Committee news
Welcome to our first newsletter of 2021.
Firstly, a big thank you to Ray Dobson for all the
work you have done as President at Karingal Drive TC
over the past few years. These are definitely big
shoes to fill and your efforts and dedication towards
the club has been much appreciated.
A little bit about myself as your new President; I have spent my lifetime involved in tennis and I
am passionate about creating thriving tennis communities and providing opportunities to all to
experience and enjoy the game. I live locally and love to bring my kids to the courts for a hit of
tennis and watch them develop a love for the game too. I’m looking forward to working with you
all over the coming months.
Welcome to GP Tennis who have taken on the coaching role at KDTC. They bring with them a
wealth of experience in the coaching industry and we look forward to all the wonderful programs
and initiatives they have on offer our club.
We recently held our Bunnings BBQ fundraiser where we raised over $1,000 for the club to
spend on maintenance programs. Thanks to all those who volunteered to help on the day and to
especially Raelene Craven for the coordination of this event, it was a great success.
Thanks to the committee and all our members for your contributions and support throughout
the year, the club would not be able to function without you.
John Hampson – President
Club Upgrades and Maintenance
We have continued to focus on the maintenance and development of the club. The club’s
entrance gate and path will be upgraded and improved to allow safer access into the facilities.
Thanks to everyone who has contributed to this work, especially Ray who has been advocating
with Banyule Council for this upgrade for some time. We are also in the process of installing a
new manual hose reel on Courts 5 & 6 to reduce trip hazards and also completing the automatic
sprinkler system.
Tennis Coaching – GP Tennis
As mentioned above, GP Tennis (previously known as Gripping Potential) has taken over the role
of Coaching provider at KDTC. Throughout 2020 there was a lot of inconsistency due to Covid-19
restrictions and going in and out of lockdowns; however, despite this, we have more juniors
enrolled in coaching than we did at this time last year. We now aim to get ‘Cardio Tennis’ up and
running at the club, offering both day and night-time fitness sessions. Another focus is to run
internal junior competitions and Hotshots leagues to provide more opportunity to our younger
players for experience and practice in competitive play.
New GP Website: www.gptennis.com.au
For all coaching enquiries please call 0402 296 835 or email info@grippingpotential.com.au
All Abilities Clinic
On Thursday 11th February GP Tennis ran an All-Abilities Clinic at the club which welcomed a
variety of individuals with different needs from within the community to have a hit of
tennis. The day was a great success and was brought about by our successful application for
a disability grant through the local council.
‘This Girl Can’ Campaign
As part of the ‘This Girls Can’ Campaign running from 22nd – 28th
March we will be running free sessions for girls to encourage
females of all ages to become involved in tennis and to showcase
our sport and club. Further details to be provided soon.
Cardio Tennis
Cardio Tennis will now run every Friday morning at Karingal
by Coach Jarron @ 9:45 am, commencing 12th March.
Your first introductory session is free so if you are interested
in trying out this great fitness program please email
info@grippingpotential.com.au to secure your place.
Bring along your friends and a water bottle.
Normal classes are $15 per session. Classes run for 45 minutes duration.
We hope to have further Cardio Tennis sessions available as the year progresses with a night
session planned for some time soon.
W H A T I S C A R D I O T E N N I S ?
Get fit the Fun way with this exciting group cardio workout!
Bounce to the beat with motivating music!
Cardio Tennis is a high energy group fitness activity that combines the best features of the
sport of tennis with cardiovascular exercise, using tennis drills and games to deliver the
ultimate, full body, calorie burning aerobic workout. The Cardio Balls equalize the playing
field and enhance the workout.
It is a very social and fun class for players of all ability levels taught by a certified tennis
professional.
If you have never played tennis before it is a great way to be introduced to the sport
Tennis Experience: Low: Cardio Tennis is the best way to start and train for tennis.
A true cardio tennis workout is typically 6-8 players per court, using the agility ladder,
transition balls, & music.
Ladies Social Tennis – Wednesday mornings
We are pleased to advise that our Ladies Social tennis group have recently started back
again on Wednesday mornings from 9:30 am. This group is a great way to socialize and have
a hit of tennis in a relaxed environment.
Pre-school Child supervision is available.
Please contact Sally Harris on 0452 415 715 for further information.
Anytime Fitness – partnership / Free membership
We are pleased to have recently created a new partnership
between Karingal Drive TC and Anytime Fitness Greensborough.
Any member of KDTC who wishes to join Anytime Fitness Greensborough will receive one
month’s free membership with no joining fee. Contact Nick ph. 9435 0010
Competition Tennis
Our Club has teams playing competition tennis in the following local tennis associations;
? Saturday mornings NEJTA – Boys and Girls, Singles and Doubles
? Monday evenings DVTA – Mixed Doubles
? Tuesday mornings HDTA – Ladies Doubles
? Tuesday evenings NENTG – Men’s and Men’s Veteran Doubles
? Wednesday evenings NENTG – Ladies Doubles
? Thursday mornings HDTA – Ladies Doubles rubbers
? Thursday afternoons Metro Masters – Mixed / Men’s or Ladies Doubles
? Thursday evenings DVTA – Men’s Doubles
? Thursday evenings NENTG – Mixed Doubles
? Friday twilight DVTA – Mixed Boys and Girls Singles
**If you or a member of your family are interested in playing in any of these competitions
(even as just an emergency player), please email: karingaldrivetennis@gmail.com
Hi all,
Well, what a strange time in our lives that we are living now. Nobody could ever have imagined the isolation that we have all been faced with over the past couple of months due to the Covid-19 virus pandemic; including the closure of our tennis club!
