However, the electrician found an issue with one of the underground cables and until this is fixed there will be one light out of action until a cable repair is completed but that should not impact play too much – the remainder are fully operational.  If you find any issue with the new system please get in contact with me.

Mike Butler
Chairman
Sway Lawn Tennis Club

T: 07491 142839
E: butlerMG@hotmail.co.uk

Way back near the beginning of September (Saturday the 9th) finals day dawned dry and cool. By the time play got underway it was warming up and soon became almost unbearably hot and humid. So huge congratulations to the contenders who put on such a marvelous display and survived! The supporters were in awe of your skills and exceptionally well entertained.

Adding to the enjoyment of the day was the new pizza oven supplying freshly cooked pizza. Demand was greater than supply. The traditional tea and cake were also very popular and over £100 was made for Club funds. Thanks to everyone who helped organise the day, played in the competition and those who supplied the refreshments on the day.

The results were:

• Men’s Cup   Andy Mayo beat Will Luckwell 6-2  4-6  10-8
• Ladies Cup  Freyja Gaylard beat Sarah Howes 6-1  6-2
• Men’s Doubles Cup   Andy Mayo & Ross Nelson beat Ed Partridge & Will Luckwell 6-4  7-6
• Ladies Doubles Cup  Biddy Nelson & Tara Hopwood beat Heather Stubbings & Penny Roach Hudson 6-4  6-2
• Mixed    Tara Hopwood & Ross Nelson
• Men’s Plate   Will Ham
• Men’s Doubles Plate   Colin Whitell & Alan Bourne
• Mixed Doubles plate    Nicky Bowler & Mike Butler

Two of the matches were not played due to the semi-finals not being completed in time. And two further matches were conceded due to injury.

Will Luckwell surprised us all and decided to go travelling in Australia. He left the day after Finals day. Mike Reynolds gave Will a set of photos taken on Finals day as a souvenir. There are photos of the day on the website if you’d like to see them. I still need to master how to get some onto the newsletter.

Will was assistant coach to Andy for seven years and Andy has praised him for his dedication and hard work on behalf of the Club and its members. He was a friend and mentor to many, so will very much be missed. But we wish him all the best in the future. His talents will carry him far.

TEAM NEWS

The LTA Summer 2023 Season has finished and the results have been finalised. The Sway teams finished as follows:

• Ladies     1st in Division 4
• Ladies over 60   5th in their Division
• Mixed      6th in Division 5
• Men’s 1   5th in Division 2
• Men’s 2   7th in Division 5

Congratulations to the Ladies team who will be promoted next summer.

The winter 2023 matches have now been arranged and the season started in October, so good luck to all our teams. We are entering a Ladies over 60 team in the Winter league for the first time.

With Will having departed for his trip to Australia the new Men’s 1 captain is Ross Nelson. By way of reminder the other team captains are:

• Ladies   Caro St John
• Ladies over 60   Heather Stubbings
• Mixed   Heather Stubbings
• Men’s 2   Pete Cutler

If you are interested in representing your Club do please get in contact with the team captain.

Have you noticed how nice the artificial grass courts are looking? They have been deep cleaned at a cost of over £900 and look like new.

Have you also noticed that the the floodlights can be temperamental? They switch off but not always back on? This is being investigated and a decision will be made what to do about the problem. When it’s made those of you who use the floodlights may be pleasantly surprised.

Sway Parish Council has published a plan to expand and upgrade the children’s playground. One contentious part of the plan is the siting of a zip wire next to court 4. There are ongoing discussions to find an acceptable solution for all the users of Jubilee Field.

VISITORS FEES

Members are welcome to have visitors come along and play tennis with them. The question has been raised of how the fee of £5 can be paid. Payment should be made directly to the club bank account.

Sort Code: 30-95-32      A/C No: 01294765

Please state VisitorFee in the reference.

The Members Handbook, which is available via the Club website, will also be updated to hold this information.

QUIZ NIGHT

Craig’s Quiz Night is set to take place tomorrow (28 October) in the Village Hall. This is always an enjoyable event and I’m sorry this is rather too late to be useful for anyone who might have considered coming.

SAFEGUARDING

There have been some additions to the Safeguarding Policies.Two attachments should have appeared here but because files transferred to the Clubspark site have proved particularly difficult to send this week I’m going to send them in a separate email.

Helen Bedford

Secretary

Each ticket will be entered into five monthly prize draws.

Please find attached an application form and the full details of the scheme below.

Here is the link: Sway LTC Lottery

Meanwhile, we look forward to receiving your completed application form as soon as possible, and by 30th October at the latest, and wish you the best of luck in the prize draws.

If you have any queries, please do get in touch with Bruce Read.

Email:   bruce-read@tiscali.co.uk

(On behalf of the SLTC Committee)

Thank you for registering or reregistering with Sway Tennis Club. In order to provide a safe and inclusive environment we need to have updated and accurate records of our players.

Everyone who is involved in tennis has a shared responsibility to promote the welfare of all children, young people and adults at risk. If you are concerned about a safeguarding issue then please Say Something If you See Something. Our safeguarding policy (available on the website and notice board) outlines our commitment to protect children and has a clear procedure for dealing with concerns of abuse or poor practice. Safeguarding is regular discussion point in our committee meetings and Angela Smith the Welfare Officer at our club is the first point of contact at the club (angelapmsmith@gmail.com ; 07788287677).  All members will shortly receive a letter from her regarding safeguarding (and related policies) and also our codes of conduct, which show what is required of staff, volunteers and participants, to make our club a successful and respectful place that people enjoy being part of.

