Men’s Saturday Pennant Teams

Grade 1                                                                       Grade 2
Tim Verlin (c)                                                            Taila Donald (c)
Danny Arbib                                                              Peter Wallace
Tom Paine                                                                 Wayne Smith
Andrew Hardeman                                                  Seb Sauvey
Jackson Smith                                                         Joe Flannagan
Shaun Waters                                                          Tom Keighery
Tom Sheahan                                                                                   

Grade 5                                                                      Grade 6 (1) (Sat)
Keiren Booth                                                             Sadhir Raskutti         
Myekel Benham                                                       Ross Alderson (c)    
Tom Tyndal                                                               Oliver Groth   
Zeb Nicholls                                                               James McCallum     
Cory McCallum (c)                                                   Roger Lee                 

Grade 6 (2)                                                                Grade 9
Craig Chester                                                            Cooper Millett (c)
Nathan Lemke                                                          George Maroulis
Jason Whitehill                                                        Tysyn Danda
Nick Rayer                                                                 John Lee                                                                                                         Kim Tram                                                                                                                      
Grade 15
Liam Trant (c)
Devinder Chauhan
Jack Basso
David Nicholson
William Lyle
Daniel Land
Phillip Davey

Women’s Pennant Teams 2007

State Grade                                                   Grade 1
Kristen Van Elden (c)                                   Lucy Dougherty
Kate Pinchbeck                                             Tanya Klenkoski
Kelly Bisinella                                                 Caitlin Brooksbank  
Jurate Hardy                                                  Megan McDonald    
Ola Luczak                                                      Uta Preston (c)

Grade 2                                                           Grade 4
Brooke Chapman  (c)                                  Sarah McMillan
Rhiannon Mecanovic                                   Shu-Hwei Huang-Freund
Carla Smarelli                                                Michelle Grocock  (c)
Stephanie Skaras                                         Michaela Capannolo
Laura Williams                                               Alison Simmons
Julia Kouznetsova                                        Jane Brodie

Grade 5                                                          Grade 6
Ashleigh Ward  (c)                                       Sophie Sheahan
Belinda Woolcock                                         Nicola Simmons 
Ashleigh Capannolo                                     Melanie Orvis  (c)
Georgia Russell                                            Taylor Capannolo
Lizzie Johnston                                             Alice Mosley 
                                                                          Rebecca Davey
                                                                          Anna Simmons

Grade 7
Hannah Keighrey  (c)
Kirsten Callander
Bronwyn Nicholson
Jennifer Smith
Roxanne Tan
Emily Nelson
 

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2007 PENNANT TENNIS REPORT

In 2007 the club entered 21 teams (7 women’s, 14 means) one fewer than 2006. Considering the drought issue for all clubs, this was a strong representation.

The State Grade ladies were unable to duplicate last year’s stellar effort losing in the semi finals to Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club. Our Grade 1 and 2 ladies teams both lost in their respective sectional finals, while the Grade 5 girls won their section but lost in the semi-finals to the overall winner

On the men’s side our State Grade team finished 2nd in the home and away but lost in the semi-finals to MCC due to a controversial decision. Our men’s Grade 2 and 4 teams lost in the sectional finals, while our Vets 1 team lost in the Grand Final.

Kristen Van Elden was named State Grade Pennant Player of the year following on from the same honour being bestowed on her last year.

The Club’s overall pennant player of the year was Kristen Van Elden & Tim Verlin, while our junior boy’s pennant player of the year was Tysyn Danda and the girls Stephanie Skaras.

Overall, the club has a great mix of youth moving up through the grades to complement our older established players.

SUMMER

Of the 8 teams (the maximum number that we can field) entered last year, we won 3 pennants. Section 1 and 2 men’s and section 3 ladies. This year we have again entered 8 teams.

Lastly, we would like to thank all the players, captains and parents of juniors participating for all their effort in making this such a strong year considering the drought and the restrictions on watering caused by it.

A special mention must also go to Ola Luczak and Seb Sauvey for all their assistance.

