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Presidents Report

Club Officials:

President

Trevor Lee 5793982

VP’s

Graeme Bigham 576 5178

Gary Willis 544 9725

Secretary

Gary Willis 0272044610

Membership Sec.

Heather Johnson 5432982

Treasurer

Janis Smith 5446540

Club Captains

Ken & Marisa Lewis 5780772

Junior Convener

Robyn McCarroll 5434534

Midweek Convener

Geoff Bird 5701168

Club Coach

Peter Blow 021797295

Committee:

Marietta Burgess

Alex Webster

Mike Callard

Grant Loui

Kelly Hubert

Turu Daniel

Richard Van Arendonk

Junior Report 2

Coach’s Report 2

Midweek Report 3

Senior’s Report 3

Whats Up 4

Inside this issue:

September 2016

Spring Edition

Welcome to our latest newsletter.

Extract from my AGM report.

As they say, time flies when you are having

fun and it is hard to believe that this is my 3rd

term as President. I am in a privileged position

as I have a very good committee to work with

and I am extremely happy to report that the

club is in a fine shape.

It’s been a busy year. Although reasonably

quiet at the club, mots things are up to date,

there has been a lot going on with Tennis

Western BOP having been created. It has

taken a lot of meetings and hard work but we

now have a new local association. Some of

you will probably remember the days before

TWBOP came into existence. The up side is

that we now have local control so it is im-

portant that all TWBOP clubs be involved.

If you look around the club I’m sure that you

will agree that the facilities are looking fantas-

tic. A recent winter working bee prior to the

Kiwi Fruit Coast tournament ensured it was

looking its best for our members and guests.

The 50 native trees planted behind the perim-

eter block all will eventually provide additional

wind break when they mature. Many thanks to

the Tauranga City Council for providing them

free of charge.

As with many sporting clubs we face challeng-

es around declining membership and need to

focus on a plan to compete with other sports

and pass times. With our awesome facilities

and committed committee I believe that we

are well positioned to take on this challenge

and grow our club.

Our membership is steady and it is pleasing

to see that our junior ranks are very strong.

Our junior programme is the envy of other

clubs and can only be attributed to our hard

working team of Graeme Bigham, Robyn and

Paul McCarroll, all their workers and our

coach Peter Blow. Thank you all.

The Pa again competed at all levels of local,

regional, national & international levels. It is

pleasing that so many of the Pa’s members

are well represented on the tennis courts.

Our major tournament The Kiwi Fruit Coast

was again an awesome success. 150 players

fought long and hard in the winter conditions

with the best prevailing. Again special thanks

to Mike Callard, Geoff Bird for running the

event and to all members that supported ei-

ther with baking, donations, bar and kitchen

duties, etc. —simply outstanding. An awe-

some team effect that only the Pa can

achieve. Best regards. Trevor

Check out the new updated web

site:

Www.gatepatennisclub.nz

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Whats coming up………..

GPTC Mid Week Smart Marine

Graded Doubles

Tuesday 20th September

Te Puke Seniors W/End

Saturday/Sunday 17-18th Sept.

Contact Lindy Underwood

Ph. 5739789

Taupo Seniors

Saturday/Sunday 8th—9th October

Smith Sports Shoes Junior La-

bour Weekend

Saturday 22nd—Monday 24th October

Papamoa TC.

Club Reports

Juniors

A small gain to our junior membership this year espe-cially those new to tennis in the under 10 age group. As well as working with the schools a number were as a result of word of mouth and an acknowledgement that the Pa is recognized as having a very good junior programme. Club days were a similar format to last year with Thursday club nights based on 2 groups preceded by a group of the more advanced Hot Shots and under 10 players. With the new season about to get underway, we are targeting the local schools and community for the planned Open Days. Our convener, Robyn has pro-

duced excellent flyers that will hopefully encourage new members along. They will be displayed on the web site and Face Book as well as via email. The local pa-per will also advertise the Open Days. The annual Labour week-end tournament now called “The Smith Sports Shoes Junior Tournament” is scheduled on the 22nd—24th October. Entry forms are available at the club rooms as well as email, Face Book and the Tennis NZ web site. Junior Interclub will com-mence Saturday 29th Octo-ber. So if you wish to enter please call myself or Robyn McCarroll or place your

name on the Junior notice board in the Club rooms. Keep on eye on the Junior Notice board as the season gets underway to ensure you don’t miss out on any events, dates or activities and remember there is plenty of great coaching available during the year with our professional coach, Peter Blow. I look forward to an awe-some fun filled season ahead. Cheers Graeme Bigham

