Last year I reported that a we were taking, by Sheen standards, the revolutionary step of replacing our much tried and tested court booking system with the facility to book by telephone! Well, as I’m sure you are well aware the revolution has gathered momentum and we now have an Internet based system in place which became operational on 1st August.
By the responses received, this change is widely appreciated and you are all coping with it. A few words of warning. If you don’t receive a confirmation email almost immediately you should assume your booking has not been accepted. Also, the system works on a 24 hour clock so if you do book a court for 7-15 make sure your opponent is an early riser!
Courts can be booked 3 weeks in advance.
The success of this new system is very largely attributable to Wally Howe. Wally is not a squash member but is the men’s senior captain.
Subscriptions are being increased slightly by a percentage consistent with that applied earlier this year to the tennis subs. The new subscriptions are:
Full: £168 (was £165)
Restricted: £122 (was £120) (no play after 5.30pm Monday - Friday)
Junior: £25 no change
Student-Home: £60 no change
Student-Away: £40 no change
Life Membership: Quotes on request
These rates continue to offer excellent value money but don’t forget that you will receive discounts on these rates if other members of you family are members of the club or if you are also a tennis member.
Court Maintenance
The courts are scheduled to have their annual maintenance on the 15th and 16th September. You should assume the courts will be unavailable on both days though they should be available for the Saturday morning open session.
The court floors will be re-sanded and marked in addition to wall cleaning. Any defective boards that have been identified in advance will also be replaced later this week. You can help with this by marking any defective boards with the wax crayon located in the plastic folder hanging in the squash court lobby. There are also some simple plans on which you can additionally show the location of dodgy boards.
Competitions
Last year’s formula for the annual tournament was continued this year with the competition starting after the May Day holiday and Finals’ Night on a Friday. The result was a record turn out to watch and enjoy supper in the bar afterwards. The tournament ran very smoothly thanks to Roger Jones’s efficient organisation and encouragingly very few games were not played. Some new faces, or names will be on the honours board this year which also a good sign.
The results were:
Mens Mark Cullinton bt Matt Fox
Ladies Kate Lloyd bt Jane Rogerson
Handicap Mark Wright bt Greg Budden
Open Plate Mike Harris bt Marc Jones
Handicap Plate Mark Cullington bt Juan Ramlill
The successful combination of Paul Wright, captain and his deputy, Oliver Jones, is to continue in 2011-12 as both have agreed to continue for another year.
Matches. Our fixture list is drawn up by Brian Thomlinson and we have a full programme with some new teams this year. Rumour has it that the very popular match against the wine trade is back on the list.
Playing for the team is not restricted to the top few players. Our policy is to make playing for the club as inclusive as possible. We play friendly games where the respective skippers try to match the team selection to ensure even games. If you would like to play in the team please let Paul Wright ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ) or any committee member know. Members who have recently joined please note.
The club web site http://www.sheentennisquash.co.uk/ has been further developed and enhanced this year thanks to Wally Howe. There are plans for more aspects of the club to make use of the web including payments, discussion forums in addition to court booking. Membership records are now going electronic which will greatly simplify communications with members.
An application of the web which has been trialled is the recording of league results. However, the general consensus seems to be that members like the tried and tested methods of paper and pen. The principal argument in favour of this method is that members like to have the results on display in the court lobby and the ease of writing down the result when still fresh in the memory. A discussion forum on this topic is planned for the web site so look out for this if you want to make your views known to the committee.
I am very pleased to report that Mark Brody has agreed to continue as the league organiser for another year. This is a vital role in a squash club and Mark deserves our fullest thanks. His job is made much easier if you play your games.
For members, especially new members, who have not joined the leagues, I strongly recommend that you do. If you’re uncertain about which league to go in then coming along on to the Saturday morning open session is a good way to judge your standard. Alternatively, ask a committee member for a game to hep judge your standard.
Earlier in the year, Roshan Mawar took over as club squash coach. Roshan is available for one to one coaching and can be contacted on 07714 256841. Many of you will already have met Roshan at the very popular squad coaching sessions which started during the summer. We plan to keep running these during the forthcoming season.
A visit from Willie Boon is now an established feature in the Sheen Squash calendar. Willie, an ex racquets world champion and no mean squash player, delights in putting us all to the metaphorical sword. This involves taking on around 15 of Sheen’s finest and by dint of his skill and superior fitness running us ragged around the court so that we feel grateful if we manage more than a few points each. Willie visited us in late January and after the on court thrashings, continued to entertain us in the bar with his rendition of Hilaire Beloc’s “ The boy who threw stones”.
Membership numbers have noticeably increased this year in most categories. Since the most common way for people to find out about the club is via the Web, then I’m sure our our new web site has been a significant factor. There’s still plenty of scope to accommodate new members so keep spreading the word.
| Membership class | 2010 | 2011 |
| Full | 68 | 78 |
| Juniors | 15 | 19 |
| Student | 9 | 7 |
| Life | 8 | 8 |
| Country | 0 | 3 |
| Restricted | 4 | 10 |
| 5-year | 0 | 1 |
| 3-year | 2 | 2 |
| Total Members | 107 | 128 |
If your racquet is in need of a re-string, then a very efficient and reasonably priced service is provided by Tony Scarlett. Just leave your racquet with your name and instructions behind the bar.
Saturday morning round robins take place every Saturday between 11am and 1pm. These are a great opportunity if you’re new to the club to meet other members. All standards are welcome. A charge of £3 is made to cover light fees.Keep fitSessions take place early every Tuesday evening. The timing varies so check the court bookings or Andrew Tappin who leads on this. The regulars have been joined by some new recruits this year but I don’t think there’s a waiting list yet. The exertions are rewarded with drinks in the bar afterwards.
This takes place early on Friday evenings under the guidance of Jan Absolon. For more details ring Jan on 020 8878 8008 or Robin Jones 020 8878 2991.
After several years of valuable contributions, Mark Kaminski and Mark Cullington have decided to resign from the squash committee. I would like to thank them both for all that they have done for the club. I am therefore pleased to report two new additions; Mark Wright has recently agreed to join the committee thereby ensuring that the committee maintains its quota of “Marks”, and Kate Lloyd replacing Jane Rogerson who resigned earlier in the year.
After nearly 30 years as club manager, Christine Beynon has decided to take a much deserved retirement. I am sure you will al join with me in wishing Christine a long and happy retirement. Alex Rooney has stepped into the role and now has a firm grasp of the reins. She will be a strong challenger when the post is advertised later this year. She has already made a number of changes to the way the club is run such as her weekly newsletters but I’m sure you can expect more.Wishing you all an enjoyable squash season.Nick Fenton
Squash Section Chairman