Colin Davis and Sandra Stone
Joint Pennant Tennis Convenors
 

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CLUB CHAMPIONSHIPS

The 2007 Grace Park Club Championships were held over the Labour Day long weekend with the finals played on Monday, March 12. In particular, we thank John Miles, David Allison, Sebastian Sauvey and Terry & Sandra Stone for completing the daunting task with a minimum of complaints. Numbers were slightly down on last year and all Club members are encouraged to play in the annual tournament and make it a bigger and more exciting event each year. There is a multitude of talented players within the Club so spectators and fellow competitors should come along, give support and enjoy watching some fantastic matches.

Every effort is made to accommodate all players and requested playing times when the draw for the tournament is being completed. However, with the number of courts and events offered, it is impossible to satisfy everyone. Much time and energy is required to run the tournament so please make sure when you enter the annual tournament that you are available at all times to play and have no prior commitments. This will alleviate the need for forfeits and rescheduling of matches which causes inconvenience and disappointment to all parties concerned.

The results for the 2007 Club Championships were as follows:

 

	Winner	Runner Up
Men’s Singles Open	Paul Lord	Adam Stone
Men’s Singles B Grade	Shaun Waters	Joseph Flanagan
Men’s Singles C Grade	Nathan Lemke	Marcus Matear
Men’s Singles D Grade	not held
Men’s Singles Veterans	Colin Davis	Greg Crump
Boys’ Singles 18 & Under	Jimmy Dougherty	Nathan Lemke
Boys’ Singles 16 & Under	James Morris	George Maroulis
Men’s Doubles Open	A.Stone/C.Davis	P.Lord/J. Dougherty
Men’s Doubles B Grade	B & J De Leijer	R.Adlerson/S.Raskutti
Men’s Doubles C Grade	C.Sheahan/J.Morris	M.Matear/C.Millet
Men’s Doubles D Grade	not held
Men’s Doubles Veterans	C.Davis/T.Stone	J.Miles/A.Fryday
Ladies’ Open Singles	Ola Luczak	Lucy Dougherty
Ladies’ Open Doubles	O. Luczak/U. Preston	M.McDonald/C.Smarelli
Ladies’ Graded Singles	Stephanie Skaris	Ashleigh Capannolo
Girls’ Singles 18 & Under	Megan McDonald	Stephanie Skaris

 

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SQUASH REPORT

In 2006-07, the Grace Park Squash Section has enjoyed another successful year.
The Grace Park Pennant Player of the Year in 2006 was Rob Fowler. Rob has had a series of remarkably successful seasons and has been ranked in the top three places in each of the last three years. Other players with high win/loss ratios were Max Newton (yet again) Mat Pearson and Lachlan Rough
Austen Diggle was awarded the 2005 Club Championships. Austen has now retired from the Club Championships, saying that it is someone else’s turn to have their name on the honour board. Well done Austen. However, the younger players that are presently moving through the grades should reach your standard in due course and seduce you out of retirement.

The 2006 Championship has not yet been decided with the congestion on the court, player commitments and injuries. We hope to catch up soon.

In the 2006 VSRA Club Circuit and the VMSA Spring Pennants, Grace Park entered the following teams:

 

Club Circuit C4	Club Circuit D2
Hugo Jankov	Phil Warren
Rob Fowler	Max Newton
Neil Singleton	Mat Pearson
Chris Nixon	Tom Tyndall
Rod Giri	John O’Loughlin
Tim Burke	Graeme Rough (c)
Chris Nixon (c)	David Allison
Club Circuit E2
Lachlan Rough (c)
Jolyeon White
Sebastian Sauvey
Andrew Field
Andrew Pannifex
Masters Grade 5	Masters Grade 11
Angelo Coco	Rob Fowler
John de Leijer	John O’Loughlin
Ian Cameron (c)	Chris Nixon
Hugo Jankov	Tim Burke (c)
Rod Giri	Graeme Rough
	David Allison

In Masters, both teams had poor seasons with absences and injuries the main culprits (as opposed to poor form). However, the teams in club Circuit fared much better. Lachlan Rough’s team in E2 finished in the top three but unfortunately lost in the semi-final, a good effort considering that this was only the team’s second season in pennant squash with a team of converted tennis players (Seb Sauvey and Andy Field) a converted footballer / barman (Andrew Pannifex) combining with the boys from the Scotch College Squash team (Lachlan and Jolyeon). Meanwhile, “the old man’s” side in D2 did reasonably well too, losing a close grand final to Kooyong.

