Dear Fishbourne Tennis Club member,
Welcome to the latest regular email update of the exciting things happening at your tennis club.
AUTUMN/WINTER DATES FOR YOUR DIARY
- Sunday 4 October, Petanque in the Park, 2pm-4pm. All boules, instruction and French expletives provided. To be held in large gravel-surfaced car park at the Fishbourne Centre. Sign up in the clubhouse. £3.50 a head to include hot food.
- Sunday 18 October, American Tournament, 9.30am-1pm with soup and a roll to follow. Sign up in the clubhouse – first 26 can take part!
- Sunday 1 November, FTC Online Court Booking system goes live! See below for more.
- Early November (date tbc) Table Tennis Tournament; more details soon, watch out for notice in the clubhouse.
- Saturday 5 December Fishbourne’s Fun Christmas Party, Fishbourne Centre – more details below.
- Saturday 19 December 9-1pm, Festive Dress Tennis, with mulled wine then lunch in the Blue Room provided for all members (and no you don’t have to be in fancy dress).
- Friday 29 January 2016, FTC Quiz Night, Blue Room at the Fishbourne Centre. Just a date for your diary at present, watch out for notice in the clubhouse later.
Book a tennis court with the click of a mouse!
Yes, court booking in Fishbourne is going online. After extensive consultation and trialling, FTC’s chosen system will go live from 1 November, providing members with maximum convenience and ease of use. With the click of a mouse you will be able to see which courts are available and when, and easily book your own court outside club sessions. You will also be able to see at a glance all the club tournaments, coaching classes and other activities on the courts. The service will be part of the Fishbourne Tennis Club website and thus very easy to find. A simple guide to using the service and live demos of how it works are being planned; details soon. Stage one is for members of the club only; stage two will allow public access, but until then non-members will book courts through the Fishbourne Centre as now.
Christmas party all lined up and ready to go!
The date’s in everyone’s diary, the hall’s booked, the dancers are confirmed, the DJ is warming up and the fish and chips are ordered. Fun, fun, fun for everyone is the theme of the evening. And all at a bargain cost of around £15 per head (that’s still to be confirmed though). We are going to kick off with line dancing with the spectacular Dixie Belles dance troupe showing us what to do – just for a laugh you understand. Then it will be supper and a mega raffle with outstanding prizes. After that it’s dance ’til you drop in disco heaven. All members and their friends and family are welcome. Details of how to order and pay for tickets to follow soon. And in case you don’t know: It’s the evening of Saturday 5 December in the big hall at the Fishbourne Centre.
So what does the committee do?
If you have ever wondered that then wonder no more: instead come along to the next meeting and find out for yourself. Any member of the club is welcome to sit in and watch proceedings (only one at a time though). The next meeting is on Tuesday 27 October at 7pm in the Fishbourne Centre. Warning: the last time someone came to watch they ended up joining! If you want to come along speak to any committee member.
2015 Ronnie Ray Championships in the papers
The Chichester Observer found space to report on the club’s successful Finals Day, with all the tournament winners mentioned and photographs that included a shot of our guest of honour Gladys Ray presenting one of the trophies. Loads more photographs from Finals Day and all the winners are on the website, at https://fishbournetennisclub.org.uk
Smashing day out in Southsea
A friendly new tournament between Southsea Tennis Club and FTC got off to a great start on 20 September with 24 players enjoying a sunny afternoon of great mixed doubles tennis. The competition now promises to be a regular fixture between the clubs. Report and pictures are all on the website at https://fishbournetennisclub.org.uk/tea-cakes-and-a-trophy-too/
Calling all singles players
The new singles ladder starts on 1 October. So far it’s for men only but a ladies’ equivalent can be quickly established if there are sufficient numbers. Chaps who have taken part in the ladder before, and those who would like to join, should go to https://www.globaltennisnetwork.com/network/home/1345-fishbourne and follow the instructions – all very easy. Talk to Chris Gosden if any problems.
And finally…
There has been a huge response to the call for players to take part in the Portsmouth and District Winter ‘vets’ league (that’s ladies over 45, men over 50). All the games will take place during the day mid week. But with more than 40 of Fishbourne’s finest so far signed up for it, the small problem of work getting in the way doesn’t seem to be an issue! Quite right too!
