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TAURANGA LAWN TENNIS CLUB www.taurangalawntennisclub.org.nz

Newsletter – December 2013 Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you all! We hope you have an enjoyable break, but before you put your racquet away here are some key dates for your diary over the holiday period.

SENIORS

SATURDAY CLUB AFTERNOON

The last ‘official’ Saturday club afternoon will be 21st December 2013.

Feel free to come along on the 28th Dec and organise your own games. Club afternoons will resume on 11th January 2014 (please note there will be no club afternoon on 4th January as the courts will be in use for

the Tennis Seniors Tournament).

MIDWEEK LADIES

Wednesday 18th December will be the final club morning for 2013. Starts again Wednesday 15th January 2014.

JUNIORS

Final coaching & club night will be Friday 20th December 2013.

Coaching & club nights start again from Tuesday 4th February 2014.

TENNIS SENIORS WBOP

THURSDAY CLUB MORNING

Thursday 19th December 2013 - final club morning.

Starts again Thursday 2nd January 2014.

TOURNAMENTS

Tennis Seniors WBOP Tournament 3rd – 5th January 2014 (Venue: Tauranga Lawn & Otumoetai Tennis Clubs)

Tennis NZ Seniors National Championships 22nd to 26th January 2014

(Venue: Tasman & Hope Tennis Clubs, Nelson)

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XMAS WISHES FROM OUR PRESIDENT

As the year draws to an end and this magnificent warm weather continues, one cannot help but be drawn towards the tennis courts to thrash it out! It certainly is an easier task than pounding the pavement, which is my normal routine! I use the game for fitness. My playing partners and I just enjoy having a continuous hit. Every ball is in! No pressure and a lot of fun! Whatever reason you use to justify playing the game, just come on down and enjoy what “your” club has to offer. Over this festive season there will be more time and more food to deal with. What a great way to balance the input! If you have family or friends visiting, please feel free to bring them down to utilise your facility. Just remember the token $5 visitors fee is your responsibility to pay. We have tried to maintain this low fee level to encourage people to come so please take advantage of this when you can. Our club is looking great! Your Committee work hard to keep it well maintained and functioning as they do for our website. A big thank you for their efforts! Finally, thank you all for joining and making Tauranga Lawn such a great tennis club. Thank you also to all our sponsors for their support. Without you, we could not exist. Merry Xmas and Happy New Year. Go out and enjoy your tennis! Kevin Tims

CLUB CAPTAINS’ NOTE A special thank you goes to Maureen South who has generously given up her time EVERY week to do the board on Saturday afternoons. She has been ably supported by a small band of volunteers, who have allowed Maureen to play a bit as well, and together they’ve allowed the rest of us to have enjoyable tennis on club afternoons. Thanks to you all; your help is greatly appreciated! Please look out for the note on the Interclub Noticeboard regarding the Post- Xmas Friday Night Twilight Mixed Interclub Competition which starts early February. Any strong Juniors who are interested in playing, please speak to Beth or Luis as soon as possible. Seniors, please put your name on the list and/or contact Peter Disney or Maryanne McGarva. We wish you all the best for the festive season! Peter Disney & Maryanne McGarva

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SENIOR INTERCLUB RESULTS

Tauranga Lawn was well represented across all the divisions in the Pre-Xmas Interclub Competition. Congratulations to all the successful interclub team players. Many enjoyable Friday nights of friendly competition were had across all grades. Results from the Competition are as follows: Premier Combined Men & Women Our Premier team reached the semi-finals – a great effort by all. Mens Friday Night A Grade Division 1 Tauranga Lawn Brucies – FIRST! They beat Homewood Park Katikati A in the final. Congratulations to Tim Hughes, Shaun Dawson, Bruce MacPhail, Andy Mead & Sam Hughes on an awesome season. Tauranga Lawn Maccas – finished in 6th place. Mens Friday Night A Grade Division 2 Tauranga Lawn Brooksies – SECOND! Congratulations to Roger Reid, Todd Morris, Anton Palmer, Victor Malbon, Jackson Currie & Austin Brooks on reaching the final. Mens Friday Night Doubles Tauranga Lawn Buncies – reached the semi-finals. Tauranga Lawn Disney-land – finished in 6th place. Womens Friday Night Doubles Division 1 Tauranga Lawn Atlas – this team were at the top of the table at the conclusion of the round robin, however, they lost to Lynmore in the semi-finals. Tauranga Lawn Rockys – finished in 5th place. Womens Friday Night Doubles Division 2 Tauranga Lawn Kaimais – were unlucky to have missed out on a semi-final berth, finished in 5th place. To all our interclub players – thank you for your efforts, and we look forward to seeing how you all do next year! A BIG thank you to Krish Shekaran for organising the Interclub teams.

