January Newsletter - Coaching Team Update

Dear All,

After a cold start to the new year, we hope that you have all now had your first hit of 2026 during what promises to be an exciting year of tennis.

Our Expanded Coaching Team A warm welcome to our new coaches Jake and George who we hope you will meet at one of more of our social club sessions and/or coaching drop-in sessions. We also welcome back Hamid who is gradually returning to coaching. A special thank you to Alex and Wayne for covering during November and December by taking on many extra sessions.

For early 2026 the coach led social sessions are:

Wednesday Evening Advanced: Hamid
Thursday Evening Intermediate/Advanced: Jake
Saturday Afternoon Int/Adv: Hamid

The Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday morning club socials will continue as previously.

A full coaching complement should allow greater continuity, resilience, and flexibility across junior, adult, and performance programmes. To support leadership and organisation across the programme, Head Coach Alex Heath is currently working towards LTA Level 5. There will be more communications about our tennis programme as the year progresses.

We will also continue to monitor court availability with member experience and court access remaining the priority. Specifically:

Peak-time court use will not change: There will continue to be only one coach working after 6.30pm on weekday evenings, and the same approach will apply on Saturday and Sunday peak times. This means there will be no additional impact on court availability during our busiest 'Peak' periods. This means evening peak time private sessions will be limited to one coach - the coaches have agreed a rota so please follow their guidance as to which evenings they can coach you.
Off-peak coaching will be managed carefully: From Monday to Thursday, there are typically a good number of free courts during off-peak hours. The expanded coaching team should therefore help improve overall court utilisation at quieter times, while still ensuring sufficient availability for members.
Friday mornings will be monitored closely: Fridays tend to be busier, with midweek matches and increased daytime play from members working from home. To manage this carefully, the new coaches will not coach on Friday mornings initially, allowing us to monitor demand and adjust if needed.
Drop in coaching sessions are unchanged although the coach allocated to each session may vary from week to week. The fee for drop coaching sessions remains at £10 and should be paid to the coaches directly. (These fees are not collected by the Club.)

Lastly, if you want to have your own ball practice then you are welcome to borrow a bucket of balls from the clubhouse. However, please don't take balls or equipment from the coaches' shed and be considerate to neighbouring players when practicing.

The Committee will have more news on the clubhouse regeneration, the recent survey, social events, the forthcoming AGM (scheduled for 24th February) and more soon. In the meantime, on behalf of the Committee, we hope you have a great tennis year.

Best wishes, Caroline

15/01/2026