No, sorry, no refunds just because the courts were under a foot of snow. We’ve discussed the practicality of under-court heating but decided that if you can’t get down Coldharbour Road or onto the parking area there’s little point.
Generally though members have been playing in pretty adverse conditions. Until the snow arrived a group of (fool) hardy men shepherded by Eddie Valdus were turning out regularly on a Monday morning and Penny Cunningham’s Club sessions have been running successfully on Saturday mornings.
Membership is stable or slightly up on a year ago as are the club’s finances. Our new secretary believed us when we said it was part of her duties to host the Christmas Party – so many thanks to Val and the rest of the Mortimer family for their kind hospitality. The juniors under Amanda Petch and coach Tony Cherry go from strength to strength – details of their exploits and achievements are posted regularly on the website.
The online court booking system seems to have been a great success and consideration is now being given to extending it to both courts and doing away with the diary altogether. A committee member would be designated to make bookings for those unable to get online.
The possibility of floodlights has proved contentions among a (very) few local residents, After the initial planning application was turned down we held a public meeting to demonstrate a different, lower impact, retractable system. However the sheer amount of work in preparing a new planning submission is proving daunting and the AGM will consider whether we might commission planning consultants to assist us.
As part of our wish to be more involved with our immediate neighbours the AGM will also consider discounted or free membership for juniors living in Iden Green itself, and free use of the courts from time to time by the nursery and primary schools.
We are also actively planning improvements and a small extension to the car parking area to keep our vehicles off our neighbours’ verges.
This is my last session as chairman. Whoever originally propagated the rule of mandatory retirement after 3 years should be given a medal! But I want to thank sincerely all those on the committee and elsewhere who have given me so much help and support. Roll on spring or at least slightly better playing conditions. I want to get back on court.
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