CLUB CHAMPIONSHIPS

Please note these dates in your diary and further details will follow:

• Saturday 22nd February – Mixed Doubles (Rain off 23rd February)

• Saturday 15th March – Men’s and Ladies’ Doubles (Rain off 23rd March)

• Saturday 12th April – Singles up to Final (Rain off 13th April)

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MIDWEEK LADIES The Midweek Ladies finished the year with a very enjoyable Christmas lunch held at the clubrooms. This was well attended and we were delighted that Kevin, our President, joined us. I think he enjoyed being the ‘rose among the thorns’. We entertained ourselves playing bingo and the committee served a great lunch. Well done girls! At this point in the year, we are halfway through the Midweek Ladies Interclub season. The results are varied, with our No. 1 team lying second and our No. 2 team coming eighth in the 1st Division. Our 3rd team is somewhere in the middle of their Division (not all results have been posted as I write this). We are all enjoying our tennis and are looking forward to the 2nd half of the season starting in February. We held our bi-annual Blomquists Bakeries tournament in October, which is one of our two main fundraising events of the year. We had an excellent turnout and again our grateful thanks goes to Laurel Mehaffey for organising the draw, score sheets and results. We raised over $600 which was a super effort. The last day of organised tennis for this year is on Wednesday 18th December and we will officially start again on Wednesday 15th January 2014. The committee and I wish you a happy Christmas and a healthy and safe New Year. Helene Paterson THANK YOU TO MIDWEEK LADIES A big thank you to the midweek ladies who have helped the club out with the purchase of a new vacuum cleaner for the clubrooms and they have also contributed $1,000 towards the new shade sail (which is being installed this Wednesday) and plants & planters for the deck. We greatly appreciate your support!

JUNIORS NOTE What a great start to the season. The coaching and club nights have been well attended and the refreshments offered during Friday club night have been very successful in promoting a ‘fun, family atmosphere’. Luis has been training with Paige Hourigan and Toni Katipa who are playing in the National Junior Championships 18u. Jacob Carey is also back from the USA for a short time and is playing in the Boys event. Jacob has also been assisting Luis during Junior coaching sessions – awesome for our Junior players. Jacob was sharing his US Scholarship experience with us and proudly showing us his trophy collection to date – well done Jacob!

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We had our Junior Xmas BBQ on Friday 13th December. Emma & Katie Bartram were awarded a prize for the best decorated racquets – great effort girls! Corban Crowther did an amazing job of decorating his racquet too. We presented Luis with a joint Christmas present from the Junior members to thank him for his huge contribution to our Junior section… a mobile tennis ball trolley! Check out the photos below!

Luis with his new tennis ball trolley! Luis with Jacob Carey

Jacob with his collection of trophies Corban & his decorated racquet

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INTERCLUB The Pre-Xmas Junior Interclub Competition has now finished. We had 11 teams competing overall and it is pleasing to report the following results: Boys Premier – First: TLTC A (Leo Thamm, Andrew Park, Josh Howard, Jackson Currie &

Eric Pfeiffer) Second: TLTC B – Second, but were first going into the Finals weekend!

