NEWSLETTER SUMMER 2012 www.saletennisclub.com

In This Edition 60th Club Championships Decided

Life Members Day - Sunday September 9

MLC Tennis Hot Shots

Summer Pennant & Player & Team of the Year

Corey Scott Attends Indigenous Tennis Training Coaches Corner

Gippsland Premier League

Junior Report

Recycling Initiative

Vale Tom Downie

Roland Garros Visit

Out & About

Calendar of Events & News Items & Email Addresses

Sponsors

Ashwood Homes Brown/Wigg Bruce Carter Fencing

Dahlsens David’s Menswear Dyers Gippsland Transport

Gippsland Custom Pools Glencoe Lime Herron Todd White

Howard & Schuback Ideal Hearing John Elliman Real Estate

Kwik Tip Bins Lakeside Club Lazzaro Bros Fruit & Veg

Leemack Clean Pantac Security Riviera Signs

Sale Central Storage Sale Turf Club Spider Sprayers

Star Hotel Subway The Paint Rig

Turnbull Toyota Union Hydraulics Warren Graham & Murphy

WHK Accountants

60th

Club Championships Decided Sunday, November 25 saw the running of the 60th Sale Tennis Club Championships. While our Club is actually 62 years old we have not had a Club Championship every single year and this makes 2012 our Diamond Jubilee Club Championships. At the end of the 60th Championships we had a new Ladies Open Champion with Lexie Joyce taking out her first Open title. By contrast our Men’s Champion, Abe Schuback, backed up for his 6th successive title.

Lexie is the third different winner in 3 years and only the 18th winner of the Sharpe Cup for the Ladies Open Champion, a very select group. Her opponent in the final was Karen Brown, herself a 5 time champion.

Abe remains the 17th winner of the WF McLoghlin Trophy after his victory over Tom Wilson. This was Tom’s first final in the Club Championships and on form will not be his last. These Club Championships are not shared around that much are they?

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Left Open Women’s Champion, Lexie Joyce with the Sharpe Cup. Right Open Men’s Champion Abe Schuback with the WF McLoghlin Cup.

Lexie Joyce (left) and Karen Brown, battle it out in the Open Women’s Final Below Left. Tom Wilson & (R) Nick Board during their Open Men’s Semi Final

Apart from winning the Open Women’s Championship Lexie also took out the 18 & Under Girls Singles, defending her title from 2011, as well as the Open Mixed Doubles with Abe Schuback.

Abe also backed up his Open Men’s Championship with a win in the Open Men’s Doubles, pairing with Nick Board and the Open Mixed with Lexie Joyce.

In the 18 & Under Boys Singles Cohan Schuback backed up his victory of 2011 by overcoming Bayley Hill in the final. Cohan also played Bayley in the 16 & Under Boys and successfully defended his 2011 title.

Full results were as follows:

EVENT WINNER RUNNER UP Open Women’s Singles Lexie Joyce Karen Brown Open Men’s Singles Abe Schuback Tom Wilson Open Men’s Doubles Abe Schuback Tom Wilson Nick Board Lee Schuback Open Mixed Doubles Abe Schuback Nick Board Lexie Joyce Karen Brown Graded Men’s Singles Robin Lowe Mark Di Pietro Graded Mixed Doubles Mark Di Pietro Russell Heathcote Karen Deschepper Karen Pollett 18 & Under Boys Singles Cohan Schuback Bayley Hill 18 & Under Girls Singles Lexie Joyce Laura Jones 16 & Under Boys Singles Cohan Schuback Bayley Hill 16 & Under Girls Singles Holly Howes Laura Jones 14 & Under Boys Singles Bayley Hill Taylor Stephenson 14 & Under Girls Singles Laura Jones Bridgett Hanratty 14 & Under Goys D’bles Bayley Hill Daniel Brown Taylor Stephenson Nab Mundunna 12 & Under Boys Singles Taylor Stephenson Charlie Harrison 12 & Under Girls Singles Bridgett Hanratty Stephanie Flood 12 & Under Boys D’bles Taylor Stephenson Charlie Pritchett Charlie Harrison Ben Elliott 12 & Under Girls D’bles Meg Jones Claire Brown Tilly Gordyn Stephanie Flood 12 & Under Mixed D’bles Charlie Harrison Daniel Brown Bridgett Hanratty Meg Jones 10 & Under Boys Singles Hunter Pearce Josh Lyons 10 & Under Girls Singles Claire Brown Tilly Gordyn 10 & Under Girls D’bles Tilly Gordyn Emily Elliott Claire Brown Tahlia Hill 10 & Under Mixed D’bles Hunter Pearce Josh Lyons Tilly Gordyn Tahlia Hill “Thanks” to all members who participated in our 60th Club Championships, both junior and senior. Special thanks go to those players who “stepped up” to fill spots to ensure that all finals were contested. Our 2012 Club Championships were organised by Abe Schuback and Nick Board. Without their efforts there would be no Championships so from all members we say a big “Thank You”.

