LOWER HUTT TENNIS CLUB CROSS COURT MARCH/APRIL 2002
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LOWER HUTT TENNIS CLUB CROSS COURT MARCH/APRIL 2002 |
......FROM THE EDITOR |
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I thought that as we got older there would be more time to do everything in the week. Alas that is not the case & in fact the opposite applies. There are too many other things happening & to try & fit in writing a Newsletter sometimes just seems to be too difficult.Are there any volunteers to lighten the load? My apologies for being late, but playing tennis comes ahead of writing about it. EDITOR PO BOX 45020, LOWER HUTT FAX 566 8041 EMAIL: LowerHutt@tennismail.com |
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SUBSCRIPTIONS |
| SENIOR $95 |
| VETERAN $80 |
| MIDWEEK $80 |
| INTERMEDIATE $60 |
| JUNIOR $ 60 |
| COUPLE $170 |
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FAMILY $260 |
| The above reductions apply to NEW MEMBERS joining AT THIS STAGE OF THE SEASON |
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CONTACTS |
| PRESIDENT BARBARA BRIDGER 566 0750 |
| CHAIRMAN JOHN DONAGHY 566 9051 |
| SECRETARY GRAHAM NELSON 569 2914 |
| TREASURER RAY JONES 567 9340 |
| CLUB CAPTAIN Vacant |
| MIDWEEK ROS READ 938 1951 |
| INTERMEDIATE GENE |
| JUNIOR CHESTER HOLMES 936 1606 |
| WED LEAGUE STEWART BUSH 938 9746 |
| MON LEAGUE ORA WHAANGA 495 4762 |
| SAT LEAGUE KATHY BRABIN 569 6629 |
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MELBOURNE IS A MUST |
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I responded rather cautiously to Peter Watson's notice in our newsletter some months ago of the availability of plane bookings and accommodation to the 2002 Australian Open in Melbourne. Never having been to a big tennis event, this was a big step. However the decision was made to go for the first week by my wife, Marie and I, as a way of celebrating our 40th wedding anniversary. We bought tickets for the 1st 4 nights to the Rod Laver Arena from Ticketek here in NZ in October and $25 day ground passes on arrival at the Tennis complex. The day ground passes meant access was available to all the courts excepting the Laver Arena. Watching many of the world's best tennis players at close quarters was an awesome experience, that's not quite the same as watching at home on T.V. One of my highlights was meeting up with former club member, Mike Smith & having a couple of games with him after he finished work & then dashing back to the night sessions. Mike was very gracious in fitting me in & is playing well. A number of other members of the club were present, but with the large crowds, I only met one other member, Wickham Noakes after being at the M.C.G. watching the cricket. My recommendation to other club members is to find an excuse to go, or a reason to celebrate your life, at the 2003 Grand Slam in Melbourne. Pat Clegg |
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EASTER TEAMS EVENT |
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On the
Friday, Saturday & Sunday - 29/31 March all our courts will be used
all day for the National Veterans team event. Other venues used will be at Mitchell Park & Taylor Park. This is an excellent opportunity for fund raising by making food available for sale all day & every day from 9 am. Jill Willcock and Ros Read will prepare a list of those who will help by providing food & assisting in the kitchen. Telephone Jill 569 5465 if you can volunteer. AUSTRALIAN TEAM On Sunday 10 March 9 ladies & 7 men visiting from Australia played against a Hutt Valley team at our Club from 12.00 am & were provided with lunch and a great days tennis. 1ST SATURDAY EVERY MONTH These fun afternoon tournaments with drinks & a barbecue will be held right through the year. |
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NEW MEMBERS |
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Now is the time to suggest to your friends or colleagues its time they joined a real club. If you have friends who may be interested invite them to visit The Club on Wednesday nights or Saturday afternoons to see for themselves how we enjoy ourselves. Alternately they can telephone one of the Contacts for details. |
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CLERK OF WORKS |
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Do you like the new drive way. Doesn’t it make a
difference? Are there any fishermen who can fix our tennis nets. Before they deteriorate further |
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INTERMEDIATES |
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We
urgently need a parent to tale over the running of the Intermediate
session & to give it a real push. |
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JUNIORS |
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The junior Club Champs were held on
