2013 Head Coach's Report

Developing players and teams 2012-13

We’re a relatively small club with limited time and space, but we aim to cater for all our members:

• Developing individual players (from beginner to SWL level, from juniors to over-50s)
• Developing teams (especially when a match is approaching)
• Indoor in winter, outdoor in summer
• Leagues, cups and tournaments.

In September we saw a large influx of new members – men, women and juniors – inspired by the Olympics.  To cope with the extra numbers we expanded our regular Sunday session from 3 hours to 4 hours between mid-November and mid-February.  This allowed us to split the women’s training to cope with the wide range of standards, and offer a fortnightly junior session.

Catering for so many different groups makes for a crowded match and training schedule, but we aim to achieve a fair share of training time for our teams and players:

I would like to thank Fred, Nina, Mark, James, Robin, Jorg and everyone who helped me with the juniors.

Performance 2012-13

Men (mixed) Aces – WVL Premier Division runners-up and DK Cup finalists

With the same players as last season, plus one or two new faces, the Aces were unable to defend their league title (losing only to Devizes).  However, they managed a better cup run than last year after squeaking narrowly past Bees in a thrilling 5-set quarter-final.  Many thanks to coach Robin.

Men Bees – WVL Division 1 champions!

After missing out on points difference last season, Bees made the most of their up-and-coming new players (and old lags) to top the table and win promotion to the Premier Division next season.  Congratulations to everyone, and many thanks to coach Irwin!

Women SWL – 5^th place (out of 7 teams) 

Less consistent than last year – in personnel, training and match performance – but the women finished the league with a 50% record, close to 4^th or even 3^rd place.  At times we were excellent, beating some good teams.

Women WVL – 5^th place (out of 7 teams)

Our team consisted mainly of juniors this season – most of them making their competitive debut.  So it was great to see steady improvement throughout the season, competing well against some strong teams and winning some matches.

Congratulations and many thanks to all our coaches, players and teams on an excellent season!

Summer 2013

Look out for:

§  Women indoors at Exeter Ladies Challenge (April) and SW Championships (May).

§  Weekly grass sessions (playing for fun) at Lydiard Park on Tuesdays 7pm – starting May (Phil).

§  Sand sessions (playing for fun) at Coate Water – organised by Irwin / Jorg.

§  Sand tournaments at Coate Water – organised by Irwin.

§  Social event – picnic and play – to be organised by Kathryn.

§  WVA junior event(s), to be notified.

§  Whitefield Tournament, Bath (grass), 20-21 July - Phil entered 1 women’s team & 1 men’s team.

§  Other sand and grass tournaments – local and nationwide – Irwin has list (just form a team & enter!).

Season 2013-14 planning

Indoor training starts Sunday 1 September, 7-10pm:

§  The first few sessions will be mixed, for everyone, while we assess how many players and teams we have and wait for league fixture lists to be published.

§  Then we will assign players to teams and set up a team training schedule.

§  If we have a large influx of new players, and can afford it, we will consider extending the Sunday session to 4 hours.

§  If possible – subject to demand and cost – we will continue to offer a regular junior session (we managed fortnightly one-hour sessions for 3 months in 2012-13).

Based on current and likely membership, we will enter the following leagues:

§  SWL – Women, subject to having sufficient committed players.

§  WVA Premier Division – Aces and Bees (promoted!).

§  WVA Ladies & Junior League.

§  WVA Junior events (see below).

Other competitions to look out for:

§  WVA beginning-of-season tournament (for teams entered in WVA leagues).

§  SW veterans tournament (over 35 years – usually late September).

Junior development:

§  Most Wiltshire clubs have a few juniors but not enough players at each age-group for a regular team.

§  So WVA clubs have agreed to organise some shared junior training and tournaments next season, and to enter shared Wiltshire teams in the SW Junior Grand Prix series. 

§  This will give our juniors more opportunities to train and play with players in their own age groups.

Phil Heads, April 2013