Minutes of the Bolton Tennis League Committee meeting held at 7pm on Wednesday  14th October 2026 at Lostock Tennis Club.

Present: Messrs. Caswell, Maslivec, Pearson, Saunders, Taylor, Ms K Caldwell, S Francis, Ms J Holmes, Ms Morley

Apologies for absence: Messrs. Cashmore, Prince, Smith, Ms L Cartwright, Ms Perry & Mrs Browne.

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

Matters Arising: The item missed from the last meeting was revisited, but some said they could not get the full picture. The General Secretary said that Mr Cashmore would provide him with a better method on his return.

Treasurer: Nothing to report apart from the fact that we had had a request for a loan. This could not be done under the new regulations.

Correspondence: None.

Winter League: The current set-up was outlined by members of the Winter League Committee. We have 36 teams in 6 divisions and 9 matches per week. The Arena closes for 5 weeks during the season. We are at full capacity with 10 weeks before Christmas and 10 weeks after. We work hard to see teams have sufficient players.
We are reluctant to expand it as we would need a new venue. We have a waiting list, but we also have a list of reserve players. Very often, having stood in for a player, many of them end up joining the team.
The league does take up a lot of organising time, and any expansion would make this worse. We feel that the existing system works reasonably well at the present time, so we are not looking to expand.

Tournament: We have had one Tournament Committee meeting. The Lostock tournament banner has been taken down but not stored in an appropriate place and will need replacing. Moving on, Mr Taylor would still continue on being referee next season, but the scheduling of matches would be done by two other members of the Tournament Committee.

Presentation Evening: The venue can use smaller tables to accommodate another 20 – 30 people, if necessary. It could be that this year’s high attendance was out of the ordinary.
It has been provisionally booked again for Friday 10th of September, and the 17th was also available.

Rule proposals:  The Committee proposal for the tidying up of rule 7 (f) was looked at and the Chairman had some additions which he will pass back to the General Secretary.
It was asked if the Meadow Hill proposal could be split in two.

Dunlop: Nothing to report.

LTA Network: Information had been sent out to chairmen of the clubs and a request for proposals for the £1,000 grant.

AOB: The discussion continued from the last meeting re Presidents and Vice-Presidents.  The General feeling was that instead of appointing more, the posts had really outlived their usefulness. This would need an amendment to the Constitution.

It was suggested that in view of all the work done by Mr Cashmore, he ought to have a Committee title, e.g. IT Secretary. This would also need an amendment to the Constitution.

We have decided that addresses were not really needed in the handbook. We would also investigate the possibility of email addresses which can be used in lieu of our real email addresses. We can put this on the agenda for the next meeting.

The Cecil Cup situation was discussed again from the last meeting. In the end, it was decided to continue on with the present cup until all the spaces have been used up.

The Wadsworth Trophy was produced, and it was said that it could do with being replaced. It is chipped, and the fear of dropping it was also a consideration. It was suggested that it be housed in a case, and an example from the Internet was produced.

Barrow Bridge was in its centenary year, and the Secretary of the club was seeking suggestions as to how to mark the anniversary.

Date and Time of Next Meeting:  Notice of Motion Meeting 11th November, 7pm at St Margaret’s Church, Lonsdale Road, Bolton BL1 4PW.