April 2023

Is it really two years ago that I began my two-year term of office as Club Chairman? I have very much enjoyed serving the club as Chairman during this time and I hope you will agree that the club is now thriving from a tennis and social point of view.  I would like to use this opportunity to thank the other enthusiastic members of the Committee for their time and support.  Thank you also to club members for your continuing support for the Committee and the Professional team.   

Our young players and juniors have been doing well at a national level so congratulations to them.  Many congratulations also to Dave and Jonny Whittaker for winning the Parents and Offspring Doubles Tournament at the Leamington club. Jonny began his real tennis as a teenager in Bristol and I still remember playing against him when our handicaps were in the 30s; thereafter our paths diverged and he now plays most of his tennis at Queen’s with a  ‘single figures’ handicap!

Our 25th Anniversary Doubles Tournament could not have gone better! Thanks to all who took part and a very big thank you to the two Bens for their expertise and for doing such a marvellous job as our Professional markers over the whole four days.  It was great to see the club buzzing with visitors and home players and we hope to repeat a Bristol Doubles Tournament annually, probably at the same time of year.

There was a delightful Welcome Reception at the Club on the Friday evening and a splendid 25th Anniversary Dinner at the Clifton Club on the Saturday night.  I would like to thank again members of the Organizing Committee (Jan Fuller, Charlotte Wilsher and John Newman) who worked so hard to prepare for these events.  The donations from members and the auction raised over £9,000 to be used by the club for youth development. 

I wish to express my sincere gratitude to the talented and hard-working members of the BRTC Committee for giving up their time for the benefit of the club.  These include John Dixon, as our very dedicated Honorary Secretary, Stuart Andrews as Fixtures Secretary, Jan Fuller as Social Secretary, Charlotte Wilsher as Membership Secretary, Dan Brown as our Youth Development person and, more recently, Giles Watkins as our new Treasurer.

Dan is working well with the Professionals and the juniors, and his enthusiastic initiatives should do well in the future.  Giles has a commercial background and has already made some very good suggestions regarding management of the Club. 

I am especially grateful to Jan Fuller, our Social Secretary, who is due to step down from the BRTC Committee, after doing such a brilliant job ‘over and above’ the role of social secretary, with her additional expertise in catering.  That means that we are looking for a new Social Secretary so if anyone is interested in the role, please contact John Dixon.

I would particularly like to mention the efforts put in behind the scenes by George Bretten, Bruce Newman and James Johnson; these individuals have a particular role in terms of BRTC Development and they are always active in our regular Committee discussions.  We would like to make some relatively small renovations to the club by creating a social and court viewing area behind the Dedans seating area, as often seen at other clubs.  The viewing of the court from the reception and Bretten Room areas could also be improved.

At the last BRTC Committee meeting, Nigel Harradine was approved as my successor as Club Chairman.  I am so pleased that Nigel has agreed to take on this important role and I wish him the best of luck for the future.  Unlike the song I’m sure Nigel will wish to make his own plans! 

See you on court one day! Wishing you all a Happy Easter.

Clive

February '23

February 2023 

This should be quite a week!  It’s amazing to think that this weekend marks the 25th Anniversary of the official opening of Bristol and Bath Tennis Club by H.R.H. Prince Edward, the Duke of Wessex. 

We’ve since ‘morphed’ into the Bristol Real Tennis Club and the D of W is still doing his bit for real tennis and, in particular, the Duke of Edinburgh Awards Scheme.  Bristol was one of his first ports of call on his D of E United Kingdom tour a few years ago, and I was actually at the Merchants Hall official dinner when a young Bristolian got his “Wessex” and “Sussex” mixed up in an otherwise perfect thank you speech.  The wry smile from the Duke was a hint that he knew about news of a famous pair still to come!

Ben Taylor-Matthews and Ben Coleman have excelled themselves in organizing the 25th Anniversary Doubles Tournament – so professional and impressive, just what we hoped for when we appointed Ben T-M a year ago.  64 players from all over the UK will be playing from Thursday 9th to Sunday 12th February, in group then knockout matches, culminating in the Final on Sunday afternoon.

There will be a Welcome Reception at the Club on Friday evening and a splendid 25th Anniversary Dinner at the Clifton Club on Saturday night.  Members of the Organizing Committee have been working very hard to prepare for these events and I am especially grateful to Jan Fuller (our Social Secretary) and Charlotte Wilsher (our Membership Secretary) for giving up their time and expertise.  I am sure it will “go well on the night!”

