Our Club - Nov 2024

December 03, 2024

30 September is the end of our financial year and this is a great time to reflect on everything we have achieved, and the things we have to look forward to! Many thanks to the members who attended our AGM in November - your interest and participation makes a great deal of difference to the club. And a note for everyone - we'll be celebrating Christmas at BTC on Saturday 21 December - read on to find out more...

Emma Pattison
Club Chair

our club in 2024

2024 has been another great year for Backwell Tennis Club with many things to be proud of! Our finances continue to be healthy, despite the pressures of cost inflation, and we have successfully completed the latest cycle of major capital spend by investing significantly in our court surfaces and floodlights..

We now have fabulous facilities with five high-quality artificial turf courts and our carbon-saving, cost-saving LED floodlights. A huge thank you to John Tate for his work in the re-surfacing of courts 1&2 during 2024. Our knees will be forever grateful!

Other highlights of 2024

We held our first Open Day for many years (and a subsequent Open Evening) with amazing support from the Backwell and surrounding communities. 150+ people turned out on a warm day in April and the vibe at the club was amazing. A big thanks to the coaching team and volunteers for making the day such a success.

Our coaching team re-established our relationship with Ravenswood school and the Club hosted two terms worth of coaching for children with a wide range of additional needs. The joy in these sessions was infectious! This is an extremely worthwhile use of our courts and we hope to create more relationships with groups in the community who may not have access to tennis but who would benefit from its special powers. A big thanks to the LTA and to the Happy Lane Fund for providing funding for these sessions, and to Tom Fowler for all his hard work in setting everything up

We used a Members Survey to get feedback from you on what you like about the club and how you think it could be improved. You helped us describe what makes the club special and gave ideas that form the basis of our club development planning (more on this later). Big thanks to those who completed the survey...and even if you didnt, we're always open to new ideas and to volunteers to make them happen!

We're hugely proud of our coaching programme which is recognised in Avon for its' size of footprint and quality of team. As well as the regular term-time programme giving coaching to 220 adults and children, the team has grown the LTA Youth Girls programme with 40 girls trying tennis for the first time, and has delivered outreach coaching in schools to over 60 children each term. A huge shout-out to Ben Tilling, Tom Fowler, Sam Wareham-Kiladejo, Andy Gray and Katie Barry for all their hard work, skill and passion.

We've stepped up our marketing of the club by launching a new range of BTC Clothing and creating a stronger presence via our website and on social media. This has created a steady stream of enquiries from people in interested in membership and/or coaching, and we're very grateful to Ben Kirkley for the amazing work he does in keeping our website up to date and looking great..

We're very happy to have raised money for charities throughout the past year. The coaching teams grew facial hair raising awareness of men's mental health for Movember; a Christmas tournament was held in support of The Trussell Trust (ending hunger together); and our league ladies hosted an end-of-season 'pink' afternoon tea in aid of Breast Cancer Now. All extremely worthwhile causes and we're very happy to have made a contribution. Kudos to all who organised and who got involved.

We refreshed the format of our annual Club Tournament, introducing an American Doubles competition to promote participation, and squeezing our finals into a single day. A bit frantic at times, but huge fun and 100+ of our members and their families thoroughly enjoyed the weekend. A big thanks to the organising committee of Nick Bloom, Neil Bewley and Zoe Fearnley for their hard work.

We continue to field junior teams in the Avon leagues from ages 11U through to 18U. Multiple mens and ladies teams have competed in both the North Somerset and Avon leagues - involving 56 members across 128 matches. Results have been mixed (!) but everyone has enjoyed their tennis and it's been great to welcome new joiners into league play. A big thank you to our parent captains who manage our junior teams, and to our Mens and Ladies captains for all their organising, cajoing and re-organising!!

Nothing happens in our Club without volunteers and so, in addition to the above, I also wanted to thank:

The small team of members who turn-out every week to help with maintainance around the club, including keeping the courts in tip-top condition
The members who help run club sessions, and particularly the winter rotas
Everyone who helps out at our set-piece events, whether that's our cake makers, or furniture movers, or clearer uppers
And of course, our Committee who work tirelessly on all manner of things, big and small, to help the day to day operation of the Club as well as planning for the future. Massive thanks to Dawn Dickinson, Steve Stephens, Sarah Cooper, John Lurie, Paul Jackson, John Tate, Zoe Fearnley, Pippa Barry and Paul Flintoff

looking forward to 2025

We have used your inputs in the survey to help shape our planning for 2025, and we're looking forward to your help in further enhancing our Club. Priorities for 2025 include:

Refurbishing our Clubhouse in advance of the next spring / summer season...working parties will be required so find your paintbrushes now!!

Re-freshing our Club play programme to increase participation and provide even more options for members to enjoy their tennis

Focusing on Junior Pathways to help our youngsters develop and enjoy their tennis

Finding new ways to engage and interact with members - helping us enlist volunteers and keep the club thriving. Make sure you do your bit...!

the fran collins cup

The cup is awarded every year to someone who should be celebrated for their contribution to the club and our tennis community.

This year we wanted to recognise someone who invests their own time regularly helping to keep our courts in amazing shape. Almost every week you can see her whizzing up and down (actually not that whizzy - she's very careful!) on the club tractor, brushing the sand on the courts and helping with other club maintenance. She was the first to volunteer for the tractor job and in fact, is often the first to volunteer for whatever we need in the club. Always a warm and friendly face, always considerate of others, and a joy to be on court with.

Most members of the club will never see the work that she puts in to help them enjoy their tennis and so this is why…this year…in recognition of her being an amazing asset for the club…we were really delighted to award the Fran Collins Cup to Kathryn Smith.

Kathryn - thank you so much for everything - you are a star!

christmas at btc

We're encouraging all our members to drop into the club on Saturday 21 December for a spot of tennis, a slice of something Christmassy and a glass of mulled wine! There will be a junior tournament in the morning from 11am to 1pm and then an opportunity for all members to join club play from 1pm.

During the day we'll be raising money for Alzheimer's Research UK in support of Tom Jackson (valued member, player and coach at BTC) who is running the London Marathon in April 2025 in memory of his Nanna. You can donate to Tom's fundraising page here

Tom will be running the junior event and will also be available for coaching advice and hitting practice during club play so let's make use of him! We would love you to wear orange on the day in support of the charity...but normal Christmas attire is good too!

If you are coming along and can bring a Christmassy snack (sweet or savoury) then that would be much appreciated! Hope to see you there...

drop shots

Our Backwell Tennis Club Clothing is available to buy on-line in the BTC Shop in a new range of colours and styles...! Wear our club logo with pride!

Backwell Tennis Club gets a mention in the winter edition of the North Smerset Life Magazine (page 24) recognising the grant we received from North Somerset Council to help in the upgrade of our floodlights

A great way to keep warm in the cold weather, Cardio Tennis is available as a 'pay and play' option on Friday lunchtimes 1-2pm!

The Avon Tennis LTA Awards have opened and anyone can make a nomination in a range of categories celebrating our club, our coaches or our volunteers...find out more at Avon Tennis Awards