Quarterly Newsletter

Dear Members,

Welcome to 2026! This is our first newsletter for 2026 and it seemed an ideal opportunity as the new President of TSNSW to say hello. The majority of our members would know me from our many tour-naments and those that don't will hopefully catch up with me during a tournament this year.

This is a huge year for TSNSW. As you would be aware we are hosting the Australian Seniors National Teams Carnival and Individual Championships in January 2027 in Newcastle. These events will require a great deal of planning and effort but I am confident we can make these events to remember. We are always looking for people who can contribute some time and effort to assist us.

Apart from the planning we are also going to need players! Its never too early to start planning your team. For those who have never played this event before please don't hesitate to reach out and ask for some details. We took 16 teams to Gold Coast in January this year, I think we should be able to double that at least as the home state. Apart from those huge events we always needs players to support our tournaments. I am hoping to make 2026 the year of participation. Our membership is near 1000 members but we aren't seeing enough of those on court! We have some tournaments that are very successful every year, with Forster, Nelson Bay and Ulladulla all getting well over 200 players. But we have many smaller tournaments that are struggling for numbers so we need you out there and playing to keep these tournaments going. If players could all attend 1 or 2 more tournaments each then you might just be the difference in keeping the tournament running. There are a bunch of dedicated people who have been working for years in some tournaments and it would be a shame to see them fold due to a lack of participation. We have had at least 5 tournaments shut down in the past few years.

This year also represents the 20th anniversary of the Newcastle Mixed Teams event, now renamed the Robyn Castle Mixed teams. We are back in Newcastle this year in the June long weekend and very keen to get 3 divisions up and running again. If you have ever played this before please come back his year and celebrate the 20 years with us. Of course new players would be most welcome. Entries will be limited to the first 18 teams in.

I'd like to thank the people who put up their hands this year to stand on our TSNSW committee. None of this happens without people doing a lot of work behind the scenes and I hope all our members ap-preciate their time and effort.

I'll close off by wishing you all the best for 2026 and hoping to see you at many of our tournaments during the year. Feel free to come up and say hello.

Regards

Rod Clarkin

President - Tennis Seniors NSW