levels, it is a low
membership for the size of our facilities and we will continue to actively promote the club in our
local community. Our Rusty Rackets sessions continue to be a very popular way of joining the club.
Juniors: Our junior section has some 150 members and 150 Mini (under 9) members.
Subscriptions: there will be no change/increase to our tennis subscription rates for 2016
TENNIS HIGHLIGHTS OF THE YEAR
Adults
Many congratulations to both our Men’s & Ladies 1 Teams who have had an outstanding summer
finishing in the top 8 clubs in the UK (National Club league). Men’s 1 won through to National club
finals for the 1st time in our history and finished 5th & Ladies 1 finishing 7th
Tennis Jeannie – a singles/doubles box league competition for adults & juniors continues to attract
over 150 members.
Some of our Results are below – well done everyone - a lot of winning teams!!
Bucks Shield champions – Ladies 1 & Men’s 1 were champions
Bucks Mixed Cup - Knockout Champions
County Week – our players again featured strongly in the Senior Bucks Men’s & Ladies
teams with the Ladies runners up in Group 1 and the Men promoted to Group 4
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Ladies
 Ladies
 Ladies
 Ladies
 Ladies
 Ladies
 Ladies
 Ladies
 Ladies
1 Bucks Shield Premier division winners
2 Bucks Shield won division 1 and promoted to Premier
Bucks shield (2 pair) division 5 runners up
3 Bucks Shield won division 3 and promoted
1 A&D won division and remain in top division
2 A&D winter remain in division 2
3 A&D won Division 6 and were promoted to Division 5
2 A&D won division 3 and promoted
Men
 Men’s 1 Bucks Shield premier division winners
 Men’s 2 Bucks Shield won division 1 and promoted to premier
 Men’s 3 Bucks Shield summer promoted to division 2 & winter remained in division 3
 Men’s 2 pair Bucks Shield, division 5 runners up
 Men's 2 A&D won winter division 2 and summer division 2 and promoted
 Men 4 (2 pair) came 2nd in division 5 but with same points as Chesham Bois; awaiting
news on promotion!
 Men’s 3 won division 6 and promoted
Mixed





& Vets
Mixed 1 winter winners of 1st division
Mixed 1 won Summer 2015 Knock out trophy
Mixed medley 2nd in division 4 and promoted
Men’s 1 won their division and promoted to the top division for this winter 2015
Ladies 3 won their division and have been promoted
Super Vets
 Super Vets 1 got promoted to Division One. Never too late to play at the top!!
 Super Vets Ladies 2, won division 3 promoted to division 2
 Super Vets Medley 2 winter won division 2 & now join the lofty heights of Halton 1 in
division 1
Juniors
 Halton Girls U14 National Champions - - Lauren Armstrong, Izzy Marshall, Scarlett
Hutchinson, Alex Hildreth and Alexa Wilson with their team captain Jemima King
 We have again achieved NO 1 status in the County for regularly competing juniors with over
200 children playing more than 6 matches in the year and over 130 playing 20+ matches
 AASE – one more child has successfully completed the Advanced Apprenticeship in sporting
excellence
 USA Scholarships – three players successfully achieved a scholarship to study and play
tennis – Georgie Sanders, Alice Patch and JJ Clark through US Tennis Scholarships – Jemima
King.
 Daniel Dean and Alexa Wilson won the Road to Wimbledon County Finals and played at the
National Finals on the grass courts of Wimbledon
 Total of 15 Junior Teams in Aegon Junior Club League
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 Under 8 Red B Team won the county division
 3 x Under 9 Orange Teams Runners Up in county division
 Under 10 Green Team Runners Up in county division
INDOOR COURTS
Having indoor tennis is a significant financial challenge for any club, and has been the subject of
discussion at previous AGMs especially its impact on our subscription rates.
We now enter our 8th year of having 6 indoor courts and a mini zone of 3 courts. We are very
conscious of all the various groups of membership and will endeavour to share the facilities as
evenly as possible, but we have to make the courts pay to keep us economically sustainable.
Whatever the challenges, I think we would all agree that we enjoy a fantastic tennis facility and one
that every other club in the UK would love to have.