Division 2 – First (Darcy Adams, Matthew Newman, Harry O’Dea, Cody Verran & Max Loomb) Division 3 – First (Jackson Loomb, Corban Crowther, Connor Adams, Liam Adams & Tommy Mahon) Division 4 – First (William Gourley, Ethan Larsen, Scott Hitchcock & Troy Morrell) Division 5 – Second, but were also first going into the Finals weekend! Girls Premier – First (Julia Newman, Carys Robson, Jemima Parkinson, Tymara Cox & Isla Godsell) Division 2 – Fourth Division 4 – Second Gallaghers Hotshots First Equal – TLTC Blue (Sam Taane, Logan Murray, Jack Quilty, Jamie Robins, Dominique Gordon & Amber Trusler) Fifth – TLTC Green. Congratulations to all our interclub players for a superb season. Thank you to all our team managers for your support during the competition. INTERSCHOOL TENNIS COMPETITIONS Tauranga Lawn Junior members enjoyed success at the recent WBOP InterSchool Tennis Championships. Congratulations to the following players: Secondary Schools (01/11/13) Julia Newman: Winner – Girls Singles Div 1 Jackson Currie & Matthew Newman: Winners – Boys Doubles Div 1 Carys Robson: Winner – Girls Singles Div 1 Plate Intermediate Schools (31/10/13) Imogen Heslop & Phoebe Adler (Gate Pa): Winners – Girls Doubles Lucas Darling: RunnerUp – Boys Singles Championship Plate Scott Walpole & Lucas Tilsley (Otumoetai): RunnersUp – Boys Doubles Primary Schools (30/10/13) Hannah Walpole: Winner – Girls Singles Championship Anna Low & Kyla McClutchie (Otumoetai): Winners – Girls Doubles Plate Tommy Mahon: Winner – Boys Singles Competitive Plate Liam & Connor Adams: Winners – Boys Doubles Championship Michael Dawson & Anaru Neilsford-Jones (Mt): Winners – Boys Doubles Plate Jackson Loomb, Corban Crowther & Emily Mahon reached the semi-finals of the Singles Championship.

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Hannah Walpole, Scott Walpole & Jemima Parkinson went on to the Regional Primary / Intermediate Competition in Hamilton. Hannah finished runner-up and went on to represent Tennis Waikato-Bays at the North Island Primary School Finals Competition in Wellington. Congratulations to you all. COACHING, CLUB NIGHT & INTERCLUB TERM 1, 2014 Mark in your diaries that all tennis coaching for Gallaghers & Interclub resumes the week of 3rd February 2014. The first club night will be Friday 7th February 2014. Junior Interclub will run for 4 weeks starting on 1st March 2014 with a new competition. HOLIDAY COACHING CLINICS Due to the late break-up of Primary and Intermediate Schools, there will be no Pre-Christmas holiday clinic. Luis will be holding a clinic in January with dates to be confirmed. SENIOR INTERCLUB POST-XMAS Any strong Juniors who are interested in playing in the Senior Post-Xmas Friday Night Twilight Mixed Interclub Competition starting in February please speak to Beth or Luis as soon as possible. Have a safe and enjoyable holiday. We look forward to seeing you back on the courts in 2014. To those of you playing in tournaments over the holidays – go hard and have fun! Feliz Navidad! Luis Luna & Beth Hughes

JUNIOR COACHING GRANTS

THANK YOU to THE LION FOUNDATION and the NEW ZEALAND COMMUNITY TRUST We have been very fortunate in securing grants to put towards the costs of junior coaching for the 2013/14 season. We are extremely grateful to The Lion Foundation ($5,000) and the New Zealand Community Trust ($3,000) for their continued support.

SPONSORSHIP For those who want to have a plug for their business and to see their name up in lights, well under floodlights at least, you can have signage made up and placed on the available space around the tennis courts. This is not only a good opportunity for exposure to our club members but also to people from other clubs who visit during tournaments. As part of this deal you are entitled to book courts for any social tennis you may want to plan for team building. For more information please contact Kevin Tims on 07 576 1112.

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BUSINESS HOUSE

The social Business House Monday night competition is starting in Feburary 2014. It usually starts at 5.45pm with one round being played and the rest of the time is recovery on the patio with fluid replacement. So sort it out with your work mates and have at least 5 players who will commit. Price is $180 per team and it usually goes until the end of March. If anyone is interested in playing please contact Kevin Tims on 07 576 1112 or email info@taurangalawntennisclub.org.nz.

