Gauteng Central Tennis Association » gauteng central

Newsletter – 08/2009

wendz — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 10:55:47 +0000

Very many thanks to all those clubs who sent representatives to the Annual General Meeting earlier this month. As Bruce Gray, the President, said in his report, it had been a frustrating year with many hours spent by the Executive in discussions and meetings with various parties trying to get the Ellis Park Tennis Grounds upgraded. It is a source of wonder to us that the whole of the Prescient has been wonderfully upgraded all in preparation for 2010, but sadly we, as the last piece of the jigsaw, have been so far, unsuccessful in our endeavours. We will continue in our quest and in our relationship now with Ellis Park World of Sport, we believe that we can, and will see the upgrading taking place.

One request from the meeting was that this newsletter encompasses more details regarding events and happenings within the Province and at the clubs. This newsletter is your newsletter so if any club has any news that they wish to share with us, then please send it to me on e mail at mike@3w.co.za and I will then include these items in the following newsletter.

Whereas we try and keep up to date with what is taking place around the clubs, we do not catch all the news and happenings, so please feel free to praise yourselves when the occasion arises.

JUNIORS

During the recent school holidays, a very successful tournament was held at Ellis Park and our juniors did us proud. Congratulations to the following;

Nicola Robinson won the girls under 12 title

Lindsay Faure won the girls under 14 title with Kelsey Joffe as runner up

Francesca Bernes won the girls under 16 title with Ashley Brandfield as runner up

Sean van der Vyver won the boys under 18 title

Aidan Carrazedo was runner up in the boys under 14

This is a wonderful achievement for our players and the Province, and coupled with our success at this year’s Junior Inter Provincial, we must claim that our Junior programme is working well, and is a good omen for the future of our Province.

This past weekend we played a match against Gauteng East and the results were as follows;

Under 12 won 10-2

Under 14 drew 6 all

Under 16 won 19-4

Under 18 lost 6-14

These friendly inter provincial matches are a wonderful opportunity not only for our players to get the extra match practise, but to mix with other provincial players, and the spirit of these matches is just as important off the court as it is on the court.

The National Junior Championships are due to be held next month and coupled with the KeyHealth Super 7 event the week before; our juniors have a feast of tennis to look forward to in September. The National Championship is the pinnacle of any juniors’ career, and we wish all those who will play in Bloemfontein, the very best of luck.

SUMMER LEAGUES

A misnomer in a way as that time of the year still seems a way off as yet, but they are under way and in the Bundes League the first weekend saw more surprise results than we have seen over the past couple of years. It was a great start for the newcomers, Morningside County Club in the men and Bryanston Sports Club in the ladies, who both recorded good wins. A report is posted on our web site after each round of matches but in case you missed the first weekend results here they are:

MEN

Morningside Country Club beat German Club 19-9

Killarney beat Marks Park A 19-10

Bedfordview B beat Bedfordview A 18-9

LADIES

German Club beat Marks Park B 16-3

Bryanston Country Club beat Bedfordview 15-3

Bedfordview B beat Marks Park A 13-5

DAVIS CUP TIE AGAINST INDIA

Many thanks to all those clubs who requested tickets for the above tie and we hope to see a lot more of you there over the 18, 19 and 20 September at the Ellis Park Arena. Just to remind you, if we win this tie we go back into the World Group and then rub shoulders with the top playing nations in the world so your support is needed.

Parking is available at the indoor facility in between the swimming pool and the rugby stadium and you have short walk through the totally revamped Precinct into the Grounds.

OTHER NEWS

The final Grand Slam event of the year, the US Open, begins next week with coverage on Supersport. Check your TV schedule for full details.

The tournament will see Scotland’s Andrew Murray seeded at number 2 for the first time in a Grand Slam event. With his victory in Montreal and good showing, despite not being able to defend his Cinncinatti title a week later, he has earned this position with a solid years tennis, and I am sure he will go on to achieve greater things in the future.

With Roger Federer having won his first Masters event for over a year, he too, is running into the type of form needed to possibly record his 6^th consecutive US Open title. What of Rafa? Well, he is just coming back after his troublesome knees gave way, but with only playing every other day, the rest may be just what he needs to mount a serious challenge to both Federer and Murray.

It will be compulsive viewing over the next two weeks.

See you at the Davis Cup.

Newsletter No 01/2009

wendz — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 17:58:08 +0000

On behalf of the Executive Committee I take this opportunity of wishing you all the very best for 2009 and may it be a good one for tennis, not in our Province but South Africa as a whole.

Not only have we the revamped SA Open starting next week but also the Davis Cup match at home in March to look forward to, and the possibility this year of us challenging for a return to the top flight of that competition.

The SA Open at Montecasino has attracted a strong field and hopefully this will be the start of the re emergence of this event as a “must” on the ATP calendar in the future years for the top players. Those who can remember the halcyon days at Ellis Park with all the top players competing are getting fewer and fewer as time goes on, and it is time for a new generation of spectators to savour these delights.

From our side you may well have seen our calendar, and it was a case of trying to pour a quart into a pint pot as there are so many events including leagues, that have to be dovetailed into all the other tournaments. It is a healthy sign that there are so many events scheduled but one worrying aspect is at the end of the year. The schools break up so late this year that those vitally important Junior Coastal and Inland tournaments are going to need a lot of thought as to how they can all be played as in the past.

These Junior events are a major stepping stone in the development of our future players and it will take more than just a little “fine tuning” to ensure that they all take place.

Talking of juniors – what a pleasure to see such a good turnout for the first two squad sessions at Ellis Park this month. This augurs well especially as a lot of the top ranked players also came along which is an added incentive to other players to be able to practise with and play against the top players in the Province.

