WELCOME

For the twelfth consecutive year I welcome everyone to tonight’s AGM. I thank you for coming and if you are interested and have a couple of hours available each month, please consider nominating for the Management Committee. All positions are vacant, including mine and I hope that you may be able to help the club

This is the President's Report and as such I will briefly highlight the performance of some of the sections of the club. There are other reports to be given tonight that will cover the club’s performance in more detail.

The Club has again had a very successful year. It interesting to compare the club’s performance over the past few years;

· In 2004/05 season we had the most junior teams ever at the club, 29. 22 teams made the finals for 8 premierships, a magnificent result. We also had 9 senior teams of which 2 made the finals.

· In 2005/06 season, the committee elected not to advertise and rely on “word of mouth” to attract players. We had 28 junior teams and 21 teams made the finals for 2 premierships. We had 8 senior teams of which 4 made the finals for 2 premierships.

· This season we have 25 junior teams, 19 of these teams made the finals and 11 teams have made it through to the Grand Final this coming weekend. We again had 8 senior teams this season and three played in the finals and two remain for this week’s Grand Final. A fantastic result for the players and the club.

On behalf of the players and parents I would like to say thanks to all the volunteers at this club who form the Management Committee, the Junior Sub Committee and the Senior Selection Committee. At times, it has involved a lot of work and the members should be very pleased to have a great group of people willing to give so freely of their time each week.

In addition to competitive Junior and Senior tennis, the club also has social tennis on Monday nights and Tuesday mornings. Monday night tennis has again been coordinated by Dean Lorraine and there has been a regular group of people playing each Monday. Tuesday Ladies has been coordinated by Judy Wortley. Depending on the weather, numbers for both groups have varied each week, but I am sure the coordinators will welcome all new players.

FUTURE IMPROVEMENTS

As I reported last year, the tennis club and Woods Panthers Netball Club are trying to get a 10^th court built at Hewett Reserve. A quote indicated that it would cost over $78,000.00 to build the additional court. It will be located at the northern end of netball courts and this will require excavation and retaining walls, hence the extraordinary cost. We are trying to get Council support for the development and we are struggling to get an agreement to build on the land. Any request for finance is again being met by the Council “crying poor”.

Last year the tennis club approached the netball club, suggesting that the tennis club take over the maintenance and control of the netball courts. Whilst we saw many positives from this change, including giving us control over the courts, the type of surface laid on the courts, the surrounds and generally protecting the money we have invested in the courts to date, the netball club chose to continue to maintain and control the three netball courts for the present.

FINANCES

As Richard Ellis, our Treasurer will tell us later, the Club is financially sound and again we have operated at a significant profit. This year’s profit will be put aside, so we can resurface our courts, renew the fences around the courts or undertake general maintenance, without the need to borrow funds. We will always seek donations and grants to assist in the financing of these projects, but we aim to never have to borrow money. We will hear more from Richard on the finances later.

COACHING

This year the Club again had two coaches and I would like to thank Peter Broughton and Jeff Fisher for all their effort this season. I know that there are many pressures on everyone’s finances and I was pleased when the club was able to substantially subsidise group coaching sessions. Some players respond better to one on one coaching and both coaches were fully booked during the summer season.

As I have said many times over the years, I believe that players who are coached, see an improvement in their game. In turn this increases the enjoyment from the game and surely enjoyment of the sport is why we all are involved. I would also suggest that the coaching may be one reason why there are so many teams doing so well this year.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to thank a number of people who have helped the club this year and made my year as President that bit easier. Many thanks to;

Ruth Baldwin - our Vice President, Canteen Manageress and Secretary from mid 2006;
Jacqui Harrison - who was our Secretary until mid 2006, when she resigned during to pregnancy complications;
Richard Ellis - our Treasurer;
John Collett- our Minute Secretary;
Kaye Lewis - our Junior Teams Coordinator;
Rob Hayes - coordinator of the Junior Boys teams;
Eric Lundborg – coordinator of the Junior Girls teams;
Penny Thornton, Kate Nixon, Jeff Fisher & Paul Nicholas - general committee members;
Ian Furness and Mick Guerin as committee members until they resigned during the year due to increased work pressures;
Kaye Lewis and Paul Nicholas for attending many meetings of the SDTA Junior Committee;
Ian Furness, Chair of the Junior Permit Committee and our representative on the committee, even though he had resigned from our Management Committee; and
Paul Nicholas, the SDTA Senior Recording Secretary.

As you can see we “wear many hats”. I am particularly pleased that once again we have members who are willing to not only help the club operate, but also the Association.

To everyone mentioned I would like to say thank you for your efforts. If I have omitted to name any one, I apologise and say "thank you" to you too. I must also thank their respective families, who have allowed them to put the time and effort into the club for the benefit of all players.

As an aside, just so people don’t think I sit around and do nothing, I advise that I am the Senior Vice President of the SDTA, having been a Vice President for the past 6 years. I am currently the SDTA Minute Secretary and I am chair of the Permit Appeal Committee, a position I have held for 5 of the past 6 years. I also represent the club at all SDTA Senior meetings each month.

That said, I must again say thank you to my wife, Sue and daughters Fleur and Breanna for their support during the past 12 years, whilst I have been President of the Club. It has not always been easy, never being able to use the phone uninterrupted on a Friday night, because I am trying to find players or having to take numerous messages, because I was out at various tennis meetings.

Finally, I would like to encourage players and parents to become involved with the management of the Club. In order to survive we need your help. Please think about how you can help the Club, especially when we ask for volunteers for the General Management Committee or the Social Committee. The future will continue to be an exciting time with the stage 2 expansion of Blackwood Park and the rejuvenation of the Blackwood area.

THANK YOU

Garry Dolman

President

Blackwood Tennis Club Inc

28thMarch 2007