2012 Junior and Senior Club Championship Winners & Runners Up

Life Members Day – Sunday September 9 Our 8th Life Members Day was held on Sunday, September 9. Overall it was another successful day with a great showing from both the Flint and Best families. Unfortunately due to some very poor weather the numbers were down a bit from the previous 2 years. (Or was it due to Sandi Elliman being in Queensland and not making any vanilla slice?) At the end of play it had proven to be a very memorable day for the Best Family with the mother and son combination of Sue Jones taking the Keith Best Memorial Trophy and and Matt Jones the Ian Flint Memorial Trophy. In a first for Life Members Day Monami Tobiyama defended her Monica Best Memorial Trophy from 2011.

Thank you to everyone who made a plate or dessert and big thanks to Murray Fitzclarence, Di Arnot and Mark Elliman for all of the organisation on the day.

JUNIORS Monica Best Memorial Trophy

1st - Monami Tobiana 2nd - Jade Hutton 3rd - Ella Baker-Horan Life Member and Sale Tennis Club stalwart Don Schuback presents the trophies to Ella, Jade and Monami.

MEN Ian Flint Memorial Trophy 1st - Matt Jones 2nd - Kurt Best and Mark Elliman 3rd - Craig Pitt and Rod Cook Betty Flint presents the trophies to Kurt Best, Craig Pitt, Matt Jones, Rod Cook and Mark Elliman.

WOMEN Keith Best Memorial Trophy 1st - Sue Jones 2nd - Kate Hanratty 3rd - Holly Jones Kurt Best presents the winners prizes to Kate Hanratty, Holly Jones and Sue Jones.

MLC Tennis Hot Shots

At MLC Tennis Hot Shots, children will:

play with scaled equipment that is appropriate to their age, size and ability

meet new friends, have fun and stay healthy

develop new skills and coordination

have the opportunity to play in challenge events

be presented with a T-shirt when they enrol for one term of MLC Tennis Hot Shots

graduate to playing on a full-size court through the “learning to play” pathway.

MLC Tennis Hot Shots is delivered each Saturday morning of the summer pennant season by the team at TopSpin Tennis. If you are interested in enrolling your child please contact Nick on 5144 1345 or nick@topspintennis.net.au

MLC Tennis Hot Shots is the fun way for kids to learn how to play tennis. Smaller courts, nets, racquets and low-compression balls make learning easy and give younger players the chance to serve, rally and score right from the first time they play. Through the use of scaled court sizes and low-compression balls, kids learn to serve, rally and score in a game that is appropriate to their developmental needs.

Saturday Summer Pennant Saturday Pennant is well under way and this season Sale has teams in both Gippsland Premier League and Wellington Gippsland Tennis Association. It is encouraging to see that almost all of our teams are in the finals mix at this early stage. Our teams are:

Gippsland Premier League

Sale Star Hotel Sale Herron Todd White Abe Schuback Josh Deschepper Nick Board Mark Elliman Karen Brown Bree Kaandorp Cohan Schuback Bradley Olsson Lexie Joyce Paige Wilson Section 1

Sale Megasports Sale John Elliman Real Estate Tom Wilson Aaron Kennedy Harry Kaandorp Michael Hewitt Lee Schuback Aaron Patten/Murray Fitzclarence Jodie Poole/Bree Kaandorp Jacky Richards Debbie Kaandorp Emma Nowak/Carmel elliott Leanne Wilson Di Arnot/ Linda Rawnson

Section 3

Sale WHK Sale Subway Mark Di Pietro Colin Bath Paul Egan Tony Taylor Ryan Maynard Clark Hillsley Karen Descheppper Celeste Jackson Sharyn Treasure Kate Hanratty Yaeko Tobiyama/Michelle Shanahan Suzanne Ross

Ladders as at the end of November are:

Sale Central Storage Player & Team of the Year We are delighted that Sale Central Storage return for season 2012/13 as the sponsor of the Sale Tennis Club Player and Team of the Year.

