NEW MEMBER INFO | tennis-club

Welcome to the Club!

We are a small but progressive tennis club, with membership open to everyone with an interest in playing tennis.

Full Membership

As a Club member you are entitled to play on the courts at any time (subject to availability) without paying the normal court fees charged by the Council, which owns the courts and pavilion.

We do not issue membership cards but we provide a list of members to the Council and the Caretaker at Pavilion. You may be asked your name and to provide photo ID by the caretaker at the pavilion.

Summer Visitors tickets

We provide a Summer Visitor scheme and users can enjoy limited membership rights from mid-June to mid-September. Membership can then be extended to full member status for those who wish to play on over the winter.

Booking courts

Courts can be pre-booked from April – Sept through the Pavilion Caretaker (028 4277 2581) during normal hours (Mon-Fri 10am to sunset, Sat 10am to 6pm). Over the winter months the courts are closed to the public but the Club plays all year round.

Access to courts outside normal hours

The complex is normally closed on Sundays and all public holidays. However, Adult members of the Club can ‘purchase’ a key to access the courts (but not the pavilion) outside normal hours. A charge is made for the key which must be returned at the end of the membership period. This key opens the padlock on the outside gate. Please keep this gate shut and lock up when you leave.

Charges for non-members

Non-members playing with members must pay the normal court hourly rates (except during club-play sessions when the courts are reserved for the Club and guests). The Club charges visitors £5 per club-play session, which is waived for the first visit of a potential new member.

Communications with members

The normal method of communication with members by the Club Committee is by email, so please email us with any changes in your email address. We also have several WhatsApp groups including one for adult clubplay which enables everyone to say if they are coming and who else is planning to play. Also groups for league teams. You will need to join WhatsApp on your phone and then be invited to join the group.

Website

Information is also posted on our website at www.cloughey.org.uk and the password to access member’s pages is “baseline”. If you do not use email or the internet, important notices about club matters are also posted on our notice-board in Cloughey Pavilion beside the bowling green.

Playing opportunities – Club-play 3 times a week!

We organize 3 club-play sessions a week – all year round. These are times when at least 2 courts are reserved for the club. Mixed ability Clubplay on Tuesdays 7-9pm & Saturdays 2-5pm is for players of all standards and is a great opportunity for beginners and new members to meet other members and playing partners. There are guidelines to ensure that everyone gets a fair share of playing time, and refreshments are sometimes organized on-court or in the Pavilion.

Coaching groups for Beginners, Improvers and Returners

A few lessons from a qualified tennis coach will greatly improve your game and enable you to enjoy playing tennis to your full potential. New members who are beginners can have several FREE group coaching sessions to get them started and up to a level where they are happy to participate in clubplay.

Regular coaching courses for beginners/improvers/returners are organised usually on Monday evenings. We are currently seeking a new coach to take adult coaching for intermediate/advance drills on Thursday evenings. Contact Alistair for further details and to discuss your coaching requirements.

We also have a ball-machine that can be hired by members along with a bucket of trainer balls (some training in the operation of the ball-machine is required) at a cost of £3 per hour. If you would like to try out the ball machine contact Alistair who will show you how to use it safely and effectively.

Friday morning group

There is a Woman’s Friday morning group playing between 9am and 12am on Fridays (with break for coffee cake !!).

Private coaching

Club Coaching Director Alistair Dunn is a qualified PTR and Tennis Ireland Level One coach and you can book individual lessons with him if you want to improve your game quickly. Fee is £15 per lesson (£20 for non-members)

Balls provided

The Club provides balls for all club-play sessions and a bucket of good practice balls is available in the courtside storage box for members to use at any time. Ring/text 07801-374444 for the lock code.

Organise your own games

As a Club member you can book courts by phone (outside the Clubplay times) and arrange your own games with other members or non-members. Playing regularly once or twice a week will enable you to develop your game quickly and to meet other players. Phone Caretaker in pavilion 028 42772581 to organise.

Inter-club competitions and tournaments

As a Tennis Ireland affiliated club, we enter teams in the several leagues including the Evergreens (over 40s) Mens and Womens, 2 teams in the Summer Mixed League and the Winter floodlit league. We will now be able to enter the main leagues as a minimum of 3 courts is required for home games. We also arrange occasional friendly inter-club games with other clubs including St Pats N’Ards, Donaghadee, and Helen’s Bay. This is an opportunity for improving and older players to experience competition in a friendly atmosphere.

Think about joining as a family?

If you join as a family and then you can play anytime with your own children – lots of practice with an adult is the best way for them to improve. Download the membership form from the website.

Help us make a better club

Now that we have 3 excellent new courts, our aim is to develop a fully-fledged tennis club providing all-year-round tennis at affordable rates for all sections of the local community. Please help us recruit new members by bringing along your friends, neighbours and relatives.

More information on the Club and our rules and guidelines can be found on our website and also on the club noticeboard in the Pavilion.

Any questions – Contact us… please feel free to ask us to explain anything you want to know about the Club.

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