Happy New Year STC members! Welcome you back to the club for our exciting 2019 season. For those who haven’t renewed yet please note the registration website is up and running. We had an incredible 2018 season and I want to thank the numerous volunteers and participants who made the events and programs such a success. We have even more activities and events planned for 2019 and will be setting the schedules once we elect our new executive at our upcoming AGM on Sunday, February 3 rd at Cedar Hill Rec Centre. I encourage all members to come out to vote for our new executive; thank our outgoing executive; hear what we have planned so far and provide feedback.
I especially want to thank our long serving treasurer – Jim Howie – for his dedicated and diligent service to the club for 10 years. I’d also want to thank past-presidents Rich Wanbon and Jane Cunnington for their many years of service and leadership they provided as are now stepping down from the board of directors. And, I want to give a big shout out to our outgoing secretary, Diane Brodie and communications director, Sasho Radisavljevic for their hard work over the year. Most of last year’s board are standing for reelection (Yutaka, Petr, Eric, Janet and me) and we have two new members standing for election for Vice-President and Treasurer. As well we are looking to fill Director at large positions. Please contact me if you would be interested in being part of our club executive.
2020 Registration
Our STC 2020 online Membership Registration is now open. Please click on this link.
2018: Year in Review and Plans for 2019
Tennis Lesson Program
Our amazing tennis coach Jared Martin ran a very popular and successful tennis lesson program in 2018. There were over 58 hours of Group lessons amongst 3 different skill levels. Virtually all sessions were fully subscribed or oversubscribed. If you are looking to improve your strokes and overall game the Early Season Super Sessions will begin in April. The 2019 program descriptions and dates will be posted on our website in March along with online registration details.
Change Partner Events
We increased the number of CP events to 5 in 2018. They proved to be very popular so we have 5 events planned for 2019. Please check our website for further details.
Mixed Singles League
Or singles league organizer Petr Havlik ran a fun and competitive singles league once again. Having men and women in one league was a new initiative for 2018. The winter league continues through March followed by the Summer League. To register please go to our website.
Women’s Weekly Tennis
Jane Cunnington and Cathy Nettleton once again did a tremendous job organizing the women’s 2018 weekly tennis sessions on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday mornings. Our organizers will be sending out plans for 2019.
Davis Cup
Was fully subscribed and a similar event will be held in 2019.
Fan Tournament
A new and totally unique event for 2018 which was organized by Petr Havlik. The event was very well received, and a similar event will be held in 2019.
STC Club Tournament
A huge challenge for our tournament organizer as two other Victoria tennis tournaments had unexpectedly been scheduled for the same time period as our club tournament. Notwithstanding these challenges we were still able to run a very well received club tournament which will also take place in 2019.
Weekly Drop Ins
Tuesday and Friday evenings and Saturday and Sunday when other Club events are not occurring. We will expand the drop ins in 2019 to include more social activities.
Junior Program
Through June to the end of July we ran two sessions each Monday for over 20 children separated by age and skill levels into two one hour classes. Long-time member and former preschool teacher, Serene Ford, was our volunteer coach who led the groups through their paces with the assistance of Allison Bullock and several other club members. Serene will return as our coach this summer. Details will be announced on the club website.
Winter Programs
The winter season Sunday mixed doubles program continues with excellent registrations to date and have exceeded available spots. Participants are now registering for the Winter/Spring session will starts January 20th . Petr Havlik continues to organize and run the winter version of the mixed singles league.
Ball machine
Once again a very popular piece of club equipment and which has been newly repaired.
New activities for 2019
In addition to the activities outlined above we plan to run a series of “Compass” type one and two day fast paced tournaments which will provide participants with multiple matches against a variety of opponents at the same skill level. Fun and competitive tennis in a social setting. We also plan to add more drop-in sessions with a fun and social element.
We welcome your comments, complaints and suggestions regarding our existing and planned activities and events. Please send them to Eric Holden at activities-director@saanichtennisclub.org.
Sincerely,
Tim Ebata
President, Saanich Tennis Club