Grafton Tennis and Squash Club
70A Thornton Road • London • SW12 0LF
Tel: 020 8673 2891
Greetings Graftonites,
Days are longer, and so too is the newsletter! Whether you play squash, tennis, neither or both, there's absolutely something for you in this week's edition,so do read on:
American Doubles & After-Party
Silly Sci-Fi Film Night
Tennis Box Leagues News
Easter Half-Term Junior Squash
Tennis Summer Champs Finals
Term-time Junior Squash
Squash Ladies' Closed Results
Tennis Coaching News
Grafton Men's Closed
Court Booking Rules
Dates for your Diary
WhatsApp Groups
Keep in Touch
***If you want to put an announcement in next Monday’s broadcast, the only way to do so is by sending your broadcast to graftoncomms@gmail.com by Friday 6pm.***
AMERICAN DOUBLES 2023
Registration now open for this year’s American Doubles Tennis Tournament.
A fun-packed day of doubles where participants change opponents after each match, collecting points for each game won. Once the tennis is over the first After Party of the year starts.
Peak-time members can register now*on MyCourts/Tournaments - spaces limited:
https://grafton.mycourts.co.uk/tournament_details.asp?tid=5221
Grafton Film Night - Sun 2 Apr @ 630pm
Come join us and watch Flash Gordon - a family-friendly silly sci-fi! Director Mike Hodges' Flash Gordon is a wonderfully executed piece of science fiction cinema. Whether laughing with this film, or at it, you'll have a blast!
If that wasn't enough, popcorn and hotdogs will be served-- see you there!
TENNIS BOX LEAGUE NEWS
Thanks to all the participants in the Box Leagues round we’ve just finished. Some epic matches from group 1 to group 24!
The next box leagues will start on 7 April, in time for you to get some tennis in over the Easter holidays.
If you want to withdraw from the leagues, please do so asap by logging on to
Competitions.lta.org.uk
Scroll to the bottom of the page and click Grafton Box Leagues
Click “My Entry” in the top right and then choose “Withdraw”
If you have not been in the box leagues before and would like to join the next round, log on to:
https://competitions.lta.org.uk/find/ladder?page=1&Q=grafton
Then pick the “New Entrants League” and click enter.
*** DO NOT pick Grafton Box League as your option on this page***
LAST PLACES FOR THE JUNIOR SQUASH EASTER HALF-TERM COURSE
Book now on our intensive Easter Half-term squash programme with Elite Level 3 Head Squash Coach, Marco. This will run for 3 hours per day during from 3-7 April. Aimed at teaching the fundamentals in squash, but also providing fitness, agility, balance, and coordination development coupled with drills, tactical training, match play and analysis.
The Squash Easter Break is a great way to develop young squash players in order to outplay, outlast and outperform in squash, undoubtedly one of the most challenging sports there is!
The programme is appropriate for players of all skills and ages. Players will be divided by their experience and also main areas of focus, aiming to strengthen their skills.
The sessions will run as follow:
Monday 3 – Friday 7 April
9.00 - 12.00pm | 7 - 17 yrs
Price | Junior Member £150 | Non-Member £ 175 | 5 days
Price per day | £ 35
The event is limited to 9 children per session (3 per court) therefore book early to avoid disappointment. Sessions will be tailored to those with or without experience.
To book please contact Marco directly by no later than Saturday 1st April:
E: 2dotsquash@gmail.com | M: 07593437063
Or
Sign up here: https://forms.gle/zmoGn27TECSM5ky59
SUMMER CHAMPS FINAL & SUMMER PARTY (Sat 1 July)
It'll soon be Summer, and time to watch the Summer Champs Finals during the day, followed by the fun Great Grafton Summer Party! This is our premier club tennis tournament, so we hope all of you will be make a point of supporting it. The Summer Party is also one of our premier social events, so keep your eyes open for further details.
JUNIOR SQUASH 2023 SUMMER TERM COURSES!
The successful junior squash programmes for the Summer Term (13 weeks) are almost back! Sessions will run weekly on Saturdays afternoons. The courses will be for children aged 7-18. No experience is required, and rackets and balls will be provided. The sessions will be about the FUN-damentals…having fun is a must but also developing hand-eye co-ordination, agility, balance, speed and squash technique.
All sessions will be run by our Squash Head Coach Marco, who has several years of experience coaching junior squash players.
For more information and to sign your kids up, please get in touch with Marco through Whatsapp to 07593437063 or email 2dotsquash@gmail.com for more details or alternatively click in the following link: https://forms.gle/DP22ZfkQZ9rwKoFg8
LADIES' CLOSED – BRIDGET GRAAF IS OUR NEW CHAMPION!
Seven of our brave ladies squashies battled to see one of their names included on the Club Honours Board as the Champion of this year’s edition of the “Ladies Closed”! The competition was challenging and intense, and every participant gave their best to emerge victorious.