Club Coaching Hi All Now as we descend from the colder months you may be thinking about picking up your racket and putting down the hockey

sticks, rugby boots or leaving the couch. So right now is the best time to improve

your tennis. I'll tell you why... 1. The climate is more settled, although it is not as warm as it was the wind has died down and these beautiful clear days we are

having are perfect for tennis. 2. There is not a great deal of tournament tennis going on so it's a good time to prac-tice swings without having to revert back to the tried and tested during inter club and tournaments. Be ambitious with what you want to change and give it a good go. This

brings me to my next point. How to practice Most of us when we go down for a hit do just that, we hit the ball around aimlessly and then maybe we play a set. Like Pele

said "only perfect practice makes perfect". Try and practice specifics, a usual warm up would consist of hitting from the service line then moving back to the full court (it may be a good idea to work on your ball height at

this time) so no balls in the net. Once ground strokes are taken hit volleys to baseline after a few volleys get the base-

liner to hit both volleys and lobs so you

have to work on your movement. Now both players have had volleys its time to hit serves and returns. We quite often don't hit practice serves (especially second serves) and never work on returning serves. These 2 shots are probably some

of the most important. The hit up is now done (15-20 mins) it's time to work on your game. If you are trying to improve a particular shot then isolate it. For example "want to improve my topspin backhand cross-court". Rally the ball with your partner cross-court to targets. The goal is to execute the same swing each time creating the same result. Don't change direction, keep up the concentration. About 5-10 mins should do it. Then you may want

to work on whatever your partner wants. You can even create games that will test your ability to hit the shot consistently. Di-vide the court in half and play the point diagonally or if a target is missed the ball can be played into the full court (use you imagination) or get on the internet, there

are hundreds of drills. OK Now you have worked on all you want-ed to it's time to bring in the serve and re-turn. You make want to play around with the scoring system where you are reward-

ed for good points and penalised for un-

forced errors. There you have it, a perfect practice ses-sion, not too dissimilar to how the pros do

it. Remember, it must be fun but you have to feel like you are better at something at the end of the session than you were at the start. If you need and tips on practice drills

etc. let me know. Yours in tennis Peter Blow To contact Peter, Club Coach email on pblow@vodafone.co.nz or Phone 021 797

295

Check out the Gate Pa

Tennis Club Facebook

page

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Attendances on Wednesday mornings have been very well sup-

ported with between 20 -30 members each week using 7—8

courts. It also appears that Wednesday’s aren’t quite enough for

some members as Mondays and Friday mornings are proving to

be popular with groups turning up to make up their own games.

I recently gauged our members on the reaction after having the

prize giving and dinner at the Citz Club. I am sure that those who

were in attendance had an enjoyable night. More social occasions

are in the wind with a night out at the Cambridge Trots to be orga-

nized later in the year including restaurant dining and transport.

Remember that Mid Week Tennis continues every Wednesday

morning right through the winter months and is open to all Pa

members.

The mid week tournament is progressing well with a naming spon-

sor on board (Smith Sports Shoes) plus court naming right spon-

sors taking up 5 courts to date. Additional sponsorship is being

sort to fill in the blanks. Just a reminder that tournament is on

Tuesday 20th September (if wet the following week 27th Sept)

Entry forms are at the club with only a few spaces left. So get your

name in quick to avoid disappointment.

Cheers Geoff

Geoff being presented with his Life Membership plaque at a

recent Mid-week morning tea by nominee Marisa Lewis

Club Reports

Seniors KIWIFRUIT COAST 2016 Our tournament was completed again 27-28 August attracting 150 players from Northland to Wellington. All draw were full although as per usual last week and even Friday night withdrawals created

me “headaches”. The two days were quite a contrast with the Saturday cold and windy and abit wet and Sunday superb and pristine. Over the two days 151 matches were completed with a total of 2537 games played!!! Well done to the 26 players from the Pa who entered and especially to the most ‘senior’ senior Dave Grant. A number from the Pa made the trip to the prize table-well done. Best Pa performance of the weekend in my opinion was Kevin/Janis win-

ning Div. 2 mixed – (upsetting my seeding in the process!!) A big congratulation goes to the club for our efforts in the kitchen and the legendary meal on the Saturday night which again was well attended and appreciated by players. Thank you to all those who home baked and gave us time in the kitchen. A special thanks to Janis and Marietta for all their planning and prep pre-tournament and Geoff for once again running the Otumoetai

venue. Also greatly appreciated were the donated raffle prizes especial-

ly the painting from Olive. Mike Callard Tournament Controller How often should I replace my racquet strings? More often than you think. The general rule of thumb for re-stringing a racquet throughout the year is to have it restrung as many times as you play in a week. Foe example, if you play say 4 times per week, you should therefore restring your racquet 4 times a year. The strings may not show any signs of wear but putting in a new fresh set of strings helps the racquet perform the way the manufacturer intended as well as gaining more con-trol for your game. Hard hitting aggressive players who put a lot

of spin on the ball should restring more often. Give Peter Blow a call for a competitive price.