Team of the Year Sale WHK 144.8 Sale Megasports 132.0 Sale Star Hotel 122.2 Sale Subway 89.0 Sale John Elliman Real Estate 78.2 Sale Herron Todd White 72.8

Section 1 Maffra XR8’s 48 Sale Megasport 44.5 Maffra GT’s 44.5 Nambrok 44 Seaspray 32.5 Sale John Elliman Real E 32.5 Heyfield 27

Section 2 Sale WHK 52.5 Heyfield White 43.5 Sale Subway 42.5 Stratford 41.5 Maffra Escort 40.5 Seaspray 35.5 Heyfield Blue 34 Nambrok 32.5 Heyfield Kangaroos 27.5

Section 3 Maffra Model T 49.5 Maffra Fairlane 45 Rockley Aces 39 Longford 2 38 Longford 1 35.5 Rockley Raps 24

Corey Scott Attends Indigenous Tennis Training “On the 20th and the 21st of October I went down to Melbourne for an indigenous training session to do training with Evonne Goolagong Cawley and her husband Roger Cawley and her brother Ian Goolagong and a few other coaches at Albert Park Tennis Centre. We started at 2:30 pm and finished at 5:00 pm. When we were at the tennis centre first we had a warm up; we had to run around the courts a few times and do a few stretches. After our warm up we had to pick a partner and had a 20 minute hit because the coaches wanted to see our tennis skills. After our hit the coaches put us into groups of 4, they put us in a group of about the same hitting skills then we had 4 on a court then we practiced our volleys, smash returns, forehands, backhands of a while and played a few fun games.

Male Player of the Year Female Player of the Year

1. Lee Schuback * 206 Karen Deschepper 174 2. Harry Kaandorp * 200 Celeste Jackson * 147 3. Paul Egan 192 Debbie Kaandorp * 122 4. Mark Di Pietro 181 Kate Hanratty * 119 5. Abe Schuback 154 Jodie Poole * 117 6. Aaron Kennedy * 138 Sharyn Treasure 116 7. Nick Board 134 Yaeko Tobiyama 107 8. Cohen Schuback 127 Karen Brown 106 9. Tom Wilson * 126 Suzanne Ross 98 10. Mark Elliman 117 Linda Rawnson 86

* Some score sheets incomplete

Then the next day when we got to the tennis courts at 9:30 am we had a warm up then we got straight into having a hit with a group of 6 because we only had 3 courts to use. First we were hitting forehands, backhands and volleys and played a few games and finished about 12:30 pm on Sunday.” By Corey Scott

Term 4 has been sensational; it’s amazing what a bit of sunshine does to tennis players.

We would like to take this chance to introduce some new programs that will be running in 2013

CARDIO TENNIS…..being introduced into the Sale Tennis Club, this is a fast paced cardio session done on a tennis court with tennis equipment and done to music. There will be 3 sessions running per week so please find out more.

LADIES SOCIAL TENNIS…..is back due to popular demand, take the time to practice, learn and have a coffee afterwards.

TOURNAMENTS….. The GOAT Squad will be travelling to Melbourne for the Victorian Schoolboys & Schoolgirls Championships later this month and we wish them the best of luck – see full details below.

The Gippsland Grand Slam is also going to be played in December (22nd & 23rd) and we are looking forward to seeing which local player takes out the championship.

It’s going to be BUSY, BUSY, BUSY.

Goat Squad Tournament At the completion of every year Tennis Australia holds their annual Victorian Schoolboys and Schoolgirls Championships. It is their most prestigious tournament on the tennis calendar.

I have been taking players to it over the past 5 years and it is always a great experience for all players. It is held at the Boorondara Tennis Centre from December 17 to 21.

This year the GOAT Squad has been invited to attend. The trip includes:

Bus travel to and from Melbourne.

4 nights’ accommodation in Richmond.

Entry fees

All breakfasts and lunches.

Training every morning.

Full supervision.

