There were happy and not-so-happy moments at Thornden Tennis Club this week when David Dunnett chaired the AGM. Here members learned of the progress of adult and junior club teams, looked at the finances and membership of the tennis club and made presentations to worthy players for their performance and achievements during the year.
Awards were presented to mini tennis players Magda Kornijczuk and Jack Wilson; effort Award to Carrick Smith; most improved junior Leon Chatterton; junior girl Katie Vijayanathan; junior boy Luke Watson.
Mark Wellby accepted a trophy on behalf of his team who were the Men’s Winter League Division 2 winners. A most-improved player award went to Ollie James.
The Club is in a strong position, both in terms of membership and in the achievements of its teams during the year. The ladies’ team was promoted after their winter success in Division 2 so Thornden now has both a ladies’ and a men’s team playing in the first division amongst the best teams in the county.
On a sadder note, the chairman announced that two long-standing committee members – coincidentally both called Jackie – were stepping down from their respective roles. Jackie Hill has been involved in the club for over 10 years. She joined the junior committee in 2002 which led to a stint as Junior Club secretary from 2004 -05. Jackie moved on to the role of coaching coordinator 2006-08 and then Junior Team coordinator from 2010-13. During this time she has also given up a vast amount of her own time to attend and organise junior club nights which continue to take place on Friday evenings.
Jackie Snow also stepped down from the role of Secretary, a post she has held for three years. She joined the Junior committee in 2008 taking over the role of coaching coordinator from the first Jackie. Then in 2010 she became club secretary at a time when the club was undergoing some considerable changes – the amalgamation of the junior and adult clubs as well as the building of the new pavilion. Jackie was a driving force in the planning and design of this facility. It’s hard now to imagine how the club managed without the pavilion and so everyone is very grateful for the hard work that Jackie put into this side of the club.
David Dunnett thanked the two Jackies for all of their hard work and Deborah Dunnett presented them with flowers.
In conclusion, the club is going from strength to strength; membership is on the increase; team results improve all the time; junior coaching is developing some great tennis players. On top of all of this, there are holiday tennis camps for juniors, cardio tennis classes for adults and a number of LTA sanctioned tournaments throughout the year.
As the club approaches its 40th anniversary in 2014, things are definitely looking positive.
Report by Helen Allen Rogers