For anyone interested in playing Saturday afternoon inter-club competition, please read the letter below from the NSTA.
For further details, please see Shane Braszell at social tennis or the club AGM.
North Suburban Tennis Association Incorporated
www.nsta.asn.au This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
30th May 2012,
Dear Secretary
We are writing to you as a club that strongly participates in the night and daytime mid-week tennis competitions available in Melbourne’s northern suburbs. We are asking you to consider extending your participation into Saturday afternoon competition.
The North Suburban Tennis Association enjoys the membership of 19 tennis clubs from across our region, and offers a good range of competition levels from an A Reserve Men’s singles and doubles grade through to C Grade Mixed, all on Saturday afternoons. We are inviting you to join us now as we are preparing to call for team entries for our Spring competition commencing on 28th July.
Saturday afternoon competition is attractive to players looking for a second match in a week to keep their form at a peak; to younger players recently out of juniors who are looking for a break from their studies and some exercise on the weekends; and those who prefer the natural light and a more relaxed timeslot to playing under lights and the rushing to venues after work involved in night tennis. We have found that generally more players need to be registered in teams on Saturdays, so that some players can participate in every second or even third match, and maintain their other weekend interests and commitments. We encourage you to test the level of interest amongst your competition players in Saturday afternoon. You may find that what the NSTA is offering is exactly what some of your players have been looking for!
Currently, we are keeping our competition grades to just 6 teams each, so that teams being entered are given an appropriate grading and enjoy matches against compatible opponents. Apart from the more conventional men’s and mixed grade competitions where 4 from each side play a total of 6 sets to 6, we think that our A Reserve Men’s Singles and Doubles is a great innovation, with 2 singles and 2 doubles rubbers each to 8. We allow for considerable flexibility in team line-ups with between 2 and 6 players able to compete for their club: if 2, then they play a singles and both doubles and if 6, each plays a singles or doubles. Overall, there is a competition level and format which will suit most players.
As mentioned above, our next season commences on the 28th of July. There will be 15 home and away matches for mixed doubles grades with each team playing the others 3 times. To accommodate those playing Tennis Victoria Pennant, the men’s grades will commence on the 1st of September with 10 home and away games. The finals for all grades will be completed on the 1st of December, well before the Christmas rush. Of course, there will be no play on the AFL Grand Final and Melbourne Cup weekends. Team entries will close around the end of June.
We hope that this letter has sparked your interest in looking again at Saturday afternoon tennis. Please check out our website at www.nsta.asn.au and talk about the idea amongst your players. Members of the NSTA Match and Permit Committee would be very happy to attend a meeting of your club committee or a gathering of interested players to discuss the possibility of your participation further.
Regards
Aaron Sharpe
Match and Permit Chairman
