Chairperson                                  Karen O’Sullivan

Club Captain                                 Declan O’Driscoll

Coaching                                        Louise White

                                                          Margaret Ryan

                                                          Jennifer Colford

Child Protection                           Noreen Kelly

                                                          Declan O’Driscoll

Sunday Morning                           John Powell

                                                          Jeff Gonet

Social Media                                 Tommy Dunne

Secretary                                       Paddy Duggan

Social events                                Mags Murphy

Treasurer                                        Oscar Deacy    

 

Chairperson – The Chair welcomed all to the meeting and expressed gratitude to all members of the club 

expressed to the committee who have agreed to remain in office for the coming year committee and to Mags Ryan who unfortunately cannot continue for the next year.

Club activities, which highlighted the active involvement and commitment of members were outlined, – club nights, comp nights, Sunday mornings, club monthly competitions, singles sessions, coaching for juniors and adults, matchplay for juniors, camps for juniors, external graded comps. The benefit of grants received in developing involvement in tennis and assisting the clubs social responsibility were also highlighted; grants were received from Tennis Ireland – Enjoy Tennis, the Community Integration Fund and Age Opportunity Grant. The club recently invested in Pickleball equipment which gives the opportunity to club members and non-members play indoors when courts are not available or weather is not suitable for tennis. Pickleball is currently available in the community hall on Tuesday afternoons and Friday evenings.

Our engagement with the Sports Complex, ( Clonakilty Community Sports Association) has yielded some benefits; longer opening hours during the weekend for competitions up to 6 o clock, defined opening hours for Sat and Sunday, 10.00 until 4 o clock, commitment to  rejuvenate the courts and replace the perimeter netting. . A grant has been acquired to put LED lighting on the courts and this is due to be completed at the end of this summer. On the longer term the Sports Complex agreed to consider resurfacing and drainage of the tennis courts, to examine possibility of better toilet and shower facilities,  opening hours during bank holidays and holiday periods

The strength of the interest in tennis can be judged by the year on year increase in membership In response to this positive trend we have a responsibility to constantly improve the facilities, activities and overall development of the club. To assist our development  the club will enter the Tennis Ireland Clubmark award programme which is the National Governing Bodies Club Accreditation Programme The programme is accredited at three levels (Bronze, Silver, Gold) and aims to identify, develop, accredit and recognise high quality tennis clubs and their contribution to the development of our sport in Ireland. Some sample targets within Club Mark will include Organisation & Management, Facilities, Safety & Child Welfare, Play, Scoring & Competition, Workforce and Equality.

Club Captain – The meeting were presented with a summary of the clubs involvement in Munster Tennis Winter League and other Tennis Ireland events. This year saw a huge increase in the number of teams entering competitions. The success achieved by the many teams, grades 6 to 3, was impressive especially reaching the final of the grade 3 ladies competition. This is a reflection of the competitive spirit emerging in the club and the desire to establish the club as a worthy competitor. Members were also encouraged to take part in open competitions of which the schedules are available on Tennis Ireland website. 

Junior and Adult Coaching – The presentation outlined the extent of coaching activities that took place during the year involving 4 coaches who provided sessions for children and adults. Many coaching session were given across all age groups. Adult supervision during children’s session is critical so there is a need to have sufficient adults available for this role.

Sunday Morning Tennis – Sunday morning tennis is proving to be not only a tennis opportunity but also a social morning when post playing coffees are enjoyed. These Sunday sessions are also encouraging new club members.

Child Protection Officer – The meeting was informed of the importance of our compliance with Tennis Ireland’s Child Protection requirements. It was proposed to include our Codes of Conduct in our constitution thus amending to include our compliance therein.  We need to carry out the annual risk assessment in June.

Social Officer –  Meeting given an overview of last year’s social events Friday monthly competitions, BBQ, and social evenings in a local refreshment centre. 

Social Media and Digital presence – The gathering were treated to a very informative presentation on the club’s on line membership, information and communication app. ClubZap. Our new website was also introduced in this presentation by Tommy. Further info regarding these new digital apps will be shared on our club WhatsApp with our membe

Treasurer – The treasure’s report outlined the strength of our finances which is driven by increased membership, coaching and summer camp revenue and grants. 

Secretary – Briefly outlined the frequent and necessary correspondence with the Sports Complex in support of improving facilities and access to the courts.

AOB – 

Propose and second existing committee members to continue as members of  the committee. Carried

Propose and second five new members to the committee. Carried

We welcome Claire, Dee, Rachel, Tim and Tony to the committee of Clonakilty Tennis Club.

The role of the existing committee members and the new members will be considered at the next committee meeting.

Ratifying the inclusion of the Codes of Conduct in our Constitution. Carried

The constitution to be fully revised by a sub group following next committee meeting. Agreed

The above were unanimously supported and agreed.

It was suggested that: 

Additional club competitions to be run on either Saturdays or Sundays so as to have a full day of tennis and as a social event. These could be extended to non-members in time. Carried.

Prizes, t-shirts, caps, key rings etc., should be given for competitions, especially for juniors. Carried.

The proposal that the club should participate in next year’s St Patrick’s Day parade was carried.

The possibility of running a charity tennis event was discussed. The committee will consider this suggestion at its next meeting.

Social events like night in Fiddlers and summer BBQ to continue as they are a great success and a good club social event. Agreed

Query re country membership to be considered by the committee.

The meeting then concluded.