Senior InterClub
The 2009-10 season was very successful for the Burnside Park Tennis Club with five teams leading their grades after the round-robin stage.  Three teams went on to win their finals.  A total of 12 BPTC teams played in the senior InterClub competition, the most of any club in Canterbury.  In the Senior Women's grade our number one team performed well getting third place in the first round and leading their section in the second round before being eliminated in the semi-finals.  The Senior Men also had a good season, being the third best side in Canterbury.  The Division 1 and Division 2 men teams both dominated their grades but unfortunately had narrow losses in the finals.  The Division 2 Women, Division 2 Mixed (3) and Division 4 Mixed (1) teams continued their good form into the finals and all those teams had convincing 5-1 wins against their finals opponents.  Overall it was a much improved showing for the Burnside Park Tennis club compared to the previous year when only one team made the finals and no titles were obtained.  Thanks go to our Head Coach, Gareth Robb, and our Tennis Coordinator, Angela Mitchell for their efforts in organising the InterClub teams.

Club Tournaments
Handicap Ladies, Mens and Mixed tournaments were held in April with good turnouts in all events.  John Campbell and David Goodwin won the Mens event, Nicola Gourlay and Lolita Jellyman were the winners of the Ladies event, and the Mixed Doubles title was won by Denise MacPherson and Ali Bazgard.  Congratulations to all winners.

12 InterClub teams were entered in the following divisions:
Senior Men, Senior Women (2 teams), Division 1 Men, Division 2 Men, Division 2 Women, Division 3 Men, Division 2 Mixed (3 teams) and Division 4 Mixed (2 teams)
For the first time in many years we had 5 teams in Senior InterClub Finals, which was a mighty effort.  These were the results:
Winners:  Division 2 Women, Division 2 Mixed (3), Division 4 Mixed (1) Runners-up:  Division 1 Men, Division 2 Men

We advertised a "BLUE SUPPORTERS DAY" to all members and a number of them came and supported our teams on finals day.  Congratulations to the team captains and team members for their commitment, and in representing BPTC so proudly.  One Senior Women's match was played at our courts this season, next season it is hopeful we may see more matches at home clubs.

Senior Club Championships - Played for this season for the first time in many years on Sunday 2nd May.
Women's Singles Winner:  Pang Suwanaposee Men's Singles Winner:  Richard Hornby

A successful Senior season, thanks to all concerned who assisted me in this, particularly Gareth, who voluntarily selected amidst his busy coaching schedule, the Senior Women's, Senior Men's and Division One teams.

The Mid-Week season opened on Thursday 3rd September and was followed with morning tea with some social members also joining us.  Alistair Chapman from The Frontrunner Bush Inn was unable to attend that Thursday, but the following one he brought along a selection of new season's rackets for us to try and clothing to view.  Mid-Week Summer InterClub started on 2nd September.  This season we were only able to have one team of A Grade players.  With the numbers of players available at the beginning of the season, it was hoped that we would be able to play all the matches that had been booked.  By early in the competition it was apparent that we would struggle for numbers due to injuries, family commitments, overseas travel etc..  Several matches before the Christmas break were forced to be cancelled due to weather or lack of players by the opposition or ourselves.  Results: Won 5, Lost 8, Not Played 8.  The start of the second half of the season, with returning and new players, the results were much improved.  Results: Won 10, Lost 6, Not Played 4.  Mid-Week InterClub bookings for the 2010-2011 season were completed in March.  We will then field one A Grade team next season, and play fewer matches.

The Ray Allison Mixed Doubles were played in November, but again with only 4 entries.  Results:  Winners: Leonie and Brett Thompson - Runners Up:  Sue and Francis Sullivan.  For the second year, the Ladies and Men's Doubles were cancelled due to lack of player availability when the day had to change due to weather.  This situation has been covered by a motion which was carried unanimously at our Annual Mid-Week General Meeting, where it was moved that all trophies be contested where there is a contest i.e. two entries.  A fun Yankee Tournament, where cards were cut to plus or minus points, was played prior to Easter with morning tea after, and with Hot Cross Buns and Easter Eggs as prizes.  A very enjoyable morning.

Christmas lunch was held on the 17th December following play and our social members joined with us.  Peter Rowe organised our traditional choir and they were accompanied by John Campbell on guitar.  Father Christmas aka Gordon Armstrong, with Mother Christmas, aka Judy Fitzgerald, and Rudolph aka Frank Vatananan distributing the presents we had all brought along.  Trophies were presented and John Edginton was able to take our usual food donation to the City Mission.  Thursday 15th April we shared a very happy occasion after the mornings tennis to help Gordon Armstrong celebrate his 80th Birthday.  It was a great tribute to Gordon to see so many present and Social Mid-Week members come along and enjoy the gathering, and the fine food, supplied in the main by Marie with extra plates from players.  Hopefully Gordon will be at the Club for many more seasons to come.  During the year we were saddened by the deaths of two of our Mid-Week men.  Although Ken Cowie had not been playing over the past few seasons, he was remembered fondly at his Funeral in November.  Sadly in the beginning of April we lost another great friend in John Goodliffe.  John was still playing tennis until days before he was admitted to hospital where he later died.  He and his wife Jean had come to our Winter Lunches and the respect members felt for his family was shown by the large attendance at his Funeral.  24th May saw the start of our 10th year of competition of The Frontrunner Bush Inn A Grade Winter Tennis Competition.  A difficult decision was made to ask Yaldhurst not to submit an entry this year as they have won the event for the 5 years - competing and never losing a match.  We again have 8 teams entered.  One team has had a name change, and we welcomed back a team from Halswell together with a second team from Spreydon.  Weather is again effecting Mondays and to date only 1 round of 5 has been played. We are again grateful for Alistair Chapman's continuing sponsorship.  My thanks for the continuing support of the Mid-Week members and a special mention to the sub-committee of Lucille Ibbitt, Rhonda Ding, Peter Rowe, Ray Fright, Judy Fitzgerald, Ellen Harris and Hamish Wilson who share with me in opening and the organising of members on the roster.

We have had a particularly strong turn-out this season, with maximum court utilisation on several days.  The weather was good to us initially, and this contributed to the enthusiasm of players on the day.  Unfortunately our luck has not lasted, and lately we have been faced with abysmal Saturdays, often with no tennis being possible.  Saturday duty is something that comes around for eveyone, once in a while, and to all who have answered the call and come down to the Club and done their "day on the board", my sincere thanks for a job well done.  Recently Gary Sherwood (with active support from Anna Gell) has been trialing the "Double Happy" software package from Top-Spin Systems, and this has proven to be a very acceptable advance on the manual board system.  Once we have all the resources installed, this software will mean that a "day on the board" is no longer a "day of no tennis" for the person on duty, as the computer can order the rounds in a very short time, obviating the need for writing down rounds, and fielding complaints from those who have felt they haven't had the games they deserve.  I have decided to retire from the Saturday Captaincy at the end of the season, and I welcome my replacement Hugh Webber to the role.  I trust he will enjoy it as much as I have.  Thank you all for your cooperation in the past, and I look forward to spending more time at the net in the future.