Keep checking the notice board for upcoming events and come on up to the club for some tennis and social gathering on Saturday afternoons, even if you have only time for one or two games. Let’s keep the good attendants of our Club Day going. Juniors are most welcome to attend.

Reminders…….

Midweek

Emails: We like to keep in contact with you via emails so please en-

sure we have your correct email address. If it needs updating please

contact Gary: gatepatennisclub@xtra.co.nz.

Gate: Please close the gate behind you as you enter and exit the

facility. Visitors are required to pay their way as well as use of the

lights. New gate access code will be installed just after 20th October.

Lights: We run the club as cost effective as possible. Therefore if a lit

court is in use, please use the next court to share the lights. Makes

sense and saves us all.

Coaching: Peter is still running winter adult training nights (not during

school holidays) on Thursday nights 6-7.30pm $10.00 ea per session.

Check with him first especially if wet. Ph. 021 797 295

Subs: Are due 20th October. Fill out the membership form located in

the club rooms and hand it to Heather. Subs remain the same as last

year.

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Whatz been happening…… heaps!

Winter Working Bee

Another great turn out to prep the facilities in readi-

ness for the Kiwi Fruit Coast Tournament late Au-

gust.

A quick coat of paint on the concrete block bounda-

ry wall, 50 new shelter belt native trees planted

behind the wall; 2 tonne of sand applied to all 8

courts to stop the slipperiness; trimmed the Camer-

on Road hedge, pulled a few weeds and much

more . Many thanks to those that helped. We also

had a few Rotation Fun Club Day events extra to

our normal Saturday Club days. Thanks Ken &

Marisa, Grant & Kylie. Always great fun.

Summer Open Day was held on the 10th Septem-

ber with the annual hit up with our lovely patrons,

Mary and Petra. (Geoff Bird filled in for Petra) All 8

courts were full with a few having to stand down

and rotate due to the large numbers that attended.

Let’s hope that is a good sign for the coming sum-

mer months—bring it on!

Hot Shots

Club coach Pete Blow has again commenced his

outstanding work in getting very young children into

our game. Kids start playing tennis at age 5 with

basic skills using low compression balls hitting it

over a low net as shown here on the photo. (The

bloke in the back wearing a blue shirt with his racket out

sides way IS NOT A 5 YEAR OLD albeit he is of similar

size…….lol. ) No just kidding, that’s Gary Zimmer-

man one of our outstanding members giving assis-

tance to Peter. With out this support, Junior tennis

would only be half of what the club is highly regrad-

ed for. Keep up the good work Team

Kiwi Fruit Coast Tournament Results 2016

MD1

1 Mike Callard ; Peter O'Dea

2 Warren Lovegrove; Chris Patten

3 Steve Brennan; Oliver Petri

4 Quentin Maisey; Larry Seales

MD2

1 Stephen Parkinson; Graeme

Swords

2 Richard Goulding; John Lovett

3 Brian Baty; Shane Devlin

4 Richard Holm; Richard Owen

MD3

1 Allan Dickey; Mike Ross

2 Bruce Hausler; Paul Isaac

3 Neville Stevenson; Bryn Williams

4 Bert Bettridge; Lyndsay Cutler

WD1

1 Sue Jamieson; Lindy Underwood

2 Delwyn Guilford; Helen Litt

3 Carolyn Baty; Annie Hawaikirangi

4 Cassandra Kidd; Maureen South

WD2

1 Deanna Pohatu; Stefanie Steven

2 Serene Albert; Cathy Walker

3 Jeannette Beale; Lyndsay Coffin

4 Sally Shaw; Lara Wild

WD3

1 Maryanne Mcgarva; Bev Nairn

2 Turu Daniels; Jean Managh

3 Margaret Green; Colleen Philip

4 Ngaire Double; Heather Johnson

XD1

1 Kaipara Solomon; Annie Hawai-

kirangi

2 Bruce Macphail; Toni Craig

3 Warren Lovegrove; Sue Jamieson

4 Larry Seales; Lou Reid

XD2

1 Kevin Reiher; Janis Smith

2 Stephen Parkinson; Kim Parkinson

3 Graeme Swords; Nesa Lawson

4 Dave Butler; Dianne Butler

XD3

1 Derek Walker; Cathy Walker

2 Dick Garratt; Desrae Garratt

3 Alby Tipiwai; Jenni Hampshire

4 Brian Baty; Carolyn Baty

XD4

1 Mike Ross; Kay Wynn

2 Paul Isaac; Ngaire Double

3 Grant Louie; Marisa Lewis

4 Dave Grant; Jenny Patterson