It is much too early in the year to be able to give any further details on the re development of the Ellis Park grounds as the builders only returned to work in the middle of the month. There are meetings arranged with representatives of the Johannesburg City Council to discuss the Lease requirements for those clubs who are termed “Municipal Clubs” to ensure their future is on a solid and sound foundation.

REGISTRATION FEES

These are due and payable at the end of February. Full details as to the costs are as follows:

SATA PORTION

Base registration fee for all tennis players is R30.00 per member.

To quote SATA “Affiliated clubs must collect and pay R30.00 per member for every member at their club (includes juniors, open, vets). This fee is payable irrespective of what playing structures/systems the member may belong to. This is also to benefit the weekday/social tennis player that is not deemed to be a full member of a club.”

A LEAGUE PLAYER – registration fee is R90.00 per league player. This is typically a full member of the club. “Affiliated clubs must collect and pay R30 + R90 per member at their club who plays league tennis for their club. This fee is payable for all league players irrespective of what other playing structures/systems the member may belong to. If a junior does not play in leagues but plays in tournaments then they would only pay R30 base fee. Therefore the total SATA fee for a full member of a club is R120.00 p.a.”

N.B. Please note that a junior player that plays in formal senior league structures, is also liable for the R30 + R90 + R120.00 fee.

GAUTENG CENTRAL PORTION

Junior league player (U14league)=R50.00

League player (Jnr, Open, Snr or Vets) = R120.00

Social player = R40.00

TOTAL REGISTRATIONS PAYABLE THROUGH THE PROVINCE AS PER SATA:

SATA GCTA TOTAL

Jnr League player R30.00 R50.00 R80.00

Social Player only(Incl. vets) R30.00 R40.00 R70.00

League player R30+R90 R120.00 R240.00

Jnr Player (Tournaments only) R30.00 R30.00

To quote SATA again, “What it boils down to is that the more you play the more you pay”!

Please bear in mind the following;

You must register all your members either under the League Player category or Social Member.
As you enrol new members, Registration Fees for them are due to us throughout the year.
In order that you can participate in our various leagues, all your Registration Fees must be paid prior to entering the Leagues.

We seek and trust we have your full co operation in this regard.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

The first Grand Slam event of the year is almost over but we did have a representative in both the mens and ladies singles at the Australian Open. Sadly, neither got past the first round.

Wesley Moodie and Jeff Coetzee, although seeded 5 in the mens doubles, lost in the second round to two Australians, so not a good start for any of our players to 2009.

Kevin Anderson is still our top ranked player at 108 with Rik de Voest at 160. Both will be in action at the SA Open and hopefully a good showing there will kick start their year.

2008 Awards

wendz — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 12:29:04 +0000

At the beginning of each year the Province award trophies to one senior and junior girl and boy. Selection is made on the basis of squad attendance, improvement in play, personality and cooperation. Our 2008 winners are:

Senior Girl – Francesca Bernes
Senior Boy – Warren Kuhn
Junior Girl – Michelle Erasmus
Junior Boy – Vaughn Hunter

left to right: Warren, Francesca, Vaughn and Michelle

Congratulations and well deserved!

First squad of 2009

wendz — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 12:07:56 +0000

All we can say is wow! It was great to see so many of our regulars back but the most impressive thing was just how many new juniors attended the first session of squad.

Ellis Park was absolutely buzzing today and we hope that this continues through the year.

Welcome! Whilst learning and working hard on your tennis we also hope that you have fun.

Slazenger GC Junior Open Results

wendz — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 16:29:35 +0000

The results of the Slazenger GC Junior Open played at Ellis Park in December 2008 are:

Boys under 18:

s = Roland Grabe bt Ryan Siney

d = Francois Minnaar/Dean Weigelt bt Roland Grabe/Dino Vergottini

Boys under 16:

s = Jandre Schoeman bt Petr de Jager

d = Byron Chadwick/Nikhil Joshi bt Ruan Viljoen/Jandre Schoeman

Boys under 14:

s = Redge Rostron bt Brandon Ebersey

d = Aidan Carrazedo/Thorne Zurfluh bt Thabang More/Redge Rostron

Boys under 12:

s = Matthew Wessels bt Piers Rodger

d = Raynor Ferns/Wayne van Schalkwyk bt Nick Hamilton/Matthew Wessels

Girls under 18:

s = Alyson Rudman bt Jessica Kahts

no doubles

Girls under 16:

s = Courtney Stock bt Gabriella Francesutti

d = Gabriella Francesutti/Courtney Stock bt Cara-Jo Precious/Michaela Lock

Girls under 14:

s = Ashleigh Branfield bt Kelly Robinson

d = Cayley Jorgensen/Kelly Robinson bt Ashleigh Branfield/Kate Prentice

Girls under 12:

s = Nicole Robinson bt Tanya Meyer

d = Nicole Robinson/Tayla Zurfluh bt Kimberley Botha/Tyra Timm

Congratulations to all players especially those from Gauteng Central (which are shown in yellow) – it is great to see so many of our players in the finals.

Slazenger GC Super 7

wendz — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 07:25:42 +0000

Please note that entries for the Slazenger Gauteng Central Super 7 tournament close on 21 March.

Entries may be made via www.tr3.co.za

15th March Squad

wendz — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 11:07:21 +0000

Please note that there will be a friendly match against Gauteng East on Saturday 15th March. Only the players selected for the provisional Inter-Provincial Teams will be playing (the names of the selected players can be viewed on our ‘Inter-Provincial’ page). Therefore there will not be squad for other players.

Under 12 and 14 teams will be playing at Ellis Park and under 16 and 18 teams will be hosted at Gauteng East Headquarters (Benoni).

There will be no squads during the government school holidays. Enjoy your break, play lots of tournaments and we will see you back at Ellis Park on 19th April.