Note from the President

It is pleasing to see that the Club continues to attract new members. We now have the 29th largest membership in Victoria and we are aiming to be in  the top 25.

The recent Club Championships were conducted under a condensed format which was an outstanding success. Hopefully, the new format will encourage more members to participate in the future. Congratulations to all the winners and to all who participated. Last year the Club was well represented in a range of competitions and had good success.

The secretary of the Club, Gordon Smith retired after 6 years. On behalf of the members I thank Gordon for his dedication to the task. Heather Fawcett has taken over from Gordon in the role as secretary.

Enjoy your tennis.

Peter Gorey

Social Tennis

Over the last two years we have trialled social tennis on a Monday nights and Sunday afternoons with inconsistent support in both time slots. This is a shame as there are current and new members who have expressed interest in social tennis. A men's social group plays regularly on a Sunday morning. Courts are usually available on weekdays before 3.30pm and under lights on Monday, Wednesday and Friday after 7.00pm. In winter, courts are restricted on weekends due to competition requirements although courts for social play are available Saturday afternoon. The Club would like to hear from members interested in and  prepared to organise social play.

Club Championships Results

The Club Championships were played on the weekends of the 14th/15th and 21st/22nd March. This year there was a big increase in entries, particularly in Under 14 events and the boys' Under 18 singles. Consolation events were introduced for 1st and 2nd round losers in junior singles events and they were popular. Finals matches results were:

Selection and Tournament Committee Report

Several Eaglemont teams won premierships this summer:

In the HDTA Saturday Mixed Competition, Eaglemont Blue and Eaglemont Gold played off for the Section 2 Grand Final which was won by Eaglemont Blue. Pictured are John Parker, Sue Griffiths, Ros Atkins and Joseph Casonato. (Absent: Jenny White)

In the Eastern Region Section 1 Singles/Doubles competition Eaglemont won the grand final of the Summer 2014/15 season. Congratulations to team members Callum Metcher, Tom Ciszewski, Tristan Schwaiger, Nick Bell, Ben Marlborough, Jarryd Russell, Tim Butterworth and John Ratten.

In the HDTA Tuesday Ladies competition, Eaglemont's Section 2 and Section 7 teams both won their Spring 2014 grand finals and were promoted to higher Sections.

Congratulations also to Zoe Hives for winning her first ITF professional tournament, the Melbourne Park Women's International. Her WTA ranking will now be in the 500's.

Tennis Victoria Pennant is the biggest inter-club competition in Australia. This season ETC has 7 pennant teams:  men's grade 2 and grade 4 on Saturday afternoons; men's grade 6, grade 8 and grade 9 on Sunday afternoons; and two women's grade 4 teams on Sunday afternoons. The season starts May 2nd/3rd. There are also two HDTA Saturday mixed teams.

Night tennis remains popular with men's teams playing on Tuesday nights and mixed teams on Thursday. The women's matches are played on Wednesday nights although currently Eaglemont is not represented. Anyone interested in playing in any of these competitions should contact Gavin Cox.

NEJTA Competition

We are well into the second half of the Autumn NEJTA competition with record participation. All together Eaglemont has 23 Teams this season with 123 boys and girls representing our club each Saturday morning. Due to the large number of children involved, we are now also using Ivanhoe Tennis Club and St James Tennis Club courts. Currently there are 15 teams in top four of their sections and it's wonderful to see so many children at the courts every Saturday morning.

The NEJTA this year was host to the Pat Pearce Shield where our region goes up against regions from all over the state. This prestigious Junior event was held at Eaglemont Tennis Club over the Easter break. The NEJTA has written thanking our members for hosting this event and for playing our part in the development of Junior tennis in Victoria.

The Junior committee will soon be gearing up for next season, the Spring 2015 season with application forms due by Friday May 22nd. We also hope to run a club fundraising event to coincide with the end of the current season in late May or Early June so keep a lookout for information regarding this event.

I would like to thank the many parents involved in running our Saturday morning teams, from Home Supervisors to Team Managers and weekly Match Managers. It is a credit to all parents and children that we are held in high regard within the NEJTA for our excellent venue, good behaviour and sportsmanship.

Rob Edgely, Junior Secretary

 Coaching Update

A fantastic effort from the following Eaglemont Tennis Club players at the 2014 Victorian Schoolboys & Schoolgirls tournament in December:

• Tom Ciszewski - Runner up Boys 16 singles & Winner Boys 16 doubles
• Ellie Mastos - Runner up Girls 12 and under singles
• Jemma Carbis - Winner Girls 12 and under doubles & singles semi-finalist
• Nicholas Miloi & Alexander Scrutton-Brown - Winners 10 and under Boys doubles
• Natalia Kowalczyk - Winner Girls 10 and under Consolation singles
• Emma Xu - Semi-finalist Girls 9 and under singles

In Term 1 we started up a Wednesday afternoon Hot Shots League which is a program designed for juniors aged 6-10 interested in playing competition but who need some help with scoring, serving and singles & doubles play. Hot Shots has proved very successful in introducing children to competition and we are now taking enrolments for Term 2.

Well done to all those juniors who participated in the 2015 Eaglemont Club Championships in March showing how strong the club is on the junior front. And thanks to Gavin Cox who scheduled all matches over 2 weekends. Of particular note Tom Ciszewski (now ranked in the top 400 men in Australia) won the boys U/18 singles and the Men's Open doubles titles.

Eaglemont Tennis Club also hosted the Tennis Warehouse Australia MJDS tournament #1 on March 30 & 31 with over 50 juniors participating in 9-, 11- and 15-and-Under events. This is the first MJDS (Medibank Junior Development Series) tournament the club has held which is designed to provide valuable match play in singles and doubles using the Round Robin format. There are two more tournaments scheduled over the June and December school holidays.

Shane Scrutton, Club Coach (2002 - )

Community News

Banyule Council Tennis Strategy

In December 2014, Rob Edgley and John Matthews attended a Banyule City Council meeting to hear about the 'Banyule Tennis Strategy'. This project is developing a comprehensive plan for Tennis in Banyule and will recommend to Council a number of Clubs which will be important to the community as future key Tennis Clubs. Eaglemont is aiming to be selected as a key club. Council is preparing a budget to help fund a range of tennis related projects and the Club has provided Council documents outlining our strong community involvement.

Dirt Bike Jumps

Sandra Parsons and Phil Cook attended a meeting at the clubhouse in March, 2015 to hear about Banyule Youth Services' plans to upgrade the dirt bike jumps behind Courts 7 and 8. Work is expected to start before the end of the financial year.

Australia's Biggest Morning Tea

This annual event, co-ordinated by Marina Matthews, will be in the clubhouse, on Thursday 21 May at 11.00am.

Club Sponsors

A big thank you to Wes Fry of Tennis Warehouse for supplying five new nets free of charge. The club is very fortunate to receive such a generous donation from one of our members.  Thank you Wes.

We are also grateful for the generous support from the Bendigo Bank.

You Can Help

If you bank with Bendigo Bank, please tell a bank officer that you're associated with Eaglemont Tennis Club. (You only need to do that once.)

Please mention Eaglemont Tennis Club when purchasing goods from the IGA supermarket in East Ivanhoe so that the club qualifies for donations as part of the supermarket's community benefit program.