The days are shortening and so the ever popular twilight tennis season at the Wangaratta Lawn, Croquet and Pickleball Club has drawn to a conclusion this week with every team playing off in the finals round.

The competition is so popular that some players, such as Tim Dickinson laying on the court in the foreground like to play in both B and A grade nights. Look carefully to see if you can see the regular players from both Monday and Tuesday night competitions in the two photos.

Both competitions finished this week under lights and a celebratory barbecue. The organisers Sean Ablezej and Steve Russell were once more both very pleased with the spirit of of good social tennis seen throughout the season. They were also pleased to see some new younger players this year.

The next season will commence later in the year around October so start planing your team now they suggest. Please reach out to your friends who are lapsed tennis players – twilight tennis is a great venue to restarting a tennis interest – we can accommodate many more teams and we have emergency lists for both night competitions.

The end of season is approaching with only 3 rounds to be played with the final round on Saturday March 29. The senior presentations for Club Champions and Aggregate winners will be made at the end of play on the day at around 5:30pm.

The leaders in the Aggregate competition include Ryan Patterson, Mark Gorman and Andrew Cope in the men's and Amy Lairson, Sue Piper and Maree Sullivan in the ladies.

There have been 82 different players participate throughout the season, however the average number playing each Saturday is around 30.

We had another bumper year with over 400 entries received. We are very gratefull to our major sponsors, The Gateway Hotel and Johanson Insurance Brokers, for their support as the prizemoney they provide makes a difference by attracting quality players to the Open grade events.

Next year is the 100th running of the tournament and the committee is in the process of planning for a special presentation of the event.

The next event on the calendar is for Sunday 16 March at Wodonga.

However, we ask that all members over 30 years of age consider supporting our Vets Day at Wangaratta Lawn on April 13, 10am to 3pm.

Players are graded into sections and play a round-robin format, four eight game sets (lots of tennis), hot lunch, morning and afternoon teas all for $30 entry. Come and try the format – if you like it, these Sunday tournaments are held in the region almost every second weekend during the season.

If you would like to have a go, call the secretary on the number below.

Croquet is active three times per week on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday at 9am (the time changes to the afternoon later in the autumn). New and prospective members are most welcome to come down and try it out. 

The Croquet players have also been very pro-active in providing training experiences for a number of school groups throughout the season.

Wangaratta residents and visitors can cash in their eligible drink containers, with the installation of a new CDS Vic Reverse Vending Machine (RVM) refund point ready for the community at Merriwar Park, Swan St.

The refund can be redeemed as a cash voucher refundable at Coles Supermarket, via an electronic funds transfer, or as a donation to a club or charity. Our club is one that can receive donations through the RVM system.