Challenge matches at the completion of the tournament against Melbourne Squad players.

Players confirmed as attending are Bayley Hill, Taylor Stephenson, Thomas Foley, Jack Foley, Laura Jones, Hunter Pearce and Ben Shanahan. This is a great opportunity for players to play against the best Victoria has to offer and all payers will benefit from the experience. The draw will also have full consolation events so all players will get at least 2 matches per day. For further details please contact Nick Board on 5144 1345.

Please check the website for upcoming events www.topspintennis.net.au

Gippsland Premier League The Gippsland Premier League (GPL) was borne out of a perceived need to provide a Gippsland wide opportunity in which top players in East and Central Gippsland aspire to compete. Sporadic efforts in recent years had proven unsuccessful in obtaining a sustained competition. The GPL is a joint endeavour of the two Regional Tennis Councils as opposed to individual clubs and is a tennis product offering different alternatives than traditional formats. Preparations commenced in earnest in February 2012 gathered opinions, before a short season senior and junior format was decided upon. This was put to clubs and players and the six nominated teams set out to contest the first season. Some minor alterations to the playing format since round one have proven popular, such as joining the senior and junior divisions into one. Sale Tennis Club has been awarded the right to host the first playoff finals on 15 December. In terms of outcomes to date, clearly the first outcome that comes to mind is getting it up at all, as there were times of immense doubt in light of the view in some circles that GPL represented a threat to current traditional competitions. On the contrary, it has transpired that a fair number of GPL players were not going to play in the traditional Saturday pennants anyway for various reasons, and the competition has thrown these players back in the spotlight and may act as a trigger to other players to return to the game. Where more players aspire to represent their club in GPL, it is hoped that excess numbers could spill back into traditional pennants in a win-win for Clubs and Regions. Interest of the media in the GPL has been most pleasing, with radio and television interviews and reports, and a good take up by newspapers. The competition has been a terrific public relations success for the game in both Regions. The most satisfying and surprising outcome has been the support, thanks and congratulations of a number of players and officials. Further changes to, and even expansion of, the GPL may be seen in the summer of 2013/14.

However for all the positives to date, these will come to nothing if the post-xmas season doesn’t get up. The six week 2013 Summer GPL format has been resolved with one change, with junior division now playing one of their rubbers with a senior division player. It is pleasing this suggestion has actually come from some of our top players who want to pass their experience on to their juniors. A “Gippsland Grand Prix of Tennis” weekend on 2-3 February has been proposed as a precursor to set off the new pennant season. Up for grabs are a Saturday Singles Cup open to GPL players and those not committed to traditional pennant play, and a Sunday Teams Cup open to all Gippsland clubs. Work has already commenced on a mid-year GPL season, which may prove challenging, but new tennis products have to be investigated to bring players back to our game. Sunday play is not out of the question, and there continues to be a hope for at least one additional Central Gippsland club to join in future seasons.

The GPL ladder standings at the end of November.

Junior Report Our Junior teams are off to a great start to the 2012/13 WGTA season. We were delighted that the total participants in all junior teams was up for 2012/13, the first increase in some years, Our teams are as follows: Section 1 Cook Downie Hart . Jack Foley Thomas Foley Bayley Hill Victor Forcadela Ben Mogridge Liam Emms Holly Howes Gus Leemon Tim van Emmerik Laura Jones Meg Mogridge Jamie Mitchell Section 3 Section 5 Board Brock Dosser Taylor Stephenson Ben Shanahan Liam Hanratty Corey Scott Daniel Brown Charlie Harrison Ali Taylor Louis Jones Anuradha Mudunna Megan Gordyn Hamish Telfer Chandler Hollands Janine Cortejos Bridgit Hanratty Meg Jones Ella Baker-Horan

Section 6 Section 7 Rawnson Schuback Gerrand Joel Anderson Ben Elliott Cadyn Richards Hunter Pearce Jack McCaughey Matthew Flood Ronan Murphy Charlie Pritchett Campbell Telfer Joshua Lyons Matt Jensen William Johnson Stephanie Flood Claire Brown Emily Elliott Tilly Gordyn Tahlia Hill Nicole Skehan Section 8 Krusic Smalley Zac Levey Finn Stephenson Balin Greenwood Max Lazzaro Lilly Eustace Fergus Grubb Katy Klose Elana Krcevinac Lauren Richards Sarah treasure Ella Johnson Taryn Grubb Simone Jensen Lily McCaughey

Chandler Hollands

Ella Baker-Horan

Members of Section 5 Team Dosser in action at Sale

Ladders as at the end of November are:

Australian Open MLC Kids Tennis Day 2013 MLC Kids Tennis Day will be on the 12th of January, 2013 with Melbourne Park set to become a giant playground for thousands of kids on the Saturday before the start of the Australian Open.

