Member of the Year 2016

The Member of the Year Award is for someone who has made a significant positive impact on the club during the year (and we all know there can be other types of impact) and the nominations received are for various reasons but all these people have contributed in some way to the success of the club over the past year. I would therefore like to mention their names as they are all worthy of a round of applause.

Firstly we have our incredible Jill Stanton who, now in her 80’s, is a true inspiration to us all in her determination to keep playing both socially and competitively, and in her loyalty to the club as President by patiently watching many hours of finals and presenting trophies, in all weathers.

Then we have our coach Matt, who has been so popular with both adults and juniors alike and who will be sorely missed, (as will Anda who has made incredible progress with her tennis in such a short space of time (possible helped by her husband’s coaching skills).

Also Jim Kitchen who does an amazing job in keeping the courts and grounds in such good condition despite suffering a serious illness this year which thankfully now seems to be under control

Then there’s Kevin Uwins who we all know does a fantastic job on the website and in generally ensuring that everyone is informed of what’s going on at the club – and which would be in a complete shambles without him.

Another nominee is Kerry Laws who, despite injury during the whole of this year has remained a socially active member, attending many of the social events, and being the main organiser of 3 fun tournaments to encourage improvers to get involved and gain confidence. She’s a great ambassador for the improvers and it’s sad that she can’t play but great that she still has such enthusiasm for the club.

Also Janet who puts in an unbelievable amount of work in sorting out all the membership forms and fees and bringing in the money by demands that no-one can ignore. It’s a very difficult job to keep track of all the fees and it needs a firm hand like hers to chase up late payers!

Then there’s Len Claremont – and I think I’m the only one who knows how many hours he puts in behind the scenes liaising between WR Sports and the tennis club on financial & other issues because it’s odd that every time I want something done at home there’s always something more important to be done at the club!

Other nominees included Gary Clements, Freddie Levett, Wendy Jackson, – and even myself.

So there are lots of worthy nominees for this award but by far the most voted for this year is someone who has impressed the coaches and new members with his ability to make coaching fun and enjoyable and who has put in many, many hours of work, not only on the courts but also in the clubhouse by way of repairs such as broken toilets, electrical faults, leaks etc and also, of course, his great BBQ skills! He has also kindly made it possible to have a swing installed in the children’s playground and this is now on order – so the Member of the Year is Keith Claxton.

Mary Claremont