the weekend of 1/3 March. Results are covered below. Prizegiving has been suggested for Saturday 20 April so mark this in your diaries. Winter tennis for juniors was trialled last winter & because of its success we have decided it should continue .this winter. Winter tennis will commence on Friday 19 April from 5 - 7 pm. The charge will be $60. Bring your money on the first night. Lots of Club juniors representatives over XMAS. Thiem Nguyen for NZ u/14 in Aust.ralia Matt Gibbons, Jovana Mastilovic & Hanna Baxter for Wellington u/14 in Auckland, Daniel Baxter for Wellington u/16 in Christchurch, Jovana Radovic & Jeremy Pigou for Wellington u/18 in Blenheim. The u/14's received free entry to the Heineken Open in Auckland so they could go along & watch in the evenings after their tennis. |
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TOURNAMENTS |
SENIORS March 29/31 National Vets Teams L. Hutt April 5/7 Davis Cup Renouf April 6/7 Wellington Vets July 27/28 Manawatu Vets JUNIORS Mar 9-10 Sthn Quad (Wn Region/ Nelson/ Marl/ Cant Blenheim Mar 16-17 Slazenger Wgton Reg Champion ships (12’s & 16’s) Mitchell Park Mar 13 Senior College Teams RTC Mar 16 Junior Interclub concludes Mar 23-24 Slazenger Wgton Reg Champs (10s, 14s) RTC Apr 3-6 NZT 14’s Nationals Chch Apr 8-11NZT 16’s Nationals RTC Apr 9-12 National 12’s Auckland Apr 18-21 National Sec Schools Final June 29-Jun 4 Nat Indoors 18’s Auckland Jul 1-5 Hutt News Winter Mitchell Park July 7-12 Nat Indoors, 14’s & 16’s Dunedin |
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THE COACH |
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I would like to thank everyone for their patience with the weather over the last few months. It has been tough for all of us I think, and the enthusiasm for tennis is still strong despite the amount of rain. My tennis coaching programmes are back into full swing now (apart from the continued rain) and you should be seeing me down at the courts on a regular basis. Some outstanding results from last year have been from the Division Two Mid Week team of Sandra, Lynn, Judy, and Roz for winning the division and moving up to Division One Well done....keep on volleying and poaching!!! Other outstanding results have to be our Regional Two men's, and woman's teams for winning the pre Christmas competitions and going into the promotion / relegation competition for regional one! Over the Christmas period all of the junior qualifying tournaments for the nationals were held around the country. Lower Hutt Club makes up a very large percentage of the Wellington teams through the age groups. Lower Hutt club has the following players involved in representative play for the Wellington region: Jovana Radovic, Hannah Baxter, Jovana Mastilovic, Amelia Harris, Richard Gibbons, Mathew Gibbons, Michael Pigou, Sam Vinton Boot, Thiem Ngyuen, Daniel Baxter, and Jeremy Pigou. So I would like to congratulate all of these players for their efforts over the new year period. It is a short term this term so there are more Holiday Tennis Camps coming up. The dates for these are: April 1 - 5th & the April 8 - 12 2002. Enrolment forms should be on the board down at the club if you are interested, or just come up and have a chat with me if you see me down there! Coaching will be continuing through the winter as well, so if you have been thinking about changing that backhand then the winter is the time to do it! Be ready for next summer! TENNIS TIP: Set your feet! When ever you are hitting the ball you should try to set your feet on the ground. A solid base with your legs will help you to keep your balance and improve your timing. So stay still and hit a better ball! See you at the courts Gene |
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CLUB CHAMPIONSHIPS |
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Rose says: "Congratulations to Stewart for running the club champs so successfully & giving up his time the same weekend he was moving to a new home. Also thanks to Odette, in between her games she decided the kitchen cupboards needing cleaning out and with the help of Ros the job got done. Have you noticed the difference! Well done! " The results from the Club Champs were: Singles Winner Runner Up Mens Open Jeremy Pigou Daniel Baxter Ladies Open Tania Martin Julie Scott Mens B Sam Vinton Boot Thomas Russell Ladies B Jovana Mastilovic Hanna Baxter Mens Vets Nigel Westerby Marcus Mellsop Ladies Vets Zelma Foo Mieke Vensvoort Doubles Mens Open Jeremy Pigou & Tu Nguyen runner up Tony Pietras & Nick Eaden Ladies Open Julie Scott & Tania Martin Mens B Peter Howse & Albie Roberts runner up Sam Vinton Boot & Tom Russell Ladies B Bernice Bolland & Anna Young runner up Trish Barry & Kathy Brabin Ladies Vets Anna Young / Bernice Bolland runner up Jill Willcock/ Rose Douglas Mens Vets Bruce King & Nigel Westerby runner up Peter Howse & Albie Roberts Mixed Doubles Open Andrew Chuah & Julie Scott runner up Ora Whaanga /Mark Battershill B Grade Paul Sinclair & Bernice Bolland runner up Nigel westerby & Hanna Baxter Vets Bruce King & Anna Young runner up Bernice Bolland & Paul Sinclair
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JOKE |
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After seeing Anna Kournikova at Auckland, a yuppie decided to take up the game of tennis. He turned up at a sports store and asked to be supplied with all the gear. The proprietor sold him tennis shoes for $300, Shorts for $200 a pair, shirts for $150 each and a can of balls for $30. "Oh " said the yuppie "I'll need a racquet". So the proprietor sold him a half share in the business. |
