Greetings ACTC members,

The Board has created a Frequently Asked Question (FAQ) page on our website. Below is our first entry. You can read the FAQ entries online by clicking here.

To provide answers to questions that are posed from time to time, a FAQ section is being prepared. As time allows, the topics will grow. 

To start:

A certified instructor or club pro, named Daria has been listed on our web site for over a year. She has court access at McMahon and at Marilyn Redvers Tennis Club. We (the Board) are not aware of Daria being hired to provide instruction to any ACTC members over the past year. 

Question: "Does the ACTC have a Constitution?

Yes, when ACTC incorporated in 2000, a Constitution was submitted to the Provincial Government.

About 6 years ago an ACTC Board created a new Constitution but it was never brought forward for approval by the membership.

A review of the original Constitution is warranted and the new 2019 Board of Directors may decide to update that original Constitution. Over the years, the Board governance practices followed Robert’s Rules of Order for conducting business and managing the club operations. This is a common approach for small non-profit organizations that depend on Board volunteers, without staff to manage the Club.   

Question: “Does ACTC have club pro?

Answer: Yes and No.

The Board’s position is that members can bring anyone they want to provide coaching on ACTC courts…subject to playspace availability. See court access calendar.

The Town of Aurora offers a more comprehensive and accessible playspace capability, at the four court Fleury Park than what is available at McMahon for Juniors. Also MRTC, Newmarket Summer Tennis Program and St Andrews and Seneca and Country Day School also offer summer junior programs. Our summer junior program, that struggled for several years, was poorly attended and the ACTC pro at that time, declined further involvement or development of a junior program.

Additional Factors: the economics of earning income as a club pro

ACTC over the years, had a “club pro”, none of them ever offered to return because demand for their services was so low. We asked an experienced instructor "what is the minimum time needed by a professional instructor to sign a contract with a community tennis club. He stated that at a minimum, a “club pro’ would need at least 15 hours per week at $50 per hour to be adequately compensated.

The only available play space hours are during the 1 pm to 5 pm periods, Monday to Friday. These are non peak low usage hours when some members and the public (i.e. school groups) access the courts. Morning and evening hours are booked with team and house league play. So the best way to receive instruction is to bring your own instructor. Bear in mind that one court is in use in the afternoon for our pickleball and the Hi-Performance Junior Program and the other courts may be in use by a member or a “drop-in’ from the public.

Andres Marco – Hi performance junior program

As the morning hours are taken with Adult programs, and the non-peak afternoon hours were not being utilized; the Board asked Andres Marco to offer High Performance instruction to his cadre of Juniors. His participants are required to take a junior membership and are entitled to the same benefits as all members, regardless of age or ability. So the club gains membership revenue from the High Performance program. And by supplying playspace helps to promote tennis at a level not available at the other venues in our area.

From time to time, Andres is asked by members for lessons. He accepts these requests providing he can fit them in his schedule.

To repeat: the club has playspace for “pros”. But no one is designated as the “ACTC Club Pro”

We had a beautiful spring day to usher in our 2018 season. About 45 members enjoyed a wonderful barbecue with all the trimmings. Our pickleball players had some great fun on shaded court # 3. John and Alla our Board Directors helped to keep players rotating for social tennis on courts # 1 & 2. 

Many thanks to the volunteers (especially Pat and Adriana) who pitched in prior to the barbecue. There was lots of cleaning, scrubbing and food preparation needed to have a successful event. 

Here is a quote from one of our members.

"Great  BBQ  and  good  job on the  burgers. Can you pass this on to  others who  helped  because i know it is  a  big  effort  to pull off ".  Mary (Walker)  

ACTC 2018 Spring Newsletter

Welcome to our 2018 season. Our Opening Day celebration will be on Saturday, May 26^th,  10:30 a.m. at the ACTC Clubhouse. Our tradition is to have a free “meet and greet” bar-b-cue coupled with social tennis and pickleball. The ACTC Board is hosting the event. Members, old and new will have an opportunity to connect with each other after another cold winter. 

You can read the 2018 Spring Newsletter online by clicking on this link. 

The ACTC Pickleball Program schedule

Monday 10:30 - 1 pm