Holme Valley

Tennis Group

Holme Valley U3A tennis group has been running since early 2017, and now has over 35 members. The group plays at Holmfirth Tennis Club, just off the New Mill Road, which has three outdoor all-weather courts, a clubhouse with kitchen and toilet facilities, and car parking. The ages of group members is from mid-50s to mid-80s and includes a range of tennis playing experience/skills and physical mobility/agility! We all try hard, try to improve and have a lot of laughs along the way. We also have regular mid-morning socials at the Clubhouse, when we enjoy a chat over coffee and a Danish pastry, in between tennis.

We play mostly doubles games, unless we find we are a player short. The group plays all year round, weather permitting (optional!). Some people play frequently and some only when they can fit it into their schedule.

Group coordinator: Linda Hollingworth

When do we play: We play on Monday and Thursday mornings, between 9am and 12, when we have an arrangement with the Club to use all three courts. The Monday session is exclusively for Holme Valley U3A members, whereas the Thursday session is open to both HV U3A members and Holmfirth Tennis Club members.

Fees: members of the U3A group are classed as visitors to the Club, and pay the Club a visitor fee of £5 (2023/24) per session played. Linda, the group coordinator, collects these fees from members at the end of each month (preferably by Bank Transfer) and pays them to the Club.
U3A group members who are also members of the Tennis Club do not have to pay the visitor fee.

New members are welcome - with the proviso that the group can’t absorb new members into the sessions who are completely new to tennis, or who haven’t played for a very long time. However, don’t let that put you off, because some members are willing to have a practice session or two with people returning to tennis, and there are coaches at the Club who offer individual sessions for both novices and those returning to tennis. Quite a few new members have come via this route. Contact the Group Coordinator, Linda, for information about joining the group and/or coaching.

How is play organised: Because the group is so big, play is organised in advance of the session via Whatsapp groups, one for Mondays and one for Thursdays.
The way this works is that Linda, the Coordinator, organises Monday play and Sue Hobley, another group member, organises Thursday play. A couple of days before the session the organiser sends out a message to ask who would like to play, whether for one or two hours and preferred time/s. Then the day before the session a ‘playlist’ is sent out listing who is playing with and against who at 9am, 10am and 11am, and on which court.
The organisers try to arranged fair and balanced matches, and with different people from session to session. Any communications about cancellations, weather etc are posted on the Whatsapp group.
NB it would be difficult, but not impossible, to include someone who does not use Whatsapp.

Coaching: Club coach, Gill Kilner, has run a very popular and enjoyable group coaching session for about 5yrs, (9.30am Friday mornings for 1hr, £8 per person) which is mainly U3A, but open to all. Many of the group also have regular or occasional individual sessions with Gill. Both this coaching group and individual sessions would be available to prospective and new group members.

Integration with Holmfirth Tennis Club
Holmfirth Tennis Club has made the U3A group very welcome over the years. This is a small club, affiliated to the LTA, run by and for members, and relies on the voluntary input of members for management and maintenance etc. Most of the U3A group members are now also Club members, and we make up around 20% of the total membership and get involved in Tennis Club activities, including:
• Club social tennis events
• Playing in the Club’s league teams
• Club maintenance and cleaning tasks
• Membership of the Club Committee