PRESIDENT'S REPORT 2004-5

Alan Hocking

President

Creating a friendly and sociable atmosphere for any player who is aged 35 or over through the promotion of veterans tennis, and the encouragement of veterans tennis tournaments throughout Queensland
 

Queensland still has the largest number of veteran tennis players in Australia and with over 25% of the membership of Tennis Veterans Australia, our association is the envy of many of the other states.

Highlights of the year are:

2005 Australian Tennis Vets Championships

The venue for the Australian Tennis Veterans Championships for 2005 was Newcastle with team events from 11-15th April, 2005 and the individual events 17-22nd April, 2005. This was an attempt by New South Wales to move the championships away from the heat of January, and whilst the playing conditions were better it did preclude the participation of some from the younger age group.

Queensland was represented by twenty five teams and I would like to thank all those who participated in this annual event. New South Wales was the overall winner of the teams event, whilst several of our teams were successful in their age group. The Opening Ceremony at the Basketball Stadium was very entertaining and the young talent on display was appreciated by all the players.

In recent years a Queensland State Dinner has been introduced and because of its popularity the calculation of numbers has become a problem for caterers and in future it will be necessary to have confirmed bookings and payment prior to the evening.

Winning teams were:-
 

Winners of individual events:-
 

Queensland Titles 2005
 

Our State Titles were held at the Gold Coast Veterans Tennis Club and other centres on the coast from Friday June 24th until Monday June 27th 2005. The singles events were conducted as knock-out events, whereas all others used the round robin format. Although rain did hamper play on the final day most events were finalised.

Thanks to the efforts of our Tournament Director this event continues to grow and with increasing entries from around Australia and New Zealand it is becoming one of the larger veteran’s tournaments in Australia. To our Tournament director and all those who contributed to make this a great weekend our sincere thanks.
 

Australian Representatives

The following Queensland players represented Australia in the ITF World Team Championships held in Perth during March/April 2005:

The following Queensland players have been selected to represent Australia at the ITF 25th
Super –Seniors Team Championships in Antalya Turkey in October, 2005.

Veteran of the Year

This year Coral Vickers was awarded the winner of the “Veteran of the Year” and this was announced at the presentation ceremony during the Queensland titles held on the Gold Coast in June. Coral has been secretary of Tennis Vets Queensland since 2001 and has a long association with the veteran’s movement both as a player and administrator.

Tennis Queensland Veteran Player of the Year

We congratulate Helen Dorricott on receiving the prestigious Tennis Queensland veteran player of the year award for her performances not only for winning the Australian singles title in 2004 but for her consistent performance and sportsmanship over so many years.

Tennis Queensland Administrator of the Year & Tennis Vets Australia Administrator of the Year

Gail Bates is a very worthy recipient of these two awards in the same year. Her dedication to the organisation of championships at both state and national level is well known and we are honoured that two other organisations have recognised the work that she has done over so many years.

Web Page

Our Web page www.tennisseniors.org.au/qld is now well established and receiving visits from a wide section of the community and members. Thanks to our original designer Morrie Whittaker (a University student with no tennis involvement) and more recently Ian Somers we now have a first class site and it is hopeful that more members will access this for information, entry forms and tournament results.

Finances

As covered in our Treasurer’s report our finances are in excellent shape and as we move into the new year we will be exploring how best to utilise some of our reserves to promote tournament participation at all levels.
 

Tennis Queensland

During the year we have had discussions with Tennis Queensland as to how best to promote Veteran’s tennis throughout the State and it is pleasing to note that Rob Newton President of the Gold Coast Veterans Club is now on the board of Tennis Queensland and has a brief to develop this relationship.

Tennis Vets Australia

At a recent Special General Meeting the decision was taken to change the name to Tennis Seniors Australia which will bring the organisation into line with the ITF and most other countries. Whilst not mandatory for Queensland it is a matter that will need addressing once the Australian change becomes effective.

Condolences

Our sincere condolences to the families and friends of members who have passed away during the year and in particular three members who have made an outstanding contribution to the veterans movement.

Committee

No organisation can be successful without a good team and I have been very fortunate in having an excellent group to work with.

A very special thanks to our Vice President Bruce Hallt, our Secretary Coral Vickers, our Treasurer Graham Brown and Tournament Director Gail Bates.

Very few realise the amount of time they have given to our organisation over the past twelve months and all members should be extremely grateful that we have such a dedicated group giving of their time and talents for Veterans Tennis in this State.

A HOCKING

President