“Nab” Mudunna

Bridget Hanratty

Section 1 Maffra Tim Tam 37 Heyfield 34 Maffra Royal 33 Stratford Prince 26 Sale Cook 26 Maffra Mint Slice 23 Stratford Wilson 22 Sale Downie 16 Sale Hart 13

Section 3 Maffra Choc Ripple 34 Sale Board 32 Longford 29 Maffra Yo Yo’s 26 Maffra Monte Carlo 25 Briagolong 4

Section 4 Maffra Iced Vo Vo’s 42 Maffra Kingston 37 Stratford Nike 28 Maffra Scotch Finger 22 Nambrok 13 Stratford Adidas 8

Section 5 Sale Dosser 41 Maffra Anzacs 36 Briagolong 30 Longford 30 Maffra Choc Chips 29 Sale Brock 26 Nambrok 19 Stratford 9

Section 6 Sale Rawnson 39 Sale Schuback 32 Maffra Tic Tocks 29 Longford 25 Heyfield 15

Section 8 Maffra Jam Fancies 39.5 Sale Krusic 36 Maffra Tiny Teddies 31.5 Stratford 30 Heyfield 24 Sale Smalley 19.5 Nambrok 13.5

Youngsters aged 10-and-under will take to the courts and participate in a range of activities, spreading the tennis fever only days before the start of the first Grand Slam of the season. Who knows, maybe Australia’s next big star will be among them. The event, featuring a range of the world’s best tennis players along with Australian celebrities - such as AFL footballers, sportspersons and actors - will help promote MLC Tennis Hot Shots, a national program aimed at developing young kids and sparking their interest in tennis. Tennis Australia Hot Shots leader Craig Morris said the day was a fantastic opportunity for children to step on to the courts and feel a part of the Grand Slam atmosphere. “We want to get families and especially young kids on court at the Open, see their heroes, and to really soak up the atmosphere before the tournament starts. We want to really drive the kids and to get them feeling like they’re the stars, and start to develop that passion for tennis,” he said. Twelve courts will be available for kids to have a hit, each one guided by tennis coaches and equipped with racquets and specialised tennis balls. Headlining the day is the exhibition on Margaret Court Arena kicking off at 11.30 am, which will host some of the world’s most established tennis players alongside popular Australian identities. The exhibition will also give kids the chance to be chosen from the crowd and participate in activities and competitions on court in front of over 6000 spectators. It will also be streamed live on the big screen in Garden Square for those who miss out on a seat in Margaret Court Arena. MLC Hot Shots will put on a demonstration, before the big names take to the court, to showcase and familiarise the public with the program. The entertainment also includes the MLC Autograph Island, tennis racquet stringing demonstrations and the chance for kids to take a photo of themselves with the tournament trophies the Norman Brooks Trophy and the Daphne Ackhurst Trophy. This major focus on kid’s involvement in tennis is a part of a nationwide push to introduce young children to the sport in a way that is fun and inclusive. Gates open at 8.30 am and admission is by gold coin donation in support of the Australian Tennis Foundation.

John Fitzgerald Cup

Tennis East Gippsland Junior Circuit If there was ever any doubt as to the future of Sale Tennis Club you only need to look at the current standings on the Tennis East Gippsland Junior Masters Circuit scoreboard to see that things look very bright.

Bairnsdale will host the third TEG Junior Points Tournament on December 9 (entries close online on December 7) with the event open to players of all standards.

