Kia Ora,
This is the first of what will be a regular update to our tennis community from Tennis Canterbury. We would love it if you could circulate this to your members.
We are totally committed to keeping you informed about what is happening. Our interclub competition is underway this past weekend. We have 130 teams, including 10 Premier Teams, in our senior competitions and 238 teams in our juniors. Our role is to run the competitions and results will be kept up-to-date on our website https://tenniscanterbury.org/. The number of entries is a pleasing result and indicates our sport is in good heart.
Annual meeting
There was an excellent turnout of club delegates to the Annual meeting on 30 September. Congratulations to existing board members Glenn Wilson and Lyndsay Dick who were elected to the two vacant positions on the board.
The following recommendations were ratified at the meeting:
The affiliation fees for the 2020/21 season are $6 a member for Tennis Canterbury and $9 a member for Tennis New Zealand. These fees are based on individual club’s membership numbers.
A $7 a member levy was also introduced to go to the Wilding Park Foundation.
Love Tennis
Congratulations to all the clubs who took part in the very successful “Love Tennis” weekend on October 10 and 11. The weather was kind, with clubs taking the opportunity to showcase their facilities in the near perfect conditions.
Hot Shots
Tennis Hot Shots is the national starter tennis programme for New Zealand children. Locally we have initiated a Hot Shots League competition. A very big thank you to Tim Preston from Hagley Te Kura for the work he has put into getting this competition for players aged from five to nine years, off the ground. The league will be a weekly competition in Term 4 with around 20 players taking part in each of the leagues. The aim of this competition is participation and having fun.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Tennis Canterbury Open
The names on the past winners on the trophy for the Tennis Canterbury Open confirm the prestigious status of this event on the national tennis calendar. This event will be held November 13 to 15 (Show Weekend). We expect the event will attract a strong line-up of players from throughout the country.
The semi-finals and finals of the men’s and women’s singles will be played on the Sunday. We are holding a corporate event around the Open, with planning already underway to set up additional seating and corporate tables around the centre court.
It will be a fun-filled day with a celebrity doubles event featuring local champions of our sport – Glenn Wilson, Peter Hampton, Ruth Seeman and Sally Moorfield. Other entertainment is also planned. We will send you more information closer to the date.
Wilding Park will be especially busy at Show weekend with the Primary and Intermediate Schools tournament also being played this weekend. This is a great opportunity for our younger players to see some of the country’s best players in action.
Tennis Canterbury would like to especially thank the sponsors that are making this event possible.
Winchester Electrical
Bethel Buildings
Crombie Lockwood
Lane Neave
Dominator Garage Doors
Wilson
Sharp
Christchurch City Council
New Zealand Community Trust
Lion Foundation
Sport Canterbury
Rata Foundation
Ross Gault Lock & Alarm
Sets in the City
“Sets In The City” is a new initiative by Tennis Canterbury for the 2020-21 season.
The 8-week competition will be a festival of tennis on the Centre Court at Wilding Park. It will be played in November and February. It will be played on Thursday evenings, starting at 6:00pm, and will feature a full contingent of officials (umpire, lines-people and ball children) and some of the best tennis talent in the country. Four players (only), two female and two male, will play off each week. The winning Club/Player (female and male) each week will earn a prize of $1,000. Clubs represented each week will have access to Wilding Park’s Centre Court Corporate Boxes. The café/bar will be open and live music will feature throughout the evening.
To qualify clubs will select their challengers (one male and one female challenger only) and these challengers should have a minimum Matchub grading of S3 for men and S4 for women.
Labour weekend
Wilding Park will host some of the country’s top juniors at the national 12s and 14s teams event over Labour Weekend.
Mid-Canterbury Tennis is also hosting its traditional and very popular tournament during the holiday weekend.
Presidents & Delegates Meeting
Save the date for the next Presidents and Delegates Meeting, scheduled for Wednesday, 18 November at 7:00pm at Wilding Park.
Hope you are all getting plenty of time on-court.
Ngā mihi
Guy Armstrong Chair Tennis Canterbury