Club History

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LIFE MEMBERS-

WENDY POYNER, REG HALL, JUDY CUTLER, CRAIG MORRIS, JUDY BROMILOW, SUE KELLEY, JULIE TREBLE, ANNE WALDRON, ALLISON WILSON, TERRY LUBCKE, GRAEME SHEARN, DONNA SCHOENMAEKERS

HISTORY OF GROVEDALE TENNIS CLUB-

Grovedale Tennis Club is located at Burdoo Reserve in Wingarra Drive Grovedale and is one of the largest clubs in Geelong.

April 20, 1970 Public Meeting held in the Grovedale Hall

It was decided that a Tennis Club be formed and election of Office-bearers

followed

President – Clive Perrett

Vice President – J Van Halen

Secretary – Barry Lamperd

Treasurer – Alan Pattison

Committee – D Ludbrook, B Donaldson, M Rau and H Rossack

It was then moved that the club be named the Grovedale & District Public Tennis

Club

October 1971 First team entered in B1 Grade in the Geelong & District Churches Association,

playing on courts hired at St Bernards.

Team consisted of: Wendy Poyner, Glad Martin, Heather Rossack (now

Trethowan), Carolyn Rowe, Ken Dew, Geoff Trethowan, Barry Lamperd and Clive

Perrett

September 1972 3 teams entered in Geelong & District Churches Association. 2 premierships (B1& B3)

Late 1972 The club, with the help of debentures from people in the area, raised $500 and with voluntary assistance graded an area of land in Wingarra Drive, and laid two bitumen courts

Jun/Jul 1973 Shelter Shed/Storeroom was built

August 1974 Final arrangements have been completed for the construction of 4 additional courts at Burdoo Reserve. Members who contributed towards the Advanced Fee Scheme thanked for their interest in enabling the club to raise their share of the project.

July 1975 Four new courts are completed

September 23, 1978 First court Lights are turned on

April 1980 Night Competition for Men – Mon/Tues nights – 8 teams – 32 players participating

August 1981 Life Membership presented to Wendy Poyner

February 1982 2 new courts completed (now courts 5&6)

August 1983 Life Membership presented to Reg Hall

December 1, 1984 Official Opening of the New Clubrooms. Opened by Reg Hall in recognition and appreciation of all his work on the new building

August 1987 Life Membership presented to Judy Cuttler

April 1995 25 year Celebration and Reunion

July 1997 Craig Morris presented Life Membership

July 2001 Julie Treble, Anne Waldron, Jenny Bromilow and Sue Kelley presented with Life

Memberships

July 2003 It was moved to affiliate with Tennis Geelong, and that Sat Senior and Junior teams would play their Summer Competitions

May 2005 Tony Johnston, Mens Night Convenor passed away

February 2006 Midweek Ladies transfer from Coast Association to Bellarine Peninsula Tennis Association

March 2006 Chris Tucker, former Junior Champion and son of former Junior Convenor, John Tucker passes away

August 2006 Alison Wilson (nee Pech) presented Life Membership

November 2006 Discussion regarding obtaining a limited liquor licence started

December 2006 Work begins on the bottom four courts for resurfacing and lighting

January 2007 Lights on courts 5&6, and wiring to courts 7&8 are completed

February 2007 Hold our first Trivia Night and raise almost $2,000, Courts are not finished for the recommencement of Saturday Pennant

May 2007 Synthetic courts are finally available for play for the commencement of the Winter Sat Pennant (yes it took 5 months). With this change, the responsibility of maintaining and replacement of the surface, when needed, fall back to the club,not council

October 2007 GWTA and Geelong Tennis merge to form Tennis Geelong Inc

October 2007 Application submitted for a Limited Liquor Licence

October 2007 Extension/decked area is completed in time for the start of Saturday Summer Pennant

November 2007 Letter was received from Peter and Marg Ward, neighbours of the club endorsing our application for the liquor licence

December 2007 Council advised that the light poles on courts 3&4(now 5&6) were unsafe and they needed to be removed. One of which was protruding through the roof of the new deck, so this would also need to be fixed once the pole was removed.

February 2008 Grovedale Secondary College introduces Tennis to its Sports Academy, and uses the Club, and Club Coach to run the program. Light poles for courts 3&4(now 5&6) are removed. The committee decides rather than replace these, that courts 7&8(now 3&4) will be lit earlier than planned. The total cost of the lights are paid for by the club ($20K)

March 2008 A working bee was held to paint the decking enclosure, put in the garden and level the paving (the painting alone took over 200 man hours)

April 2008 Liquor licence was granted

May 2008 Courts 7&8 (now 3&4) lights are completed and operational

June 2008 Purchase a bar fridge, and a bar is donated and installed

August 2008 Cameron Govan and Essential Tennis is appointed club coach and Junior Convenor. He introduces Wilson Pee Wee program to replace Racqueteers (yes he deserves a mention)

