Elsenham Tennis Club

The Club was formed in 1976 and the two courts were built largely thanks to volunteer labour from prospective members and friends. A loan was received from the Parish Council of the day, and this was repaid within several years. Over time the facilities have been improved, with a Club Hut and floodlighting being installed. More recently, the Club has negotiated Associate Membership of the Bowls Club for all our Adult Members. ETC is also affiliated to the Lawn Tennis Association which gives the club and its members further benefits.

More>

Location

The courts are located on the Village Playing Fields off Stansted Road, Elsenham. This is in the centre of the village. The ground is actually owned by the Parish Council, but is fenced off in the normal way for tennis courts, thus giving protection to the courts and facilities. Within the fenced area is a compound and hut that are under a separate locking regime. The hut contains the control boxes for the floodlights and court booking sheets where you can pre-book a court if not already pre-booked for matches or coaching etc.

Club Nights – Tuesdays and Thursdays (weather permitting)

Club Night is held every Tuesday from 7.00pm onwards. ALL members are welcome and balls are supplied. A charge of £1 is made to cover the cost of the lights and balls. Performance Club Night is on every Thursday, starting from 7.30pm. A charge of £1 is made.

Club Afternoon (weather permitting)

Club Afternoon is held on Sundays from 2.00 – 5.00pm. ALL members are welcome. Bring your own balls if possible and there is no charge. This is considered more social play designed specifically for casual and family play.

Floodlights

The floodlights are controlled from boxes in the hut, one for each court. They are operated by tokens, which cost £1-50 each and they last for 35 minutes, which allows for a warm up period. The lights will automatically go out at 10.30pm.

Bowls Club

All full adult members are also Associate (Social) Members of the Bowls Club and may use the Bowls Club facilities (except the Bowling Green) whenever the club is open, which is generally every evening except Sundays from 7.00pm to 11.00pm and during Bowls Club matches. Tennis Club members are subject to the Bowls Club rules covering their Associate Membership and you should carry your membership card with you if you intend to use the facilities which include the bar.

Visitors

Visitors are welcome on the courts if not being used by members. If you bring a visitor onto the courts you are responsible for their behaviour and also for collecting the relevant fee (£2 for an adult and £1 for a student and 50p for child under 16).

Please pass any money collected to our Treasurer or any Committee Member.

Tennis Balls

New tennis balls can be purchased at a cost of £4 per can of 4 balls from:

Petra Studholme, 26 Leigh Drive.

Floodlights

For inter-club matches, club night and other committee authorised events, the lights will be operated by a key. Tokens to operate the lights can be obtained at any reasonable time from:

Anne Player 2 Cranmore Close 813482

Petra Studholme 26 Leigh Drive 814667

Paul Burt 07973 543808

If the lights go out for any reason, you must wait at least 15 minutes before attempting to restart them. Any problem of whatever nature with the lights should be reported to any committee member as soon as possible.

Matches and Tournaments

The Club plays competitive league matches against other clubs in the Mixed Doubles, Ladies and Men’s Doubles. We are always looking to expand our pool of players in both categories, so if you would like to play please contact:

Men’s Doubles Sam Bushell 810942

Ladies Doubles Lorna Yeadon 817184

Mixed Doubles Petra Studholme 810856

These leagues operate in two sessions - winter and summer.

We also organise summer and winter tournaments. All members are encouraged to enter. Cups and other trophies are awarded to the winners. Partners can be arranged for those who do not have one for doubles matches. Full details are given in the regular Club Newsletters.

The summer tournament is a general knock-out in categories:

Men’s & Ladies Singles, Men’s & Ladies Doubles, Mixed & Veterans Mixed Doubles.

The winter tournament is a round robin between Mixed Doubles.
We also try and arrange other day competitions as and when we can.

Fund Raising

The Club occasionally runs fund raising activities. At present these comprise two Quiz Nights per year which yield useful income and help keep our subscriptions the lowest in the vicinity. Please support these events by making up a table. Any other suggestions for fund raising are always welcome.

Racquet Restringing

Racquets can be re-strung by a club member quickly, professionally and at a reasonable cost.

Please contact Alan Verlander on 647060 for further details.

Coaching

Coaching is available from Monica Sutherland (for more information, contact her directly on 01279 850289 or mmjsutherland@btinternet.com). Monica leads junior coaching on a squad basis on a Thursday afternoon and provides individual coaching for both adults and juniors at other times by prior arrangement. Tom Cottam also provides individual coaching. For more information, he can be reached at 07834 785 716 or cottas1988@googlemail.com. Last but not least we have Paul Burt who is a qualified PTR Tennis Instructor and self-confessed tennis nut. Paul is setting up lessons for juniors aged 8 and 16 on a Saturday afternoon and is also available for private lessons by contacting him on 07973 543 808 or paul@trub.net (or have a look at his website www.trub.net).