Our new President, John Newman has been very enthusiastic and active, and I would like to thank those who have generously donated auction items and raffle prizes.  I hope members and guests will be very generous at the auction (both ‘silent’ and at the dinner) so that we can raise plenty of funds for our Youth Development plans.

I am sure you will agree that the Club is thriving from a tennis and social point of view.  The two Bens have continued with a high court occupancy and there is a big emphasis on junior development, supported financially by the Club.  The new Monday Members’ Club Nights represent a popular initiative, and students from Clifton College are making regular use of the court on Wednesday evenings and at other times.

At the BRTC Committee meeting in December we decided that we should consolidate our efforts on Real Tennis and not to risk putting the Club into debt for the Padel court development in the current economic climate.  However, with Clifton College’s support, this is something that could be revisited in the future.

We would like to make some relatively small renovations to the Club by creating a social and court viewing area behind the Dedans seating area, as often seen at other clubs.  The viewing of the court from the reception and Bretten Room areas could also be improved.  This will be an objective over the next couple of years.

Even for these relatively inexpensive initiatives, we need your help to find new members in order to generate Club funds for use beyond ‘financial survival’.  Our Secretary, John Dixon has several ideas for incentivizing current members to encourage their friends and the next generation’s friends to join (please note that you should be 18 years or older to imbibe Champagne!).

I am very pleased to announce that Giles Watkins has kindly volunteered to be our new Treasurer.  Giles has an impressive commercial background and has lots of ideas for the way forwards.  The timing of this Chairman’s Update also allows me an opportunity to thank the other enthusiastic members of the Committee for their time and support for a Tennis Club that we all care about enormously!

Have a great weekend of Tennis!

Very best wishes

Clive 

Chairman's Update Nov'22

November 2022 

I hope members of our fine Real Tennis Club are enjoying their tennis, no doubt guided by the enthusiastic and complementary partnership of the two Bens.  It was great to see our two Professionals playing together in the New Members’ Evening exhibition match recently, when there were complementary actions and lots of compliments in equal measure! Well done and many thanks to the two Toms also for the entertainment! 

Ben Taylor-Matthews’ arrival in April got off to a flying start with a superb evening exhibition match against Rob Fahey on 19th May. Wasn’t it wonderful to witness the thriving atmosphere in the club that night, the audience comprising a number of youngsters as well as our more senior members?

The Ben Squared tournament is well and truly underway and the Chairman would like to extend a particular thank you to 9 year old James and his devoted family supporters for “going easy on him” last Sunday in the first round! The future of the club lies, in part, with our youth development scheme, and I would like to thank Dan Brown for volunteering to be our youth development officer on the BRTC committee. It was great to see Dan’s enthusiasm for the game in a recent doubles match with two promising 11 year olds, one of whom was his son, Ben! Well played Matthew!

Ben T-M and Ben C have been working hard to maintain court occupancy, and the club continues to support the introduction of potential new members financially. But we need to attract people who are likely to convert to full playing members, as the funds generated by actual membership fees are very much required to keep the club running, especially in the face of rising energy costs. So do please ‘phone a friend’ who might love the game as much as we do! 

Ben T-M is still looking for a young trainee professional who could take up a fantastic opportunity here in Bristol, thanks to potential funding from the national Investing in Professionals (IiP) scheme.  The IiP are keen to support Bristol in this way so if you know of a suitable school-leaver or young graduate who might wish to take up a 15-month training position do please let Ben know.  

We are looking forward to another successful year in national tournaments! As you will know, this is the 25th Anniversary Year of Bristol Real Tennis Club and we are aiming to attract players from across the UK and beyond to a Celebratory Tournament and Dinner over the weekend of 9-12th February 2023. We look forward to your support on what should be a great occasion. Many thanks to the organising committee!

“What about the future of Padel?” I hear you ask. Following an excellent presentation to the BRTC committee in September, we have continued to research the pros and cons of developing two Padel courts on the land adjacent to the tambour wall of Bristol Real Tennis Club.  It’s a complex issue in the present economic climate, and I anticipate that a decision will be made at the next committee meeting in December. 

Thank you so much to our Secretary, John Dixon for doing a brilliant job behind the scenes.  John’s role has been made busier following the decision of Nick Geere to step down as Treasurer after a short time, and we are looking for a volunteer to be our new Treasurer please! One of the duties will be to liaise regularly with the two Professionals and the club’s Accountant to approve any payments from funds generated by the court booking fees.  Working on the BRTC committee is fun! If anyone has the time to volunteer for the important role of Treasurer, please contact John or me directly.  

Very best wishes, 

Clive