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MIDWEEK MEMO |
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Midweek tennis began at the end of January in
beautifully sunny weather - that lasted precisely one week! A short singles league is proposed for this month. Teams of two will have two short games of singles and one of doubles - the idea being that players will be in top gear for the singles Midweek Club Champs which begin on 5th March. Doubles will begin on 12th March and should conclude by Easter. These championships are open to anyone able to play midweek. Please have entries to Ros ( ph 938 1951) by 26 February. Where are all the midweek males? For many years Campbell Edwards has been a loyal supporter but I would like to issue a challenge to the rest of you able to play on a Tuesday morning. Entries will be taken for a singles and doubles championships for male midweekers this year - same dates of entry and play. |
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REGIONAL |
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The post Christmas competition with its new format is proving to be very difficult for our teams. The Regional 1 ladies are coming 3rd in the top 4 competition with one game to play. Regional 2 & 3 ladies are finding the standard a little higher - they are playing against the bottom 4 teams from the grade higher than them. They are each coming about 5th out of the 8 teams with 3 games to play. |
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TENNIS ETIQUETTE |
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Should we care about the standard of tennis dress on those days & nights we hold the leagues? Is this really just a personal matter left to each member’s sense of pride in themselves & in the Club |
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LEAGUES |
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Saturday
Afternoon If you wish to play ion these leagues & are not already doing so you must call one of the organisers Teams have already been selected but there is a need for reserves on a continuing basis and if you are on the list for reserves it will give you an opportunity to enjoy these leagues & a better chance of getting into teams for the next rounds. Contact names & telephone numbers are shown on the front page. The Monday League has been running for 26 weeks. This league has introduced new members to the Club & old members out of the closet with 50 members participating to date. With daylight saving & the onset of winter each round will reduce to one single and one doubles between 7.00 - 8.30 pm. If you want to play after this time it can be organised on the night. Please make sure you are at the Club & ready for play at 6.55 pm. |
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RESIGNATIONS |
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Our Constitution requires ALL resignations to be in writing. This can be by Email to LowerHutt@tennismail.com or Post to PO Box 45020, Epuni. |
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SNIPPETS |
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NOTE FROM SPONSORED JUNIOR |
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Thiem Nguyen Hi Everyone I have recently gone to Australia with Robert, & Marcus to play Tennis in the under 14s Teams Event & Individual Champs; it was fun & good experience for our tennis development but the weather was so incredibly hot & humid (35c - 40c) that our new cricketing hero Shane Bond collapsed when bowling early in the Australian innings. In the Teams event we came 6th out of 8 teams which is all right I guess. We managed to beat the 3rd seeded team (NSW) & then had to beat the 5th seed (ACT) to make it into the semis but we lost to them, & lost again in the play-off. Our NZ girls team managed to take out both the Individuals & Teams Events quite easily. In the Individuals event, I lost in the 1st round to
the Australia 2nd seed. In the feed-in Since I had such an fantastic opportunity, I would like to thank the following people: Daniel Baxter, Matthew Bell, Jovana Radovic,Jeremy Pigou, Tu Nguyen, Viktor Zgomba & the rest of the Atomic Tennis Squad for helping me practice regularly & giving me their encouragement to play well. Beside them, a lot of special thanks to my real coach - Gene Ridgeway who has devoted most of his time early in the mornings & trained me to become a good player to play at this standard for the last three seasons; also my sincere gratitudes to John Donaghy (LHTC), Dick Werry (HV Tennis) & Bruce Winter (Mitchell Park) who organised the bike raffle to help me pay for the trip & to all my Tennis Friends (my families, Grandparents, JTWR, friends...)who have given me all their support during my fledgling progress in Tennis. Without these dedications, I probably wouldn't have made it to Australia. THANNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNKS.Thiem Nguyen |
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INTERCLUB |
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A funny thing happened on the way to
Xmas.