Current Sale players in the Top 8, who will then be eligible to participate in the final in 2013 are as follows:

Division Ranking & Name Boys 10 & Under 1. Josh Lyons 2.Hunter Pearce 4. Matthew Flood Girls 10 & Under 3. Tahlia Hill Boys 12 & Under: 1. Taylor Stephenson 5. Charlie Pritchett Girls 12 & Under: 4. Stephanie Flood Boys 14 & Under: 2. Tom Foley 3. Bayley Hill Girls 14 & Under: 1. Laura Jones 6. Stephanie Flood Girls 16 & Under: 2. Jamie Mitchell

An East Gippsland team competed in the John Fitzgerald Cup played in Wodonga 28 and 29 October. 10 teams from clubs in regional Victoria competed in the event. The boys finished second in their group and finished fourth overall. Left to right Tom Supplitt (Bairnsdale) Harvey Brooker (Bairnsdale) Bayley Hill (Sale) Thomas Foley (Sale)

Sale Tennis Club was also represented by Laura Jones and Jack Foley at the Ambassadors Cup in Rye on November 2 and 3. We wish them well and will report on their results in the next newsletter.

Recycling Initiative

In an important initiative for our Club we have been successful in receiving funding from the The Coca-Cola Foundation through their Beverage Container Recycling Community Grants program. This program provides financial support and guidance to communities and organisations for the implementation of projects which make a long term impact on the recycling of beverage containers.

The Community Grants resource practical programs to encourage and facilitate “Out & About” recycling programs in Australia at a local community level, provide education on the correct disposal of waste, provide education on cause and effects of recycling and enforce best practice principals in our communities. It is necessary for programs to include a focus on beverage container recycling.

The funding received will be used to buy collection bins and bin headers and signage to distribute inside and outside our Club and surrounds to ensure that the recyclables and the litter are collected separately. All recyclables will then be removed in a new co-mingled recycling bin and be processed and reclaimed at the Wellington Shire facility. By the time tennis resumes next February you should see the new collection bins placed around the Club. Please be prepared to do your part in the recycling process.

We estimate we can recycle up to 2.5 cubic metres of beverage containers and recyclable materials per week. This volume of recyclables is currently going in to landfill on a weekly basis. This is a very significant contribution to our environment and compliments our other iniatives such as solar power and water recycling as we seek to reduce our environmental impact. More on this in the next newsletter.

Vale Tom Downie Sale Tennis Club mourns the loss of Tom Downie, age 70, as it farewells a true tennis champion.

Regarded by many locals as our greatest ever player, former Sale Tennis Club Open Champion, Tom Downie recently lost his long battle with cancer. The 8 times Club Champion and Gippsland champion had fought cancer for 10 years with the same determination he displayed on the tennis court.

Tom was the BP agent in Sale from 1966 to 1974 and he and his wife Val raised their 3 children in Sale were they all went on to become recognized tennis players at State level in their own right.

Tom was an instrumental figure in the tennis boom of the sixties and seventies, where his influence helped in the development of the new Stephenson Park complex as well as the formation of the SHTA in the district.

Tom was also heavily involved in the sport of badminton, but it was at tennis where, along with local Geoff Smith, they became a feared combination at Regional and State level. Tom continued playing tennis up until recently, but his career highlight came at the age of 65 when, along with Murray French from Morwell, the 2 became world champions whilst representing Australia overseas in the Veterans World Titles.

Downie was held in such high esteem that when Kath Schuback wrote the history of the Sale Tennis Club for the 40th anniversary celebrations she devoted an entire section to his exploits. “The arrival of Tom” is a permanent reminder in our history of the enormous impact he had on tennis in Gippsland. Forever the life of the party with a great sense of humour and his famous on court quotes “Leave it to me”, “The jobs right” and “We’ve gotta lift” will be remembered by many, and sadly missed by all.

Tom was farewelled at Shepparton on November 2, where tennis players from all over Victoria came to pay their respects. He was escorted into St Augustines Church by a local contingent including Geoff Smith, Don Schuback, Col French, Bruce Carter, Gary Schuback and Glenn Schuback. Other locals and former Sale Tennis Club members to attend included Glenys Slater, Marion Shields and Graham and Heather Trembath.

He leaves behind wife Val, and daughters Jane, Lisa and Sarah.

L to R

Tom in his early days On a recent visit to Sale After the Veterans World Titles

Roland Garros Visit

The stadium opened in 1928 so France could host the Davis Cup and defend its first ever title in the prestigious tournament, which it successfully did until 1933.