We would like to take this opportunity to remind parents that for safeguarding purposes, children below the age of 13 should not be left unsupervised at the tennis court outside of venue sessions such as coaching lessons or tennis camps.

LTA Big Tennis Weekend – Saturday 14^th May 10 am – 1.30pm

It’s back!! Saturday 14^th May.  This is a fun event, designed to encourage new players to pick up a racquet or tempt rusty players back to the game.  Members, family and friends are welcome to come and join in from 10 am.  There will be all kinds of competitions, events and sessions and all ages are welcome to come along.  There will be a BBQ and tea, coffee, squash and cake will be served in the pavilion.  Please note that payment for refreshments is by cash only. As in previous years, we would be very grateful for any offers of help and we will be setting up from 8am.  Each year we ask for donations of cakes, which we sell by the slice.  If you are a keen baker, we would be very grateful if you could bring something along on the day.  To comply with Food Hygiene rules and Health and Safety, we would be grateful if you could include a list of ingredients, so that we can inform members of the public of any allergens.  Please could you avoid using nuts in your baking. If you are able to provide a cake, please contact Lucy Burton (lucy@coastalpursuits.co.uk).  Please also contact Lucy if you are able to help.

100 Club Lottery 2022/23

Each year your committee strives to improve the playing experience via a variety of social/off court  activities. Thanks to your participation, the Club Lottery has made a meaningful contribution to our fund raising in recent years. Our target, as usual, is to sell 100 tickets @£10 each, with 40% allocated to winning tickets, (x1 @£50,x1@£20 x1@£10).  There will be 5 monthly prize draws (Nov.22-March 23).

The plan this year is to raise funds towards the cost of installing new LED lighting. This is an investment we feel is now overdue and one that will directly benefit you as a playing member and  significantly reduce our annual energy costs.

Members should have received an explanatory email and application form.

Wednesday Evening Coaching and Supper Club

While Craig is unable to attend these sessions, please note that the Wednesday Club Evening and Supper Club will not take place.  These are due to resume on 8^th June.

Sunday Club Mornings

There will be home tennis matches on the following dates

12^th June, 26^th June, 10^th July, 7^th August

There is also a Mens 1^st team v Milford match to play which is still to be arranged.

Court number four can be used for the Club Morning on these dates if needed.

Court Cancellations

As a courtesy to other players, please can court bookings be cancelled if you find you are unable to play.

Club Championship

The annual club championships are back! This is a Members only competition with men’s and ladies’ doubles/singles and mixed doubles. The competition will take place from the end of May until early September with each round to be completed by a provided date. If matches are not completed by the provided date, matches will be decided by the toss of a coin. Players are responsible for arranging their own matches. Finals day will be Saturday 3rd September 2022 and participants must be available on this date to enter an event. The Plate tournament will be going ahead meaning if players lose their first-round match, they will enter the plate competition. Finals for the plate competitions will be held on the same day as the main competition. All matches will be a best of 3 sets match with the third set being a first to 10 points tiebreak.

Here is the link for players to sign up for the club championships.

https://clubspark.lta.org.uk/SwayLawnTennisClub/Events/Event/9f3348d0-db98-4a71-be4e-f3b11ef196d0

Players must sign up before 20^th May as this is when the draw will be put up on the noticeboard.

Sway Carnival Teas

Advance notice that as in previous years, we have been asked to provide tea, coffee and refreshments at the Sway Carnival on 2^nd July.  We will again be asking for help through the day and donations of cakes.  More details nearer the time.

Our members have missed being able to enjoy playing tennis on our newly refurbished carpet courts. The introduction of our online court booking system has also proved a success, especially for those who work and/or live in the surrounding area.

Through it’s constitution, Sway Lawn Tennis Club exists to provide facilities for and generally to promote, encourage and facilitate the playing of tennis in the village of Sway and amongst the local community. The tennis club enjoys a well deserved reputation, built up over the past thirty six years, for welcoming players and visitors of all ages and abilities. The Club is affiliated to the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) and as such is subject to its policies and best practice, notably in the areas of safeguarding and health and safety.

The tennis club offers significant potential benefits to Sway residents both in terms of personal all age health and fitness and general well being.

We have an adult membership of approximately 110 and a strong junior section (3-16 years) drawn from a wide range of local primary and secondary schools.  Our qualified coaching staff offer high quality coaching throughout the year in a safe, friendly environment in all aspects of the sport irrespective of age or ability levels. Often, in the case of very young children, this directly involves parents and carers.  Summer camps are held throughout the summer school holidays. Other tennis related fun activities are offered at Easter and half term holidays. The full size hard court is used  mainly as a “practice/training court” for older juniors and adults.

Summary Grid

Sway LTC will be opening its gates from Wednesday 2nd December with court bookings available online again.  Singles, doubles, club mornings and coaching can all take place as prior to 5th November.  Social distancing guidelines must be maintained and hand sanitiser is still available by the entrance to the courts and must be used by all. Full guidance will be released by the LTA shortly.

We hope you all enjoy your return to tennis!