Just a note to not be too blase about interclub team points. On this interclub day, one of the opposition (the only player out of 8 who couldn't make it for the morning, meaning we were forced to play afternoon) went to his own courts instead of the agreed venue, Lower Hutt courts. This player eventually turned up some 35 to 55 minutes late (even later than Dick Werry, who made a similar mistake, thinking he was to be at Mitchel Park, not Lower Hutt) While the correct decision would (in hindsight) have been to default the first (mens) set to us, play started as usual and at 3.00pm, after only one set had been completed (& the women had been waiting for an hour), it was decided to continue with the mixed doubles, leaving the mens game "in limbo". At something like 6.30 pm on the hottest day of 2001, the days tennis was adjourned without the second (& 3rd if necessary deciding) set being played, the consensus being that the score on the day would make no difference to the final outcome. This is a warning to those of you who enter into a game coolly calculating exactly what the score needs to be to win/draw etc. As it was, the difference between our team winning that day and our opposition winning, resulted in both Lower Hutt Presidents 2 teams moving up into the next grade. Had we lost that remaining mens set, a third deciding set would have been required, & if that was also lost, the resulting score would have put our team into 3rd place instead of 1st. Well done to Peter Howse, Albie Roberts, Tui Snow and Ros Read for making it count when it mattered. I had the most fun sorting out the bleeding, pleading
phone calls from the opposition team. As for the opposition wanting to
replay the mens game(s) several days later (only a few days before Xmas),
that was a joke. |
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WINTER INTERCLUB |
| You should begin to think about playing winter interclub now. The summer interclub will finish this month & usually the winter competition starts about the end of May. If you want to be in a team send us an Email. |
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CLAUDE ENGLAND |
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I n January I was fortunate in being able to meet & talk with Claude England & his lovely wife who were visiting Lower Hutt from Maryland
USA. Claude is one of Baltimore’s premier tennis pros who has been
ranked No 1 nationally in both the 40’s & 45’s & who
represents the USA in veterans teams events around the world.
You do not have to be tall to be an excellent tennis player - Claude is testimony to that. |
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FACILTIES FUND |
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Mid January the Club received a donation of $1000 from a Club member who prefers to remain anonymous. Because of the amount of enjoyment provided to this member by the Club over the years this was a way of making a contribution that might allow the Club to further improve facilities for members. The Committee have decided to set up a Facilities Fund in which they will accumulate money for major capital projects & this $1000 will be treated as the initial investment for this purpose. Projects to be considered might include the sealing of the car park, or the extension of lighting to courts 7 & 8. Other members who may similarly have enjoyed their association with the Club & with tennis also might like to make to make a donation. Any amount would be very welcome. Because of the huge costs of any development work the Committee also decided to recommend at the next AGM that an additional annual levy of $35 be added to the senior subscriptions & invested in this Facilities Fund. This should raise $5000 each year. This form of fund raising would be similar to that imposed in the schools. If you have any ideas on this subject please let us know now. |
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Thanks to all the competitors in the Junior Club Champs over the weekend of 1st to 3rd March. Some great tennis right from start to finish. There wasn't too much hanging around, but some of you should think about bringing a sandwich or two & some fruit & drink, sometimes there's a hiccup or a game goes on a long time or...… Please take your drink bottles home - I disposed of about 30 over the weekend.
The prize giving will be held in the LHTC clubhouse on April 20th. Parents bring a plate of food sufficient for your family, to share. We will start at 5pm with some fun games on the courts, followed by a bite to eat & the prize giving .
Open Boys Singles Michael Pigou, Runner up Richard Gibbons Plate Garrett Hines Open Girls Singles Amelia Harris, Runner up Hannah Baxter Plate Jaya Grewal Open Boys Doubles Matt Gibbons & Michael Pigou, Runner up Garrett Hines & Eamon Lui, Plate Nick Schembri & Joshua Phillips Open Girls Doubles Amelia Harris & Jovana Mastilovic, Runner up Hannah Baxter & Sophie MacDonald Plate Anna Deal & Sarah Deal Open Mixed Doubles Amelia Harris & Michael Pigou Runner up Sophie & Alex MacDonald Plate Sarah Deal & Garett Hines 12 & Under Boys Singles Matt Gibbons, Runner up Zac Hines Plate Richard West 12 & Under Girls Singles Sarah Deal, Runner up Marianna Bura Plate Hannah Baxter 10 & Under Boys Singles James Twigden, Plate Shalah Ahamet 10 & under Girls Singles Victoria McCaffrey, Runner up Arica Bura |
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SPONSORS |
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Don’t forget our sponsors. They provide us with generous donations & we should try to support them whenever possible. Next time you visit tell them you belong to The Club Forsyth Barr & Co |
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