As we've reached the end of our Bi-annual period, it is often a sad time for us, as we bid farewell to a small group of members who, for whatever reason, find themselves having to move on from the group.

• Occasionally, they return to the fold down the line which we're always happy about, but they say as one door closes..

So what this also provides us with, is the opportunity to welcome new players who have been patiently waiting a number of weeks, and to fill those vacant spaces. And we're in the midst of that process right now. 

What does this mean for new players interested in joining us? Our membership is a mix of ages (minimum age is 18,) and skill levels, so we operate systems which enable us to keep our games as balanced as possible.

Plus, we've just relaunched our Social Events Calendar 🗓️, which every couple of months gives our members an outlet to enjoy a range of activities away from the courts 🏸 but alongside the players they would usually be matched with or against. It's a great way for them to get to know those folks better in a completely different situation. 

If we've given you sufficient motivation to take the next step, then why not complete the New Player Application Form.

We look forward to hearing from you.

You've been invited to, and accepted the offer, to attend a Taster Session. You'll probably be a little nervous, and curious as to what to expect.

Perhaps we can provide you with a little insight, to make your induction as enjoyable and informative as possible.

• Upon arrival, you will be greeted by one of the committee members, who firstly will introduce you to the attending members of the committee, consisting of Steve, Ali, Anne-Marie and Dan.

• You will be invited to join one of the courts for a warm up and starting game.  At this stage, we avoid bombarding you with everyone's names but your colleagues on court will introduce themselves to you.

• At the end of this first game, Steve will provide you with a short Health & Safety induction, and then a little background about the group, its history and its membership.

• For the remainder of the session, you will take part in a number of games,which will provide you with an overview of how we manage the session and the processes we utilise to do just that.

• By the end of the session, we generally will provide you with feedback from the committee informing you of the status of your application. If successful, we leave the decision to you as to whether you progress with your membership but there is no obligatiion to join if you decide our group doesn't suit your needs.

Our weekly sessions start at 7pm every Tuesday. Upon arrival, players are encouraged to join any of the 4 courts with vacant space, for a gentle warm up/ practice, before commencing with an inaugural game, to get their evening underway.

Meanwhile, a member of the committee will be planning the next set of games using our Player Allocation System, which is in the form of a large whiteboard. All players have their own individual magnetic name badge, and the main objective for us is to create matched games, as much as is practical. These games can be mixed doubles, all male or all female.

We also prefer to mix players so you don't repeatedly play with the same person more than once, but this is not guaranteed. In the event that this happens, most of our members will happily repeat a partnership if required but we do offer the option for them to play with an alternative partner.

During the session, you may find yourself sitting at the side-lines for a short period, but this is merely to help us organise the games and as a rule, if you're in this situation, we will usually schedule you into a game as a priority. Rest breaks will usually only last a maximum of 10 minutes and are often less than this.

At the end of the session, all players vacate the courts by 9pm, to enable set up for the next  activity. And we can all look forward to next week, when we do this all again.