Georgina Colbourne and Bridget Graaf managed to get through to the Final but Bridget stood out from the rest and emerged as the winner with a clear 3-0 (15-4 / 15-8 / 15-5) victory over Georgie. Despite the decisive score, spectators enjoyed a competitive match, with great rallies and with an excellent level of fair play as was the case throughout the entire tournament. In the end Bridget lifted the cup in the award ceremony held on the Clubhouse.
A word of appreciation to all the other players who participated in the tournament. Their passion for the sport inspires others to take up the game and work hard towards achieving their own goals.
TENNIS COACHING UPDATE
Adult Group Coaching
Spaces available for the upcoming term (17th April - 22nd July). Courses are split into a 6 and 7-week block. The two groups available are improvers (roughly for players between box leagues 18-24) and intermediates (18-12).
Junior After School/Saturday Programme
Group classes for juniors 4+ after the Easter break (17th-22nd July) are now live to book! Please visit
https://graftontenniscentre.co.uk/adult%2Fjunior-bookings
Easter holidays Camps
Camps will run from the 3rd-14th April and will incorporate different sports, but mainly tennis. Bookings can be made daily or for the week at a discounted price.
7 and unders 9am-12pm
8 and overs 9am-3pm
https://graftontenniscentre.co.uk/holiday-camps
GRAFTON MEN'S CLOSED IS BACK
The much-awaited Grafton Men's Closed Squash Competition is set to make a comeback in May, and we can't wait to witness the action.
Tournament entries are open until 30 April, and entries are limited. We urge interested players to register as soon as possible and help support one of the major events at our Club.
Link to register: https://grafton.mycourts.co.uk/tournament_details.asp?tid=5111
COURT BOOKING RULES - TENNIS AND SQUASH (Updated!)
In the spirit of Grafton, we ask everyone to be mindful of our booking rules which are designed to help everyone have a fair chance of playing, and to be able to play safely.
CANCELLING YOUR MATCH = CANCELLING YOUR COURT
As soon as you decide to cancel your match or realise you will not be able to play - please cancel your court. This is particularly important for non-daylight hours tennis bookings, when floodlights activate automatically.
If you have to cancel a court, please try to do so as early as possible. If it has to be a last-minute cancellation, then please put a message on The Grafton Chronicle or Squash WhatsApp chat, so someone else can make the most of that court.
OPPONENTS AND GUESTS:
All bookings, including last minute bookings, need to comply with the below rules:
Please state ALL your opponents on your bookings. If practising on your own please select “Serving Practice" or “Solo Practice" as your "opponent". Note these bookings are only permitted during off-peak hours.
Squash and tennis guests are only permitted during off-peak hours.
Bookings with no opponents selected within 72hrs in advance of play will be cancelled.
HOURS OF PLAY
Please bear in mind the below hours:
WEEKDAYS:
08:00-16:00 Off Peak Tennis
16:00-22:00 Peak Tennis
08:00-17:30 Off Peak Squash
17:30-21:15 Peak Squash
WEEKENDS:
08:00-16:00 Peak Tennis
16:00-22:00 Off Peak Tennis
08:30-14:30 Peak Squash
14:30-23:00 Off Peak Squash
PEAK AND OFF- PEAK TENNIS ACTIVITIES
The below is particularly pertinent to off-peak tennis members, so please note:
SOCIAL TENNIS
Wednesday: Only Peak Tennis members may attend
Sunday: Peak and Off Peak Tennis members may attend
TENNIS TEAM PRACTICES
Monday / Tuesday / Friday / Weekends : Only Peak Tennis members may attend
Leagues and Tournaments: Only Peak Tennis members may participate.
If you believe your tennis booking warrants an exception, or is an unusual booking, then please contact graftoncomms@gmail.com in plenty of time to further discuss. Questions? Please email graftoncomms@gmail.com well in advance of your court booking to avoid disappointment.
The Grafton Notice Board - The access point for our WhatsApp community
All club wide messages are posted here. All members are encouraged to join via the following link : https://chat.whatsapp.com/LBAZF9HtBZm6xxFZn79puI
From here you can check out all other groups within the community (some listed below) and join those of interest…just tap the speaker icon !
Grafton Tennis Central: All things tennis - coaching, league updates, social events, court cancellations and more : https://chat.whatsapp.com/EEaIfaRfxqe80qNB9CRC3I
Grafton Squash Central: All things squash - coaching, league updates, social events, court cancellations and more : https://chat.whatsapp.com/HrPF3cRmdktBgjnpD3pjoP
The Grafton Club House: Lost property, local information, social chat, sports events, things to sell and other miscellaneous topics that may apply to a wide group of members : https://chat.whatsapp.com/LBAZF9HtBZm6xxFZn79puI
Contact the committee: committee@graftontennisandsquash.com
Committee Members: https://www.graftontennisandsquash.com/home/about-us/
27/03/2023
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