In the 2007 VSRA Club Circuit and VMSA Autumn Pennant competitions, Grace Park entered the following teams:

 

 

Club Circuit C3	Club Circuit D2
Hugo Jankov	Rod Giri
Rob Fowler	Max Newton
Neil Singleton	Mat Pearson
Phil Warren	Tom Tyndall
Chris Nixon (c)	John O’Loughlin
Tim Burke	Graeme Rough (c)
Club Circuit E1	Masters Grade 6
David Allison	John de Leijer
Lachlan Rough (c)	Angelo Coco
Sebastian Sauvey	Hugo Jankov
Andrew Field	Ian Cameron (c)
Jolyeon White	Phil Warren
Andrew Pannifex
Masters Grade 11
Rob Fowler
Mat Pearson
Tim Burke
Graeme Rough
David Allison (c)

In Masters, following their poor season, both teams played a grade lower and the results were vastly improved. Ian Cameron’s team came third and David Allison’s team won the premiership. It was an excellent effort for the Grade 11 team to win with both the Numbers 1 and 3 in Europe when the Grand Final was played. Phil Warren stepped into the Number one position and won easily. Mat Pearson also had a strong win, losing less than a handful of points.
In Club Circuit, the C3 team had a forgettable year, but D2 won the flag with strong performances by Max Newton, Mat Pearson, Tom Tyndall (another recruit from tennis) and John O’Loughlin hardly dropping a match between them. The E1 team again lost their semi-final, but the future looks bright for this young team.

Graeme Rough, Squash Convenor

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JUNIOR TENNIS

The finals for the current season have just been completed and it has been another great year by our junior tennis players at Grace Park. With 6 teams in semi finals, Section 1, Section 2, Section 5, Section 6, Section 14 and Section 15, of which 3 teams Section 1, Section 2 and Section 6 competed and won their respective grand finals. Congratulations to all.
In the July-December 2006 season 3 Grace Park teams were premiers - in Section 4, (Grace Park 1), Section 7, and Section 8, (Grace Park 2).
The February-June 2007 season saw the Section 2 team of Jeremy Beale, Will Barbour, Jess Heeps-Eriksen, Charlie Sheahan , Sophie Sheahan and Hugo von Hofe, defeat Kooyong 1 in their Bayside Regional Junior Competition Grand Final. .
Junior teams could not exist if it were not for the parents, so thank you to the parents of all the team captains for a fantastic job in helping organise their teams every Sunday morning.
Finally to the players, you have represented Grace Park with great pride and distinction. You are all a credit to yourselves and the club.

Sandra Stone
Junior Tennis Convenor
 

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MID WEEK LADIES TENNIS
 

After a great win in 2006 we were promoted into section 3 from section 5 in 2007. Our team of Denise McCabe, Sophie Trotter, Rong Xu, Lillian Box, Sandra Stone and Jane Cash all had high expectations for another big season; however, it was not to be and we ended up 5th with an untimely wash out the last match of the season. As a result we did not end up making the finals.

With Sophie Trotter going back to work and Lilian Box with illness, we were unsure if we would have enough players - until the arrival of 2 wonderful new recruits Jill Kaminsky and Claire Rogers. The two of them have brought great enthusiasm and strength to the team. As we head into the finals, high expectations are held by all for a big result.

We all look forward to next year and would be very interested in hearing from anyone looking to join us for Thursday competition. We are happy to announce that we will have a 2nd team playing on Thursday starting in 2008, wishing Heather Suriano, Caroline Brooks, Lillian Box and Maria Zeng well for next year.

Monday morning social tennis is still going strong, please feel free to join us, any level welcome.

Jane Cash
Mid Week Ladies’ Tennis Convenor
 

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WEDNESDAY NIGHT TENNIS

After running the Wednesday Night Tennis for 10 years without break, except for a few weeks at Christmas, we find, along with the 100 or more Club Members who play in the very successful Night Tennis Competition, that we are unable to continue to commit more than one night per week to tennis. So we, like many others, have chosen our Thursday Night Competition over our Wednesday Night social hit and will not continue to run it in 2008.