FACILITIES IMPROVEMENTS
Our ambition is to always provide the best facilities in Buckinghamshire/surrounding area; this year
we have added a fantastic new meeting room (thank you Andy Mclean for the WOW factor design!)
as well as the children’s swings/play area and lots of new plants and landscaping which I hope you
will agree has further improved the club
Our future plans for 2016 include
1. Develop the area behind the acrylic dome to include a mini court, toilet block and multi-sport
area
2. Install a mini court including hitting wall in the area currently occupied by the stand (which is
moving/downsizing to the current hitting wall area)
3. Development of our kitchen facilities with a new preparation room (planning permission being
sought)
4. Resurface our entry road
5. Continue to create a beautiful looking club!
We often receive very positive comments from visitors/other clubs who are always impressed with
our continued drive to improve our facilities
CLAY COURTS
Please use the drag mats every time you play; it only takes a few minutes at the end of your
game, but helps keep the courts in good condition, they last longer and of course you get much
better and more even bounces
ACRYLIC COURTS
Please be very careful not to hit the playing surface with your racket – the soft acrylic we
chose for our old knees (!) is easily cut by improper use of the tennis racket
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GIRLS TENNIS
A new ‘girls tennis’ initiative, was started up by Jemima King in 2014 with the female coaches at
Halton with the aim to increase the number of girls participating in tennis and exercise. Currently
the ratio of boys to girls playing is 4:1 and Jemima and her team are passionate about reversing
this trend.
Jemima is in her 2nd year of running 'Miss-Hits' – a scheme launched by Judy Murray - a fun
starter tennis program for girls age 5-8. Everyball Tennis female coaches were invited last year to
be one of the first tennis coaching teams in the UK to launch this program; the program has now
been launched nationally. It's an indoor activity, which means dancing to warm up and fun,
colourful equipment that won't blow away in the wind or get wet.
'Everyball and Buckinghamshire Girls' - throughout 2015, Jemima has been running fun girls only
sessions and fun competitions to cater for players aged between 5 and 18 from all clubs in Bucks
with the total number of girls coming through the initiative reaching 287.
All Buckinghamshire female coaches and volunteers are invited to bring along their players, and it
is hoped that the sessions will help to create a wide network of female coaches and players.
Jemima, Sam, Camilla and Nicola have recently organised a team competition for red and orange
players (aged 5-8) to encourage girls to enter with a friend, team of 2 playing singles and doubles.
It was a huge success with more than 12 pairs entered.
Jemima King along with 8 players from Halton participated in a teen girls tennis camp with Judy
Murray in May. It was an inspirational day, which has inspired and engaged the Halton girls. Four
other girls were invited along to the National Tennis Centre for a fun teen competition in
September and Jemima and the girls thoroughly enjoyed the weekend competing against other
girls from around the country.
CHARITY SUPPORT
Charities that we supported include Prostate Cancer UK, Stoke Mandeville Special Care Baby Unit,
Gt Ormond Street Hospital, Macmillan Cancer support, Happy Days Children charity, Breast Cancer
campaign, Interserve & Action Medical Research
In addition, the Coaching team have also provided financial support to performance players over the
last year.
DISABILITY TENNIS
Under the leadership of Josh Card & Alex Barnes, 2015 saw Halton provide many tennis experiences
(classes, camps and festivals) for children & adults - including wheelchair, Visually Impaired, deaf
and educational special needs as well as off site at 4 schools. Every week some 40 players enjoy the
game
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Halton works closely with Wheel Power & the Spinal Unit at Stoke Mandeville; most of our coaches
are also trained disability coaches delivering the sessions supported by volunteers from the Club
and Berkhamsted School.
Thank you also to our sponsors Alamac (www.alamac-ltd.co.uk) who have joined the team to help
finance the programme of activities.
SOCIAL CALENDAR
Many congratulations and thanks to Ellen North & Michael Hill, for organising our social calendar
activities during the year; if there are any activities or events you wish to see in 2016 please let us
know.
December activities are
Saturday 5th Mini Club Christmas party
Saturday 5th December Ladies Club Champs (tableau A)
Friday 11th FUN night club session with the coaches
Sunday 13th Club Adult Christmas Lunch
Sunday 20th Club Mix In - Mince Pies and Mulled Wine
Tuesday 29th Christmas Adult Club tournament (10-2pm)
Wednesday 30th Adult/Child tournament (10-2pm)
CLUBHOUSE & CATERING
Many congratulations to Julia & Steve (now in their 11th year with us) and their team for another
very busy and successful year and in particular the number of parties and events held on a Saturday
night at the club.
This summer we said goodbye to James our young chef, and in November we welcome our new chef
Thomas. Many thanks to Steve for coping on his own during the last few months
Every month over £12,000 is spent by members and guests in the Pavilion. Julia would like to
especially mention/thank the ‘backroom’ team for all their hard work.
Thank you all for using our catering/bar – we try to keep it open as much as possible (every lunch
time and evening) but it remains a major challenge to run a small club catering operation whilst
remaining financially sustainable.
We are looking at current arrangements. We also very much welcome regular feedback about all
aspects of the catering including about the menu and the range of drinks on offer to see how this
can be continually improved. Please do come to us with any suggestions and general comment.