I hope that you and your family members have been keeping safe and well. Whilst it has been very disruptive and challenging for us all for a host of reasons, we all know that these isolation measures are necessary and fortunately, it looks like restrictions may hopefully soon be lifted? With our club being a council-owned facility, we are bound by their regulations about accessing our courts and we will let you know as soon as the current restrictions are lifted.
In terms of positive news, we are excited to have recently appointed our new coaching team called Gripping Potential, who we believe will create a fantastic new chapter to our club’s history. Sacha Rankin will be our new head coach and will be ably assisted by John Schmidt who many of you know has been a very popular coach and player at our club for many years. We wish the new team the best of luck and we look forward to announcing a ‘meet and greet’ session when this is permitted.
Our club was very pleased to be involved with a new Tennis Australia initiative called ‘Open Court Sessions’ and a number of our members were proud to be invited to appear on the ‘Today Show’ during the Australian Open as part of this promotion. We decided to hold our initial Sessions on Friday evenings in order to encourage locals for a strictly non-competitive, social “hit and giggle” after work on Fridays. I’m pleased to advise that we attracted 44 participants over the 3 sessions. Special thanks to Brian Trim, Vaughn Toomey, Eliza Johnson and Laura Camilleri for your support and enthusiasm in taking on this new program. Unfortunately, our OCS program was also cut short due to the Covid-19 virus restrictions. We hope to start the program again later in the year when the weather warms up.
This year will be my last term as President and also for Catherine Keegan as Secretary, we would encourage you or another member you know to consider taking on this role or any another committee position. I have personally found it to be a very rewarding experience to volunteer for the benefit of our great club. All Committee positions will be available for nomination and an election will be held during our Annual General Meeting later this year. Please let Catherine Keegan (Secretary) 0412 343 125 or myself know if you would like to directly discuss a committee position, any general club matter or if you have any ideas for our club’s improvement. Thank You.
Best wishes, try to remain active and stay safe.
Ray Dobson – President 0409 582 743
Competitions – Junior
Unfortunately, we had to suspend all of our competition play since mid-March as instructed by the various Associations based on directives from Banyule Council and the Victorian Government.
This season we had 9 Karingal Junior teams registered – as follows;
Saturday Morning (NEJTA) – Boys Sections: 4, 6, 12 & 17 and Girls Sections: 2, 5 & 11.
- Friday Night (DVTA) – Mixed Singles Sections: 1 & 4.
The Friday night competition is continuing to grow in interest for many players as an alternative to Saturday morning competition or simply as an extra competition.
We would like to congratulate Stella Snowden on representing the NEJTA in the Under 16’s team competing for the ‘Daphne Fancutt Shield’ in January. This annual event is a prestigious, long running Junior team competition between Tennis Associations throughout Melbourne.
Competitions – Open Age
This season Karingal had a total of 22 Open Age competition teams registered – as follows;
- Monday Night (DVTA) – Mixed Doubles – Section: 1
- Tuesday Morning (HDTA) – Women’s Doubles – Sections: 1, 3 & 4
- Tuesday Night (NENTG) – Men’s Doubles – Section: 3 & Men’s Vets – Sections: 2, 6, 7 & 8
- Wednesday Night (NENTG) – Women’s Doubles – Sections: 2, 7, 8-1, 8-2 & 10
- Thursday Morning (DVTA) – Women’s – Section 1
- Thursday Afternoon (Metro Masters) – Over 50’s Mixed Doubles – Section: 5
- Thursday Night (DVTA) – Men’s Doubles – Sections: 1 Blue & 1 Red, 3, 6 Blue & 6 Red, 8
** Non Competition – Tennis / Social Play options
**Available once current Restrictions on Court access and playing tennis are relaxed.**
** Ladies Social Tennis – Wednesday Mornings
A group of ladies meet every Wednesday morning to have a social hit of tennis between 9:00am – 12:00pm during school terms. Suitable for Mums with pre-school aged children as supervision is available while you play. $12.00 per session includes morning tea. Please contact Natalie Duffy on 0422 016 171 for more details.
** Social Tennis – Sunday Mornings
All members are welcome to play free Social tennis on Sunday mornings between 8:30am and 10:30am. Just turn up, introduce yourself and you will be welcomed to join in for a casual hit of either singles or doubles. For further details, please contact Vaughn Toomey on 0429 618 740.
Cameron Simon, Kevin Kelly and Catherine Keegan were awarded Life Membership status of our club at our 2019 Annual General Meeting. Thanks to you all for your significant contributions to our club in various voluntary roles over an extended period.
Successful Open Day
Our President, Ray Dobson welcomed special guests, the Mayor of Banyule Wayne Phillips and tennis legend John Fitzgerald and representatives from Tennis Victoria, at our very successful Open Day at the courts on Sunday February 10th, 2019. This was the official opening of our newly resurfaced synthetic courts. It was very pleasing that such a large number of members and guests enjoyed themselves with the many tennis activities and barbecue.
During the early afternoon we were treated to such a fascinating discussion with John Fitzgerald about his 30 odd years experiences at Wimbledon and the many stories about his role with our champion Davis Cup teams.
Such a big thanks to the marvelous help from Tennis Victoria and the many volunteers that made this day such a winner.