The Wednesday Night sessions have been very successful over the years. We have had more than 100 new members join the Club through Wednesday Night Tennis, and more than 200 members have at one time or another come along, with as many as 36 “turning up” for a hit.

Nowadays, we find that a lot of Club Members, even if they can find time for two nights or more of tennis per week, prefer to arrange a hit for an hour or two with their own Competition Team Members or with players of their own standard rather than commit an entire night to the Wednesday social tennis format.

This has created a demand for more courts to be available for Members’ “casual” use on Wednesday nights from 7pm onwards.

Accordingly, after the last Wednesday Night Tennis on 12th December 2007, courts 3~5 will now be available from 7pm for the general use of Members.

Brian & Sandy Gedge
Joint Wednesday Night Tennis Convenors
 

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NIGHT TENNIS COMPETITION

Grace Park participates in the Blackburn & District Night Tennis competition, which conducts two seasons per year - Summer & Winter. The summer competition started in July 2007. At writing this report, the season is nearly over, with only the Semi Finals and Finals to be played.

For the current season, Grace Park fielded 12 teams, totalling approximately 100 players, who play Open Doubles on Tuesday and Thursday nights. The competition comprises 36 clubs throughout the district who, altogether, field more than 2000 players distributed over 40 Sections, 316 Teams and 4 nights per week. It is a very big event and there is plenty of tough competition. Some clubs ’pennant level’ players, who like to keep their weekends free, play in this competition, so there is no lack of challenge.

For each half yearly season, a total of 14 rounds are played, followed by the finals rounds.

We can report that Grace Park had a mildly successful 1st season of 2007, with one team winning its flag, as follows:

Thursday Section 1 Grace Park Cyclones Captain Brian Gedge

Each section (normally) has 8 teams. The finals rounds are played in order:-
Semi Final - 1st vs 4th at 1st home court; 2nd vs 3rd at 2nd home court.
Grand Final - winners of the Semi final round play at an independent court, determined when the contenders are known.

Usually, the winner of the Finals goes up a Section, and the Number 8 team (bottom) goes down a section, although the organisers do exercise some discretion, and this is not always the case.

Entries for next season, commencing the week of January 29th, 2008, are already closed. Sometimes, however, it is possible to place late team entries should there be a ‘bye’ in any of the grades (i.e. fewer than 8 teams in a section). So, if you would like to enter a team, please contact the Club.

The Club’s participation in the Blackburn & district night Tennis Competition is not only a big plus for Members in providing great tennis, but is a revenue earner as well - a Double Plus.

Grace Park hosts 3 matches on five courts on Tuesday and Thursday nights for each week of competition. The 3 teams and the 3 opposing teams each pay the Club $24.00 to cover balls, lights and court maintenance. There is good profit in this $288 collected per week, plus there is good revenue over the bar as teams gather after the matches.


Brian & Sandy Gedge
Joint Night Tennis Competition Convenors.
 

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Pulse Health - Gym Report

Once again it’s been a busy past twelve months in the gym and it seems like the year has flown past. Members have been enjoying this great facility at the club and with the continued upgrade of equipment the gym is a great attraction to all club members.

Pulse continues to operate in the gym and is always happy to help all members with their health and fitness needs. Many members and nearby residents train at Pulse which gives the gym a nice ‘community’ feel and promotes the club as a friendly and welcoming place.

As was the case last year Pulse is committed to attracting as many new members as it can to the club and servicing our current members in the best possible way. We are always very appreciative of the support we receive through the committee and we hope our promotion of the club reflects our appreciation shown.

A highlight of the year was the Pulse trivia night which was a great success with all proceeds going towards new equipment for the gym. We hope this is a regular event each year and we thank very much all those members and committee members that kindly donated their time and generous gifts.

We wish everyone a safe and healthy Christmas period and don’t forget to turn right at the top of the club stairs and pop into the gym and make the most of this great club facility.

We look forward to seeing you in 2008 and hope we can help you with some of those New Year resolutions!

Sam McLean and Kirstyn Sutherland
Pulse Health

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FINANCIAL REPORT

Financial Report Ending July 31st 2007. Click HERE.