TENNIS SENIORS TOURNAMENTS

TENNIS SENIORS JANUARY TOURNAMENT Tauranga Lawn is again hosting the Tennis Seniors WBOP tournament on 3rd, 4th & 5th January 2014. This long weekend of tennis kicks off with Singles on Friday, followed by Men’s and Ladies’ Doubles on Saturday and Mixed Doubles on Sunday. If you are aged 35 or over, and are a member of Tennis Seniors WBOP (or another seniors club) you are eligible to play. If you are not yet a member of tennis seniors the subscription of only $20 is well worth it. Please contact Sylvia Wilmshurst on 0274362926 for further information. TENNIS SENIORS NATIONALS The Tennis Seniors National Championships are being held in Nelson from 22nd – 26th January 2014 inclusive. This is a great opportunity to play in the Nationals. Entry forms have been emailed out and some are available in the clubrooms. For all queries, please contact the Tournament Secretary, Anita Walpole, by email tnzseniors@xtra.co.nz.

FREE COACHING FOR NEW MEMBERS In term 4 this year, we were able to offer five free lessons to new members, and prospective members for a fee. They were a real hit with those who participated, so much so that 12 of the 14 wanted to continue. We weren’t able to accommodate everyone but we did our very best. It is a credit to Luis and his coaching that so many want to continue, and we owe him a HUGE thank you. Are you new to the club? Are your skills a bit rusty? Parents, have you been watching your children play and thinking that it looks likes fun? Well, it is! If you’d like to play but are maybe lacking a bit of confidence or need to refresh your skills, we are hoping to do this again in the new year. If you’re interested, please contact Lynda Fleming on 07 575 0627, or email tltcsecretary@gmail.com. Details are still to be finalised. Come along! You’ll soon be joining in club days and wondering why you waited so long!

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BALL MACHINE The club has a Lobster ball machine available for club members to use. For an annual fee of $25, you will be issued with a key to the ball machine locker and you will be able to use it whenever you like, as long as someone else doesn’t have it out! Inside the locker, you’ll find the ball machine, balls and ball basket which should always stay together, and an instruction manual. The manual can also be found on our website. Peter Disney will give you a quick rundown on how to use it, but it’s pretty straightforward. There is also a (small) list of rules, the highlights of which are:

• use the machine with care • recharge it after every use • don’t use it if the balls get wet • don’t copy or lend your key. If you do copy or lend your key, it won’t be

your key any more ;).

If you are interested in making use of it, please speak to Peter Disney.

LOST PROPERTY As part of our end of year tidy up we have been sorting out the downstairs office. To help us, please check the lost property box in the office to see if you are the owner of any of the many items that we have ‘collected’ over the last few months. I'm sure someone is missing something in there!!

PARKING AT THE CLUB Please be mindful of where you park your car at the club. We have people delivering various supplies to the club and require easy access to the clubhouse so please leave space for them to park close to the deck & wheelchair ramp entrances. Please also park considerately at the back of the courts because it's such a limited and awkward space.

ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY The Committee are currently looking at more environmentally friendly ways of dealing with our rubbish. The first initiative we have put in place is that we will no longer be supplying disposable cups for the water cooler. We hope that members will be supportive of this move.

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We wish all members a great festive season, and look forward to

seeing you in the New Year.

THANK YOU to all our generous sponsors:

AMCAL FAULKNERS PHARMACY * ANZ * BAY ENGINEERS SUPPLIES BAY PHYSIOTHERAPY * BAY RADIOLOGY * BETHLEHEM PHARMACY

BLOMQUISTS BAKERY * BRUMBYS * COONEY LEES MORGAN CROCKFORD REAL ESTATE * EVES REALTY

GARDEN COURT MOTEL * HOBEC * MATUA LIFE CARE METRO PHARMACY * MOUNT WRECKING COMPANY

PAK'N SAVE * PORT PACK & COOL STORAGE TAKARA JAPANESE RESTAURANT * THE LAKES

UROLOGY BOP * WRIGHT SPORTS

Special thanks to COONEY LEES MORGAN – LAWYERS

for sponsorship of this newsletter