Website of the Enniskillen Lawn Tennis Club - 127 Years of Tennis
Building on the work of the previous committee we have taken great strides in 2007 and are ideally poised to bring the development of Enniskillen Lawn Tennis Club to new heights during 2008. This year has been a memorable one on a number of fronts:
Membership is an important measure of the Club's success. During 2007 we have increased adult membership by 17% to 115 from 98 in 2005/2006, whilst Junior numbers are recorded at 89. We have further recruitment plans in place with corporate membership and other partnerships being considered under the direction of our newly appointed Director of Tennis. We have also made Direct Debit payment available for next year's membership to help spread the burden of the annual subscription.
Club Nights continue to be an integral part of the Club's activities providing us with the lifeblood needed to sustain membership levels whilst giving non-members an opportunity to sample the sport in a non-competitive environment.
With the Club Coach available throughout the year members have access to one of the highest qualified instructors in the country. We have secured his services as Director of Tennis thus ensuring this important resource is maintained. The addition of Cardio Tennis further enhances the package available to members.
In 2007 we forged several new partnerships with Donnelly Bros, Belleek and Bank of Ireland amongst others. Existing Sponsorships were retained in Balcas and dreamoverseasproperties.com.
ELTC Juniors continue to excel at NI and national level. Some of our more accomplished players have received rankings from Tennis Ireland and as such are the perfect role models for aspiring minors attending our coaching sessions on Friday evenings and now Saturday mornings.
Club competitions and tournaments have been very well supported by members and visiting clubs. Their success is testimony to the level of devotion, organisational skills and commitment exercised by the Club Executive. We also continue to feature heavily in the honours lists at Western League events.
2007 was a particularly special year for ELTC as it marked the 125th Anniversary of the Club's inauguration. To celebrate this special year a Gala Ball was held at the Lough Erne Golf Resort. It was an overwhelming success with 174 guests including a large percentage of the current membership augmented by many who had contributed to the Club over the years. Other social events included a prize giving night at Saddlers Restaurant and several other minor events organised by the industrious social committee.
Links with other Clubs have been created in 2007. The most notable example of this being the one day event in May when visiting players from ESB LTC (Dublin) crossed rackets with a local selection. We plan to expand on this theme in 2008 adding a Sligo selection to the mix.
The Future for Enniskillen Lawn Tennis Club remains bright. Increasing our membership is a key focus for 2008 and Friday 30th November provides us with an ideal opportunity to encourage former members to rejoin. Not only will it provide us with more competitors it will also ensure the long term survival of the organisation.
In the coming month’s we plan to increase the value to ELTC membership through a series of initiatives designed to improve facilities.
Development Plans for the Club include
We will seek grant assistance from Awards for All to help implement these changes but regardless of the success or otherwise of this request we intend taking the steps necessary to bring about the changes necessary to keep the Club viable, sustainable and progressive.
C Mac Mahon