Roland Garros Stadium is famous for featuring the only clay courts among the four Grand Slam tournaments. The clay itself is a complex mixture of several materials. The playing surface on each court is composed of a 75mm layer of sand, a 150mm layer of volcanic rock and a 75mm layer of limestone. It is topped off with a few millimetres of powdered red brick dust. The crushed red brick dust is pressed into the limestone and drenched in water. This process is repeated until a thin compact layer of clay coats each court.

Keen Hot Shots participant, James Lowe, was fortunate to have visited Stade de Roland Garros (Roland Garros Stadium) in Paris in September. Accompanied by his mum and dad, Joan and Robin, he was fortunate to get a sneak peek in the tennis museum as well as the surrounds and courts 2 and 3.

The visit however spurred some curiosity as to the history of the stadium and why it is named “Roland Garros” when he does not appear in any tennis history books. Roland Garros was in fact a renowned member of the “Stade Francais'” Tennis Club but died about 10 years before the stadium named after him was built.

Firstly the stadium history. Construction of Roland Garros grew out of France's desire to build on its 1927 Davis Cup title. The land on which it is constructed was donated by Stade Francais on the condition that the stadium, when constructed, be named after its most renowned former member, “Roland Garros”.

Garros' initial wartime achievement was his development of a forward firing machine gun which dispatched bullets through the rotating blade of his Morane-Saulnier aircraft; to protect the propeller he attached steel deflector plates, a somewhat crude if effective safety device.

In a two week period in March 1915 Garros downed no fewer than five German aircraft, an achievement that led to his being dubbed an "ace"; the term stuck and was consequently attributed to other Allied pilots who similarly achieved five successes.

Garros' run of good fortune deserted him however the following month, April 1915, when he crash landed his aircraft behind German lines. Caught trying to burn his aircraft so as to protect the secret of his forward firing machine gun Garros was placed into captivity and his aircraft handed over to aircraft designer Anton Fokker. Fokker subsequently designed a far superior (and safer) form of forward firing mechanism using an interrupter gear.

Held prisoner in a German camp for the following three years, Garros escaped in February 1918 and promptly returned to air service in France, scoring several more victories. He was however shot down and killed in action on 5 October 1918 while flying a Spad above Vouziers.

Out & About 50 is a Lowe Number Regular Thursday Night player Peter Lowe celebrated his 50th birthday on November 15. Always calm in a crisis he ushered in his milestone with family and friends and not a hint of a “mid-life crisis”. It was noted however that the 15th being a Thursday he missed out on joining his team mates for his night tennis match. We trust that he will not be so easily distracted from his tennis when he makes it to his 100th.

Now to the background of Roland Garros himself.

Roland Garros (1888-1918) was a leading pre-war French aviator and gained renewed fame during the First World War. Garros' interest in aviation stemmed from a visit to the Reims air show of 1909; until this point he had studied music with the intention of becoming a concert pianist. However his career aspirations underwent a rapid change in the wake of the air show.

Following a series of air lessons he himself performed exhibition and stunt flying, setting numerous records during 1911-12. In 1913 he flew from France to Tunisia (Over 800 km and the first solo flight across the Mediterranean Sea) and was teaching military aviation in Germany when war broke out in August 1914. Undeterred he smuggled his way back to France - via a night flight to Switzerland - and signed up with the renowned Storks squadron.

Night Pennant Player Lists Our night pennants are now entering finals and we will have a full report on the finals next newsletter.

However now is the time to get your name in for next season’s pennant. The sheets are now up on the Clubhouse notice board and we would love to see them full. Night pennant caters for players of all standards so get your name on the board, bring along a friend, and enjoy many great evenings of tennis and social activities under lights. With 14 lit courts we can cater for up to 56 players per night so bring your friends and enjoy the fun. The new season starts in early February 2013.

If you require further details please contact the following: Tuesday Night Mike Riley 5143 2444 Wednesday Night Nick Board 5144 1345 Thursday Night Robin Lowe 5144 7582

Hailey Shanahan Joins Western Michigan University

Thursday Night Pennant Numbers Bolstered We are delighted to announce the arrival of Oliver James Dihood, at 8lb 6oz, a third child for Glenn and his wife Tash. Glenn has become a regular on Thursday nights and often brings his own cheer squad when the whole family comes to watch. He now has one more supporter to be schooled in the art of tennis from a formative age. Congratulations to Glenn and Tash.

