Note from the President

Since the previous newsletter the Club's membership has steadily increased and now is in excess of 300 members. Congratulations to all those who have recently joined us and hope your membership is long and fulfilling.

I would like to congratulate not only the winners, but all those who participated in the recent Club Championships. Our Juniors continue to enjoy outstanding success in the Saturday morning competition while our Section 1 team in the HDTA Saturday Mixed Competition won the Dr Cameron Shield. See below for more details of the Club's recent successes. Congratulations to members who represented the Club in all competitions and for anyone thinking of playing competition tennis do not hesitate to make enquiries.

The Annual General Meeting will be held on Monday 25 August. Come along and support the Committee members. Gordon Smith has announced his retirement as Secretary. Please consider nominating for this role. Contact Peter  Gorey or a member of the GMC for further information.

Peter Gorey - Club President

Club Championships

Although participants were slightly down on last year, both Junior and Adult members competed in the Club Championships in March. Congratulations to Jemma Carbis, a promising Junior, who won the Women’s Singles Title as well as Head Coach Shane Scrutton, who again set the standard for the Men’s Singles Title. A summary of finals results is outlined below:

The Committee is considering some changes for next year’s Championships including tightening the match schedule and having a more formal presentation ceremony.

Selection and Tournament Committee Report

Members continue to play in a range of local competitions midweek, weekends and nights. We recently welcomed a team from Ivanhoe Uniting who have joined Eaglemont to play Saturday Mixed in the Heidelberg and Districts Tennis Association competition after their courts were closed.

Eaglemont has had very successful campaigns in both the MEMRLTA and HDTA competitions this year. Eaglemont’s Section 1 team in the MEMRLTA competition won the premiership – no mean feat given it’s the one of the two strongest mid week competitions in Melbourne. Eaglemont’s Section 1 team in Saturday HDTA Mixed also won the summer competition. The last time Eaglemont had won the summer competition was 15 years ago, so the team are very worthy champions.

It’s also been pleasing to see more junior boys and girls and university students playing in the 2014 Tennis Victoria Pennant competition, with the club fielding 8 teams across both the Men’s and Women’s competitions. This season, Eaglemont is represented in Women’s Grade 2 and two teams in Grade 4, and Men’s Grade 2, 4, 8, 10 and a Men’s Doubles in Grade 4.

Pennant is the biggest inter-club competition in Australia and there is a large number of grades catering for players of all standards. You can see some high standard tennis, so please come down and check out the action on Saturday mornings, when the Women's Grade 2 team plays, and on Saturday afternoons, when the Men's Grade 2 and Grade 4 teams play. Congratulations also to Section 12 Men’s and Section 4 Vets teams in the NENTG who are premiers in the autumn season.

Social Tennis

Now the days are getting shorter and the nights are colder, we've moved social tennis to first and third Sundays of each month, from 2.30 pm. All members of all standards are welcome. You can stay for as long as you like, and it’s a great way for new members to meet others and discuss competition options. The next social tennis date is 1st June.

NEJTA Competition

The Autumn 2014 North Eastern Junior Tennis Association (NEJTA) season is proving to be another successful season. At this point, 14 of Eaglemont’s 18 teams are in the Top 4 in their section and poised for semi finals competition, which starts on Saturday 14th June. A special mention to Eaglemont’s Section 15 girls team, who are currently in 1st place in their first season and are yet to lose a match! All members are encouraged to come down and support Eaglemont in the semi-finals on Saturday 14th June, with lots of families and friends expected to be there to cheer on the kids!

Applications for the NEJTA Spring season are now open and will be submitted to the NEJTA on June 1st. Junior Pennant will also start in August and Eaglemont juniors will be representing the NEJTA across various age groups.

Junior Results

Junior members have also performed exceptionally well in other regional and national competitions this year.

Cooper White was recently selected to represent Victoria in the Bruce Cup in Darwin from August 16th to 23rd.  It is a very prestigious national schools tennis championship for children 12 years or under.

Ted Williams, Jessica Lomen, Emerson Valentino, Kristen Fisher and Cooper White represented the NEJTA and finished in 2nd place in the Pat Pearce Shield at Royal Park. Eaglemont is also hosting the Pat Pearce Shield in 2015!

Alexander Scrutton also represented the NEJTA in the 10 and under Wayne Arthurs Cup tournament at Kooyong in March. The NEJTA made the final after beating Eastern Region and a Waverley team and only just lost to Peninsula in the final 3/2. Wayne Arthurs was on hand to watch this nail biting contest.

Other Junior News

The Annual NEJTA Tournament will take place on September 20th, 21st and 22nd at Eaglemont Tennis Club and Viewbank Tennis Club. This tournament is open only to NEJTA players. Events will be divisionally based on sections playing on a Saturday morning. Thank you to Curnow Tennis who will once again be sponsoring this event. Entries will open on 21st July 2014 and close on 31stAugust 2014. To enter click here.

Congratulations also to the 70 participants aged 12-15 who entered the gruelling level 1 ball kid trials at Eaglemont Tennis Club in March and good luck to those getting to the next trial stage in what is becoming an increasingly competitive event! This was our 5th year running the ball kid trials and a big thank you to those coaches who helped out with the assessments.

Community News

Marina Matthews and Adelina Trott are helping the Heidelberg Historical Society with some research into the club’s history. Starting in 1913, the club has been an important part of the community’s social and sporting life and club records are being inspected for relevant information for the HHS study.

Thank you to Marina and Adelina for organising the Club’s Australia’s Biggest Morning Tea on May 22, which has raised in excess of $300.