Chairmans Report For 2023

I make no apology for the fact that my report may well be longer than normal as this will be the last one that I present as I will be standing down as chairman . However, it has been agreed with the incoming incumbent that I will continue with the development programme in Vosloorus for the time being, but I may add, not for too much longer.

Looking back on the year it was not the most successful, but I am pleased to say that the main problem we encountered last year has been more than amicably resolved and we are back to running speed in that area.

As usual this report contains good and not so good news. The good news is that our ladies Rene Plant and Rosanne Duke won the La Coretta cup one the five official IC events that take place annually. This was the second IC trophy that we have won during my chairmanship the first being the CQS cup in Prague in 2019.

The highlight of the year was our hosting of the Legends event in Sun City. This should have taken place three years earlier in celebration of our 75th anniversary but due to Covid and the resultant reluctance to travel in the aftermath, we finally managed to hold the event. Sad to say that in 2019 we would have had six other IC countries taking part, whereas Belgium was the only overseas participating country. Once again I must express my sincere thanks to Leonie and Lorna for the massive amount of work they put into ensuring that we did finally hold the event. Until you actually become involved with the running of such an event, it is impossible to realize what goes into the planning and bringing to fruition an event such as this. For those two ladies to have devoted so much time and energy into ensuring that we finally were able to hold the event, had to be seen to realize what detailed planning is needed to mount such a venture.

Both Cape Town and Johannesburg held social days in December which were again well supported and enjoyed and Johannesburg held a lunch on the day of the French open final with a full French menu and just over 30 people attended the function.

I was able to attend the IC AGM during Wimbledon and again the thorny questions arose as to how do we attract the younger players to become members and to try an increase the number of lady members as the men do dominate numbers. It is an annual question as how do we attract new and particular younger members and our committee spent a good length of time in addressing the problem. Although in some cases we continue to come across reluctance by people when invited to join, I am pleased we did make small strides in trying to boost the number of younger members.

The disappointing area was the Vosloorus development programme. With Michael Lelosa having moved onto greener pastures we offered the coaching position to Sanele Saul who came through the ranks of the programme and showed an interest in the position. However, it did not turn out well and although his tennis ability is without question, his ability to relate to the kids and communicate with them both on and off court, left a lot to be desired. It must be born in mind that we have limited resources when it comes to appointing a coach there. Ideally a coach should be available to attend three times a week. It is just not possible for us to employ a coach from say Johannesburg to fulfill that criteria from a cost and travelling point of view. We are left with having to use someone who not only lives in the township but also close by the courts. The quality of coaching suffered, the progress of the kids there took a step back due to the situation but the good news is that Michael is now working at a school close to Vosloorus and is able to resume his full time duties and the improvement in the quality of coaching has been evident. We are still attracting a large number of children on a weekly basis and the most pleasing aspect has been the introduction of a Play and Stay section on a Saturday morning where a number of 6-10 year old children regularly take part.

Despite the problems, we did take part in a number of one day events staged by Gauteng East and although the results were not as good as in the past, the fact that we were able to give the children the opportunity to play in tournaments is first prize. We did have two players represent the province at inter provincial level and so we continued to assist the province in meeting their quote of team members from disadvantaged areas.

Our under 16 team that won the African leg of the Rod Laver junior challenge had an incredible experience in taking part in the finals in California and were priviledged to have met the man himself. Once again the experience for these young players to have been able to meet and play against teams from other continents and visit a new country, will hopefully live with them for the rest of their lives.

It is sad to report the passing of the President of Gauteng East, Ken Smith. Ken and I worked well together not only with regard to Vosloorus but development in the province. His knowledge was encyclopedic when it came to the game and his passing was a massive blow to tennis in the province. I have met with his succesor, and hope that the new chairman can cultivate a good working relationship with him.

We were able to keep members updated with regular newsletters throughout the year and these I feel are vital to ensure that members are kept abreast with what is happening.

So I come to the end of my journey. It has been a rewarding time as chairman and a position that when I look at those who have gone before, I was nervous that I could fill those shoes. Do I have any regrets? As Frank Sinatra said “Regrets I have a few but too few to mention.” My biggest regret is that I could not host the finals of the Rod Laver Junior challenge. As the sole IC representative in Africa, I felt that it was imperative that we host the finals as we are the only continent that has not done so. However, to try and compete with Tokyo, Monte Carlo and Wimbledon all who have successfully hosted the finals in the past, it was a daunting project. But to even host them on a smaller scale was financially beyond our capabilities. Raising money for tennis in this country is difficult on a good day and to do the finals some form of justice, the sponsorship needed was R400 000. A task that proved beyond our capabilities. I will not go into too much detail but when no assistance was forthcoming from the national body, national and local government and with the corporate sector limited in the way they handle social responsibility and sponsorship, it became evident that the raising of such an amount was beyond us.

Staying with Frank Sinatra I make no apology for having done a number of things “my way.” That is the way I work and I believe that the end justified the means. Some may not agree with that way but each of us has a different approach to any problem or task the confronts us.

The challenges that face us today are similar to those when I took over some 6 years ago. Namely to attract younger members to ensure the continuation of the club but as I said earlier this is a worldwide problem and not unique to South Africa. However, there are many reasons why we are unique in many ways to other IC countries, especially in Europe, and so we have more challenges than most. I once heard someone say that “there are no such things as challenges, only opportunities” and this to a large extent is true. So I leave you with the fervent wish that those challenges can be met and the opportunities grasped.

I pay special tribute to my wife June for allowing this marriage to be put on hold whilst I devoted a large number of hours to the affairs of the club and without her support that would have just not been possible. To my committee a sincere thank you for your support and encouragement and especially to Leonie for being a wonderful sounding board and source of encouragement. To Lorna Krog our President a sincere thank you for the work that you have done in the Cape area for the club and I do not know if any organization or club that can boast two ladies who are such devotees to the task.

To my successor I will walk in your shadow but will be available to assist where I can to ensure that not only does the club continue to thrive but you get the enjoyment that the position has given me over my tenure as your chairman, a position that was honoured to fill. I thank you all and wish you everything of the best for the continued growth and success of the club.