October 2008 Fundraising takes on a new meaning with the introduction of "The White Fridge". A constant available supply of chocolates, lollies, ice-cream, water and sports drinks mean that BBQ's are no required

December 2008 Letters sent to all Tennis Geelong clubs asking for ladies interested in a night competition to be run at Grovedale

January 2009 Courts 3&4(now 5&6) are resurfaced in plexiplave, and the fences replaced, with the access gates removed. This now starts the committee discussing the ability to extend the clubrooms to the north end of the building. Working bee is held to paint the entire inside of the clubrooms, and build a path and garden along the back of courts 5&6(now 1&2)

February 2009 A new honour board is installed in the clubrooms, dating back to the inception of the club in 1970. An open day is held to re-introduce the public to the club, and included the official opening of the new facilities by Craig Morris and Michael Crutchfield (Member for South Barwon). The event was attended by many, including local, state and federal politicians. Outdoor blinds were installed on the deck. Trivia Night was held at the club with tables inside and on the deck

March 2009 Ladies Night Pennant starts with 7 teams of 4

April 2009 An Over 45's social hit begins on Thursday mornings, Grovedale has a team graded in Section 1 for Winter for the first time is quite a few years

August 2009 Terry Lubcke is presented with Life Membership

January 2010 The trees in front of courts 1&2(now 7&8) are removed

March 2010 The entrance to courts 1&2(now 7&8) is tidied up with a path and garden beds

April 2010 Courts 1&2(now 7&8) are resurfaced with a sealed acrylic. The Club hosts its 40 th Anniversary June 2010 First discussion with Andy Richards regarding an extension to the clubrooms, and requirements for a power upgrade to replace lights on courts 3&4(now 5&6). Junior teams reach 18, and St Stephens is found as an option for extra courts

January 2011 Decide on a new logo

May 8, 2011 Open Day held

June 2011 Club website is setup: www.tennis.com.au\grovedaletc

May 2012 Courts 1&2(now 7&8) after many months of problems with slipping, are resurfaced. Lights on courts 3&4(now 5&6) are finished and in use

September 2012 Sub-committee formed to develop plans for clubroom extension

January 2013 Vending Machine installed

April 2013 First discussion with Darren Hall about clubroom extension

May 2013 Retaining wall behind courts 3&4(now 5&6) is built, Club holds its first Winter Raffle

July 2013 Defibrillator was purchased

July 19, 2013 Sarah Henderson visits the club

August 2013 Grovedale hosts 12&U Girls and Boys for Barwon in Vic Junior Pennant. First set of plans for the proposed extension are drawn

September 2013 The club's address is officially changed to 45 Wingarra Drive

October 2013 First order of the new club polo's are received

November 16 2013 AO Blitz, along with Jelena Dokic come to Grovedale (one of four venues in Geelong)

November 2013 The built in bar is completed

December 2013 Start to enquire about patching our synthetic courts are the baselines are wearing

April 2014 Proposal put to St Stephens for exclusive use of their courts, outside their own use, to which they agree

May 2014 Community Facilities Funding Project application successful for split systems to be installed

October 2014 Synthetic courts are in dire need of replacement – 3 years earlier than expected. $75K was available but quotes came in at $100K. Decision made to apply for a loan through Tennis Australia – if possible borrow extra to cover club requirement for building if successful in grant applications

December 2014 TA loan approved for court resurfacing and building contingency, Fob system is installed on external gate allowing members to access the courts without having to find keys

January 2015 CoGG provide $3500 for the split systems. Courts 5-8 are resurfaced

May 2015 GTC advised that $500K will be made available for the clubroom extension and lights for courts 1&2(now 7&8) from Community Concepts Program

May 2015 Friday Night Junior competition starts. Polar fleece vests added to our clothing range

August 2015 New costings for the proposed extension are much higher than originally quoted. Building needs to be scaled back, the best lighting option determined due to the potential need for a power upgrade. Decision made to put the lights on hold and focus on the building for now

October 2015 Light pole for courts 1&2(now 7&8) installed

November 2015 Life Membership presented to Graeme Shearn

December 2015 Fences at the back and side of court 5-8(now 1-4) replaced

January 2016 Retaining wall behind courts 3&4(now 5&6) is asphalted (2 years and 7 months after it was built!) Temporary fencing goes up in preparation for the commencement of building work, and the building is emptied

February 2016 St Stephens 3 asphalt courts are resurfaced in plexipave. Donate a Deckboard is launched, giving members the opportunity to directly contribute to the extension. Cricket and Football Clubs are kind enough to share their building with us during the building works. Club working bees to lay the new deck

October 2016 Official opening of the new clubrooms

November 2017 Life Membership presented to Donna Schoenmaekers

February 2019 Lights on courts 5 & 6 replaced with LED lights.