Minutes of the Bolton Tennis League Committee meeting held at 7pm on 12 June at Lostock Tennis Club.

A minute's silence was held to remember our Junior Match Secretary, Beth Holmes, who had died unexpectedly. Commiserations went to her parents, Andy and Julie.

Present: Messrs. Al-Chalabi, Cashmore, Caswell, Maslivec, Pearson, Prince, Saunders, S Francis & Ms Morley.

Apologies for absence: Nuttall, Smith, Taylor, Ms L Cartwright, Ms K Caldwell, Ms J Holmes & Ms Perry.

Minutes of the last meeting: These had been circulated and were agreed.

Matters Arising: None

Correspondence: None

General Secretary: There have been a lot of abandoned match cards without any players' names on them. We changed the rules so that if names were shown on cards, they would be treated as having played for future eligibility issues. It was agreed we need an item in the newsletter.

League Reports:

Men’s: It was noted that Beth ran the Ladies team at Barrow Bridge. Her mother Julie will now take over and has been registered.
Barrow Bridge Men’s team have had to withdraw from the league due to lack of players.
One team had played two ineligible players in order to field a team, but unfortunately, they did not play them together, which would have still resulted in a win. This invalidated two pairs instead of one, resulting in a loss. We would put an item in the newsletter.
The Match Secretary noted that the 3 points for a win and 1 point for an abandoned match appeared to create a wide disparity in the tables. The General Secretary questioned the mathematical soundness of this aspect.

Mixed: The league was running OK apart from a few late registrations.
A number of teams are having problems with the Cecil Cup, as some have had an abandoned match with no names on the card and also an open date. This considerably reduces the criteria of having to have played two league matches. However, they have done the right thing in contacting the Match Secretary in advance of the match to explain the predicament.

Ladies: There have just been a few unregistered players to sort.

Juniors: Julie Holmes wants to take on the Secretary role from her daughter. Our Chairman will do the weekend press report.

Winter League: Nothing to report apart from the fact that Beth’s contribution will be sadly missed.

Treasurer: All player fees were now paid and all was OK in all other respects.

Tournament: This was now open for entries after issues had been resolved with the LTA. Players have received the reminder notification.

Presentation Evening: All was set up. We still need a presenter, and a few names were suggested.

Dunlop: Nothing to report.

LTA Network: Tennis Lancs, first round of grants decided and clubs informed. There may be another round later. I have been asked to expand my Chairman's group to all Bolton League clubs.

AOB: None

Date and Time of Next Meeting: 14th August 2026. Any urgent items to be dealt with during the tournament.