“On the 3rd of January I'm going to the USA to start university, on a tennis scholarship at Division 1 school Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, Michigan. I will be completing my degree of Exercise Science whilst over there for 4 years. My scholarship enables me to play tennis for the Western Michigan Broncos under Head Coach Elizabeth Kuhle and fellow Australian Assistant Coach Mark Henderson. It also enables me to study with all tuition costs covered, along with my housing and food expenses. During my time, my team and I will travel around the country playing other colleges in other conferences, whilst during the off-season playing tournaments and training a lot. My school has 25,000 students, with a 40,000 seat capacity football arena on the grounds. There are 10 indoor tennis courts as well as outdoor courts which enable us to play during summer and winter. I'm very excited about this opportunity and can't wait to start.” Hailey Shanahan

Australian Rankings

Solar Power Output Summer is on the way and the sun has started to break through more regularly. With this our solar power output is increasing also. To the end of November we have produced 7131 kWh of electricity which has reduced our electricity costs by $2,375 and saved nearly 10 tonnes of greenhouse gases. We hope that these figures will continue to increase as summer really takes hold.

Vale Xavier Lazzaro We are saddened that Xavier Lazzaro never got to spend any time with his mother and father, Kerryn and Brian. Our thoughts are with Kerryn and Brian at this very sad time in their lives.

Steve Shanahan - Linesman at Australian Open 2013 We are delighted to announce that Sale Tennis Club General Committee member, Steve Shanahan has qualified as a linesman at the 2013 Australian Open. Being his first year Steve is not expecting to appear on Rod Laver Arena on Men’s Final day but he is delighted just to be going. This ticks another item off from his bucket list; only several thousand to go. Good luck with AO 2013 and the bucket list.

Nick Board V’s Wayne Arthurs at Kooyong The planned “showdown” between tennis legend Nick Board and tennis journeyman Wayne Arthurs has failed to materialise. Nick was due to play both with and against Wayne at Kooyong on the 30th of November at a challenge function but he injured his calf and had to withdraw. Imagine his disappointment when he discovered that Arthurs had also pulled out. With a bit more “spin” he just might have been able to convince us that he had intimidated Wayne into withdrawing. Maybe next year.

Jodie Poole Leaves for Canberra It is with regret that we learn that Jodie Poole and her husband Glenn have been posted to Canberra. Jodie has been a wonderful ambassador during her too brief period at the Club, playing Saturday Pennant and Thursday Night Pennant and volunteering for our Hot Shots program. We wish Jodie and Glenn and family all the best and hope they leave with happy memories of Sale Tennis Club.

It is exciting to see John Millman enter the top 200 in the world and make Australia’s Top 5 Men. “Millman” was very popular when he played in Sale several years ago, especially with our female members. He was also just a really good bloke. We wish him well for season 2013 and hope that he might crack the top 100 by this time next year.

Fridge

Quote “The problem with doing nothing is you never know when you are done.”

Calendar of Events

December 2–3 Ambassadors Cup – Rye December 9 TEG Junior Masters – Bairnsdale December 9 TopSpin Tennis Christmas Party & Tennis Fun Day December 15 Finals – Gippsland Premier League - STC December 15–16 Wayne Arthurs Cup – Kooyong January 12 Kids Day – Melbourne Park January 12 WGTA Senior Pennant resumes February 2 WGTA Junior Pennant resumes February 10 TEG Junior Masters – Lakes Entrance March 16 WGTA 1st Semi Finals March 17 WGTA Preliminary Finals March 23 WGTA Grand Finals May 26 Annual General Meeting – Clubhouse at 7.30pm

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Have You Heard the News? Do you have any news that you would like to include in the next newsletter? Just let us know at theelms@netspace.net.au or phone Robin on 5144 7582 and remember a picture tells a

thousand words so be sure to send in a photo.

Look us up at: www.saletennisclub.com

Sale Tennis Club Inc, Stephenson Park, 51 Guthridge Parade, (P.O. Box 659) Sale, 3850. ABN 61 525 038 097

Due to the Club being successful in obtaining a Volunteers Grant under the Federal Governments Community Investment Program we are able to replace the refrigerator in the kitchen that has served us well but is now inclined to frost up. As soon as the new one arrives if anyone needs a double door beer fridge for their garage, $75 and a sturdy trailer will make it yours. Phone Robin on 5144 7582. First caller wins.