I am going to be doing the draw for the club tournament at the end of the week. If you do not want to take part in this please let me know. The final will be taking place on Saturday July 6th.The draw will be posted on the squash noticeboard inside the clubhouse.
As a result there will be a hiatus with the leagues for the next couple of months. When they return I thought about giving http://www.squashmatch.com/ a trial run. All you need to do is register and add yourself to the Brondesbury League. It is all online and they even have an iphone app. There is a cost of £5 each month but you can drop in and out of the league as you choose. The first month that we introduce it will be free.
The team are playing in the Middlesex Summer League and the first home game will be Thursday 23rd May. All the fixtures are up on the noticeboard. Come along and show your support at any of the home games!
It has been a while since the last club tournament so let's start thinking about a date which suits everyone, or as many people as possible -
23rd March
24th March
30th March
31st March
6th April
7th April
13th April
14th April
It would start late afternoon and be followed by drinks and food in the clubhouse.
Let me know which date suits you best and I will go with the most popular. I will also put this up on the noticeboard for those that don't have/check their emails.
There is also a number of social events happening at the club
Wednesday 6th March - Pie and Games night. There will be table tennis, card games, darts, and whatever other games are lying around the clubhouse. THe pies have been sourced by Carl whose reputation in the club is resting on the quality of these pies.
Saturday 9th March - Racketball tournament (from 4pm) and Quiz night (from 7:30pm). The racketball tournament is as frienly or competitive as you want it to be. The quiz on the other hand will definitely be competitive. It follows the format of Pointless where the least popular answer is the one you are looking for. Teams are to be made up of no more than 6 people and it costs £2 per person. Contact Julia ([email protected]) with your team, places are going fast so don't hang about.
As meetings go last Friday was a fairly relaxed affair. In order not to interrupt the table tennis and ale drinking it was kept as brief as possible. A short summary of what was talked about -
There are currently about 70 members, unfortunately we don't have any juniors but this is something which we are working on. Thanks to Steve for all that he has done for the club and for passing on all his know-how. He can still be found on the court or at the bar a few times a week.
A local school will be using the courts during off peak hours (once a week from 21st for a period of four weeks). This will be a bit of extra revenue for the club and it is also hoped it will introduce junior members.
The tennis coaches have also expressed an interest in using the squash courts in cases of extreme weather. Again this would be off-peak and they would have to vacate the courts should squash members wish to play. An agreement is going to be put in place to ensure the courts are properly looked after.
It has come apparent that the current booking system is not fit for purpose. A number of online booking systems available and I hope to make a decision shortly. I intend to have this implemented in the next month and will send out further communication in due course.
The courts are probably due for a bit of TLC. I intend to get quotes and see if the money is their for at least one of the courts. Carl also said he would research what is required to upgrade a squash court and see if we could do all, or some of it, ourselves in order to keep cost to a minimum. Any work will not be done until the summer months when the courts are a bit quieter.
The owners of this website have contacted me to see if we would be interested in using their site. It can be used to create a ranking system within a club or inter-club. It has only recently launched so don't let that put you off. It is free for the first six months so I see no harm in giving it a try.
https://www.squashchampions.com/
Lastly, and most importantly, there was a lively debate about the general cleanliness of the courts (see what you are missing out on not coming down on a Friday). The lack of brush/mop is a major contributing factor in this. I will look into buying one and it will be everyone's responsibility to give the courts a quick once over if they are looking dirty before/after your match.
There is probably more but I'll save that for another day. If you remind me I will at least know you have read to the bottom of this email If anyone has any ideas or questions surrounding the above then feel free to get in touch.
The new Squash Leagues for February are now up on the board. We now have 5 leagues up and would be happy to include any other members that wish to join in. It is the best way to meet up with fellow members and improve your squash at the same time.
Last month's league winners were Adam Tyson, Justin O'Dwyer, Ed Coventry in Leagues 1 - 3 respectively. No one played in League 4, so winners there then!
Please note that the flickering light problem is being looked at, and hopefully a solution will be found this week.
Enjoy the challenge and get playing your league games!
The new Squash Leagues are now up and running. The present leagues will run until end of November 2011, so get cracking and arrange your games now. The leagues are shown on the board in Squash Courts Lobby, showing names and their contact numbers, so no excuse now!
I will be looking to run a Squash Tournament on Saturday 3rd December 2011, so book it in your diaries now. Further details to follow soon.
If you wish to join in the next leagues starting 1st December 2011 and ending 8th January 2012 (to allow for your Xmas/New Year holidays!!), please let me know, my email address is [email protected]
Enjoy the leagues and make sure you are around for the December Tournament!!
Annual Renewal of Membership: 1 Oct 2011 - 30 Sept 2012
Dear Squash Members,
May I ask all members that have still to pay their subscriptions for the new season to do so as it is now well overdue!
You may renew your annual subscription online at www.Brondesburysc.co.uk You should already have received an email from the new system (if you have the supplied the club with an email address) which includes your user-id and password. You can then login to the site, click on Your Membership Account in the User Menu, where you will find a renewal notice. Renew your membership as it stands. You have the option of paying either on-line by card or of indicating you will be sending me a cheque. If paying by cheque please remember to make it payable to 'Brondesbury Squash Club', and leave it in my mail pigeonhole inside the Clubhouse.
Please note that we are now running Squash leagues from 1st November 2011, so if interested let me know.
I am always looking for new ideas - and help of course!! Enjoy your squash!
