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by Spendandgive
Alfold Tennis Club
Alfold Tennis Club was re-formed in 1974 from the original tennis club which had a grass court on the Recreation Ground from 1949 but which ceased activity by 1962.
The £5,000 required to build two courts was raised within three months by the three founder members Robin Erricker, Mike Padfield and Derek Uridge (far right in the picture opposite), who are still club members.
In the 1970’s, it was possible for sports clubs, if they raised 25% of the required funds, to apply for grants or low interest loans of 50% from the Surrey County Council and 25% from Hambledon District Council. There followed a continual fund raising programme for five years until the loans were repaid.
The Tennis Club is affiliated to the Alfold Sports Council, one of the first sports councils to be formed in the UK in 1972. The other sports are football with two pitches, cricket and stoolball as well as an active social club. The Sports Council’s landlords are the Alfold Parish Council who charge a nominal rent to the Sports Council. Changing rooms, toilets/showers and club house, catering and bar facilities are available to all members. All affiliated clubs are responsible for the maintenance of their playing areas and the financial well being of their club. Tennis courts are costly to maintain and the committee with foresight and sound fiscal management has always been able to maintain the courts in an excellent playing condition.
Junior development
Realising what an asset we have in our junior members, the club has established a Junior Development Committee, utilising the enthusiasm of the parents, to investigate how we can best nurture our youngsters. As can be seen from the statistics in the previous paragraph this programme has been a great success.
Membership
In 1999 the club hosted an Open Day, to make those outside of Alfold aware of our existence, with a number of inducements to join. This was successful, increasing the membership by 30%. The Open Day has become an annual event and is an important component of our membership development policy.
In 2000 we embarked on a coaching programme for both seniors and juniors and this once again met with success and further growth, so that during the season membership rose to a new high of 156 members, of which 57 were juniors.
The club development programme has continued and in 2002 the membership stood at 178 of which 78 were juniors; in 2003 the membership was at its highest ever at 180; by December 2005 the total membership was 207 – 116 juniors and 91 seniors.
Subscriptions
Since the club’s inception we have always endeavoured to keep the subscriptions as low as possible, so as to encourage membership. We have been able to maintain this relatively low cost of membership by sustained fund raising, but after 26 years we find that fund raising becomes more difficult. There are now more demands on people’s time and money.
Facilities
Two all weather courts, floodlighting, Lob-ster ball machine and the clubhouse and bar facilities, ample and free parking.
Coaching
An active programme of coaching is put in place for the Spring and Winter seasons. See our Coaching page for further information.
Floodlights
Floodlights enable members to play after sunset; players pay for the lighting at £1 per 26 minutes, illuminating both courts
Courts
In Spring 2003 the courts were, power jet washed, repainted and lined; in November 2005 the courts were treated to remove moss and power jet washed.
We are a dynamic, expanding tennis club, with a sound junior development policy, a full social events calendar, our own Annual Club tournaments and a programme of inter-club matches for those who want to play more competively; all nurtured by a committed management team - a good club to join!
Derek Uridge, President