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COACHING
We hope you'll agree that our coaching programme (now in its 13th year) continues to move from
strength to strength. 2015 has seen quite a few changes to the team: we said goodbye to Pete
Thorne, Mark Hunter, Cerys Hughes, Ed Taylor & Alison Sharp and welcomed Darren Emery,
Cameron Malik & Nicola Mooney as well as Thomas Schmidt on a gap year. Behind the scenes, Alison
Morgan is also now providing additional admin support.
Our current coaching team boast over 100 years of coaching at Halton!
The Friday night 'FUN' EVENING WITH COACHES’ have gone very well, and we will continue to
schedule these every few months.
As 'Holiday Camps Director' & Senior coach, Danny West has done another superb job this year and
the 'Multi Sport Summer Camp' was especially popular.
Danny West continues to lead the coaching program at Tring Tennis Club in its second year and we
are delighted to announce that from January 2016 Everyball will be heading up the coaching
program at Wendover Tennis Club
Schools Tennis; there are some 20 local schools that we work with to promote tennis and deliver
coaching at the school & local community with some 600 children receiving coaching.
Performance tennis: Alan Hutcherson & Neale Proud are doing a super job at developing our more
ambitious youngsters in the Aspirantes programme – the first step on the performance journey age
6.
Notwithstanding the change of direction and funding by the LTA, we will continue to deliver junior
performance coaching and have teamed up with 4 other centres around the UK (Bath, Bolton,
Nottingham & Gosling) to share resources and expertise.
Performance Junior Tennis costs a lot of money and as such we are always looking at ways of
supporting it and helping to KTDA keep the dreams alive of a Halton player one day walking onto
Centre Court at Wimbledon; any help that you can offer to make this possible would be greatly
appreciated by joining the group. Thank you especially to Alec Clapperton who has organised the 100
Club, the profits of which go towards KTDA.
AASE (advanced apprenticeship in sporting excellence)
We had 1 Halton student graduate this summer in the Advanced Apprenticeship of Sporting
Excellence Scheme (AASE). A further 2 students are following closely in her footsteps under the
watchful eye of Jemima King our AASE Programme Manager. Over 30 of our youngsters have
participated in this scheme over the last 7 years with many going on to USA College Sports
scholarships.
This scheme is an NVQ-style programme financed by the Skills Council and available to any children
over 16 in full-time education, who are serious about their tennis. There are also considerable
financial benefits to students with their squad coaching costs. Halton and the LTA had an Ofsted
inspection last year. The apprenticeship scheme being delivered at Halton was given an ‘outstanding’
rating - the first sport within the AASE program to receive this score.
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The coaches would like to thank you all once again for supporting them, and look forward to another
fruitful year with you on the courts.
HEALTH & FITNESS
The club has completed its 6th year in its new larger home and enjoys continued growth and success
with a current membership of some 440. The unique outdoor area continues to attract new members
and the new classes included in the membership have been well received.
Tennis members are entitled to a 20% discount on gym membership
Gemma has launched a superb new range of Health MOT options for everyone including
family/friends (gym membership not required)
The team are always on hand to support you in getting the most out of your tennis game. So if you
require physiotherapy, sports massage, Pilates, health and dietary advice or would like to improve
your tennis game by up to 20% without hitting a ball, then don't hesitate to contact them!
Cycling: welcome to Lee Niven and his cycling business at the club; if you have any repairs/servicing
or need a new bike please pop in to see Lee. Regular rides are also being organised if anyone wishes
to join in.
FINANCES
As part of Halton Tennis Centre, the club remains in robust financial health.
The 2 financial challenges remain as ever - electricity prices (mainly the indoor courts) and a
relatively small tennis membership of approx. 300 adults & 300 children. Our electricity bill is over
£50k per year with the Clay Dome being approx. £24k.
We all love and appreciate our indoor courts – very few clubs in the UK have any let alone 6.
However the change of strategy by the LTA to focus on funding participation growth rather than
performance, we will see a considerable reduction in future performance grant income we receive.
A key benefit of being a part of Halton Tennis Centre is having other income sources such as the
gym which give us more stability than many other clubs. Thank you to Gill Roe, Netty James and
Monica Maguire our accounts team, for all their hard work and keeping us on track.
SPONSORSHIP
We would like to take this opportunity to thank our Club Sponsors – Ellen North (Kado), Garry King
(Kings Farm shop), Andy MacLean Carpentry, Hugh Morton (Morton Financial Services), Grant &
Stone Building Suppliers and Andy McGrath (Alamac (www.alamac-ltd.co.uk)) who have supported the
Club, not just financially, but also with their involvement and enthusiasm for what we are trying to
achieve here at Halton Tennis Club.
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And finally….!
On a personal note, I hope you have all enjoyed your membership and friendships at the club and like
me look forward to 2016 being another enjoyable year
Mike James
Chairman
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