Welcome to the latest edition of the Eaglemont Tennis Club’s (ETC) newsletter. In this edition we feature some of the dedicated members of the General Management Committee. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the people who play a role in administering the Club. Without their involvement the Club would be a very poor imitation of what it is today.
Finally but certainly not least, on behalf of the Club, I would like to congratulate Zoe Hives, one of our young members, on being selected in the junior Federation Cup team to represent Australia in Spain later this year. Good luck Zoe.
Congratulations to all who took part and in particular the following players who won their event. Particular thanks should also go to Gavin Cox who supervised the event over several Sundays.
| Men’s Singles | Shane Scrutton |
| Graded Men’s Singles | Shane Healy |
| Men’s Doubles | Ross Green & Jason Ward |
| Women’s Doubles | Pam Watkins & Karen Tremewen |
| Mixed Doubles | Pam Watkins & Norm Forster |
| Boys U18 Singles | Darcy Sampsonidis |
| Boys U14 Singles | Tom Ciszewski |
| Boys U14/U18 Doubles | Sam Benetti-Baker & Darcy Samsonidis |
| Girls U14 Singles | Courtney McKenzie |
| Girls U14 Doubles | Courtney McKenzie & Sally Abeyartne |
ETC’s Selection and Tournament Committee is responsible for selecting teams for the various competitions with which the club is associated. The current members of the committee are: Ben Cocks, Gavin Cox, Adam Kilcullen, Dianne McKee, Sandra Parsons, Pam Watkins.
Members can play for ETC in various local and Melbourne metropolitan competitions. All competition details are posted on the board when the selection process begins; members who have supplied an email address are also contacted to advise of closing dates for team entries. The Committee is then responsible for finalising the teams and making them available to members in the clubrooms. The competition fixtures and new balls are then distributed to the team captains prior to the start of the season. For more competition information please contact:
The Junior membership at ETC has flourished over the last few years. ETC is represented by 18 teams – or more than 100 children - in the North Eastern Junior Tennis Association’s Saturday morning competition. The depth of ETC’s junior members is growing stronger each year. The Club has teams from sections 1 to 25 and participation numbers are expected to grow even more before the spring season in July.
The Club is one of few tennis clubs in the region that gives its members the opportunity to wear a club polo or windcheater. Each weekend, the children often say how much they enjoy coming down to the courts to play. The club is a hive of activity every Saturday morning, with many young juniors being guided into the competitive ranks by our ETC’s club coach Shane Scrutton. Shane has been fundamental to not only coaching these children to beable to play competition tennis, but also working with the junior committee to attract quality players that have strengthened the higher teams.
ETC works hard to be a club where children can hone their skills, improve each season as well as have some fun playing a great sport. Our BBQ on a Saturday morning has become a great place for parents to catch up and have a chat whilst watching their children play. We are lucky to have such a family-friendly environment in which to meet other members of our community and enjoy watching the kids whack that ball from pillar to post!
Robert Edgley
0411 133 793
Did you know we have a Fed Cup player at Eaglemont? 16-year-old Zoe Hives has taken the Australian Junior Tennis scene by storm, winning the recent girls 16's singles ITF junior event at Bundaberg and representing Australia in the prestigious world junior team competition in Bendigo, leading Australia through to the Junior World Finals which will be held in September in Barcelona. Zoe also plays for ETC in the women’s grade 1 pennant team so if you'd like to see one of the best juniors in the country, come down to the club on a Saturday morning. ETC is represented by 7 teams in the Tennis Victoria Open Pennant competition (including the grade 2 men’s team), which is the the largest intra-club competition in Australia and is an ideal stepping-stone for players looking to play stronger competition.
Recently, ETC has undergone many infrastructure improvements, such as the new court surfaces on courts 5 to 8, the new fences on courts 1 to 8 and the concrete drive between courts 6 and 7. The clubhouse has also been jazzed up with some new carpet, couches, kids’ toys and a fresh coat of paint, all of which make for a warmer and more inviting environment for members. Due to the club’s 42-year old infrastructure, a number of long-term projects (e.g. a broken sprinkler pipe on court 4) will be a main priority for volunteers next year. In the short term, ETC will be looking towards purchasing a new oven and hot water urn in the kitchen.
The Club’s members have been blessed over the years with well-maintained courts, a clubhouse cleaner and a groundsman to mow and maintain the surrounds, but financial constraints have meant that many jobs can only be tackled by the occasional working bee.
The next working bee will be on Sunday 17th June from 10-12pm - weather permitting.
We encourage all members to come along - even if it’s for a short time - to lend a hand. The working bee will mainly focus on gardening and painting the clubrooms. However, if members have any ideas for future improvements or offers of assistance or contacts with local businesses, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with John Matthews via or on 9457 5876.
Finally, a big thank you to the members who have given their time over the years to assist with the smooth running of the club. The small errands - such as washing the tablecloths and tea towels and buying clubhouse supplies - make ETC a pleasant club to be part of. In particular, a special thanks to Gavin Cox whose help and work is essential to the running and maintenance of our club.
A large amount of clothes and accessories are being kept in a lost property box near the front doors of the clubhouse. These belongings will be disposed of within the next month, so if you have lost anything, please check the box; all remaining items at the end of June will be donated to charity.
Over the past 12 months, ETC worked with a number of university students to update the club website. The website is a convenient and useful reference point for information about ETC, including: club news and contacts, coaching, competition and general information about tennis for players.
Club members and parents of junior players can also obtain a website account. A website account allows the user access to non-public content; at this stage, members can only suggest a news item for the website. In the future, users may be able to book courts, arrange social matches, see club-championship match schedules and obtain team-manager contact details. If you would like to register for a website account, please apply.Members are also welcome to share their feedback on the website.
A number of email accounts have been set up to streamline the enquiries the Club receives from members.
Members are asked to provide specific details when making direct deposits into ETC’s bank account. This would include the members name, the amount and a payment description.
Members of ETC are also encouraged to receive official notices from the club via email. This process makes it quicker for both the members and the volunteers at the club who undertake the duties above. Members can register up to three email accounts, but are strongly encouraged to provide an email account other than a work email. In the past, members have experienced bounce backs from club emails. All members can convert to email correspondence by sending an or by form.