Sometimes committing to a volunteer committee can be a thankless task, but there are many times that all of the hard work is worth it. The club is happy to announce that this is one of those times. Due to the hard work of the committee, especially Phil Homewood and Colleen Adams, the club has been able to secure a grant from Sport and Recreation Victoria. The value of the grant is $60,000. Yes that’s right $60,000. This grant will be used to resurface the en-tous-cas courts to a more water friendly surface. Most people would not realise that one en-tous-cas court ideally requires 3 full Olympic size swimming pools worth of water each year to keep it in good playing condition. Our en-tous-cas courts use more water per year than that required to keep our grass courts going. With the resurfacing of these courts, the clubs water usage can be cut by more than half. This exciting development may have an impact on the clubs current night competitions, but the committee is sure that we can manage to keep all competitions going with the cooperation of those players involved. As the project is still in the early planning stages, the committee will keep all members informed as to the progress of this development.

All members should be proud of the work that the committee has been able to achieve in the past few years with many thousands of dollars being obtained through grants, which have been poured back into facilities at the club. Hopefully this can continue into the future with a few more projects in the pipeline.

The club held its Annual general meeting on Sunday the 24^th of August. Most of the committee was reinstated, by the small number of members that attended. I would like to thank Jack Dalton for his four years of service to the club as House and Grounds Coordinator. Also thank you to Daryl Carr for his work as Senior Competition Coordinator over the last twelve months. The way the appearance of the grounds and the smooth operation of the senior competitions is a credit to the hard work put in both of these guys. I would like to welcome Lea Ticehurst onto the committee. Lea has kindly offered her services as the Senior Competitions Coordinator. As this goes to press, the position of House and Grounds Coordinator on the committee has not yet been filled. If any member is interested in helping out and joining the committee, please contact any member of the committee and we can give you a job description. Hopefully there are some members that are prepared to step up and help out as if this position is not filled, the work load will fall back to the other members of the committee.

With the new financial year now already started, this means your membership is now due. The committee asks that members please fill in their membership forms with their membership fees. This is very important now, as part of your membership includes personal accident insurance and as such, up to date personal details are required.

The committee is looking forward to another successful year. We face many challenges ahead, with water again being the biggest issue that unfortunately we have no control over. Hopefully I will see everyone around the club doing what the club is there for, PLAYING TENNIS.

 Robert Ferry

President.