24/05/2026
End of Season Newsletter
Sitting watching highlights from the season ending world championships feels like a good time to draft a roundup of the club’s progress and what a great season it has been for us. There is a very real positive energy on and off the courts and the feeling of community is amazing. I’m very optimistic that membership will continue to grow as more players want to join our incredible club.
Teams
The club entered six teams in the four Northants Divisions and were successfully in both the First and Third divisions with the First Team being unbeaten throughout the season and also both teams winning their respective County Cups too . Well done to all of the players and big thanks to the captains Mitch, Tim, Clive, Sadie, Adam and Lauren to a job well done.
Time will tell what the what the leagues will look like next season, but as the biggest club in the county we will certainly be well represented across all the leagues. If you’d like to get in on the action as a regular or occasional player just let a committee member know.
Court Refurbishments
All of the courts have been sanded and re-lined with the glassback having new plaster and a ‘PSA tin’ fitted, which means it can be lowered by 5cm for when we (hopefully) stage a pro level tournament in the future.
Unfortunately, the front wall plaster has not bonded correctly in places, so it will be redone at the end of June. Whilst the contractors are with us, the walls on court four will be cleaned and a new tin fitted.
Court one is our oldest one and is certainly looking very tired even if it still plays well. It will be the next ones to be replastered, but whilst we save up funds and as an interim measure, we intend using specialist materials to paint it over the summer. Watch this space for when we need volunteers to make it look new again.
Sponsor logos are beginning to adorn the tins and thanks to them we have been able to progress some more cosmetic updates. More sponsorship spaces are available - if anyone knows of a company that would like some good value, well placed exposure then point them in my direction.
Other facility updates
Both the men’s and women’s changing rooms have been refreshed.
The men’s shower area is one of our next priorities and we hope to have generated enough cash to do these later in the year. I’ll communicate more on this when I can.
New court doors will be fitted soon, along with carpet replacing the 1990’s era red one.
Club Championships
We held our first club champs for a few years and tried a different format by entering all members and playing the rounds over 6 weeks. We believe that the format worked well, but next year we will allow longer for each round to be played.
We had a thoroughly great night with brilliant matches in each of finals with a Bates lockout in both the A and B Grades, followed by presentations and food in the bar.
Court Bookings, Fobbing and Guest Fees
We now have almost 130 members and this means that at certain times there is pressure on court availability. Some Double Yellow members have been booking consecutive sessions because either 40 minutes isn’t quite enough or the start time doesn’t work, often leading to courts being empty during peak times - please can I ask that you do not do this.
In an attempt to mitigate the booking issues we have decided to change courts 2, 3, 4 and 5 to 45 minute periods and court 1 to 30 minutes. Hopefully that 5 minutes extra will make a difference, but if you need an hour then you can book 2 sessions on C1. Fees for Single Yellow and Red Dot members for their half share of the total court costs will be:
Peak Monday-Friday 17:00-21:00, off-peak all other times
Peak 45 minutes £5.00
Peak 30 minutes £3.50
Off-peak 45 minutes £4.50
Off-peak 30 minutes £3.00
The system is being reprogrammed and I will advise when this is going live.
Additionally, please can I request that you do not use your fob to activate the booking after your own slot as you maybe unwittingly giving the next player a free court and thereby costing the club £5. If the court is booked then please leave it for the next players even if they are slightly late and instead use the kiosk or the app to book another court if one is free.
If you are playing a guest then the system is able to collect both court cost and guest fee. After you have booked the court use your own fob to validate the court, please do not ask another member to do this as it is also costing the club each time. Of course if you have a potential new member trying us out, please let a committee member know and we can credit the cost back onto your account.
Bar
The last 12 months have seen us use the bar more frequently, with Thursday nights being particularly busy with a great atmosphere. It is a facility shared by all the clubs and the revenue generated benefits us all by paying for many of the shared site costs.
Unfortunately the bar is only regularly manned on Thursdays and the weekends. We are asking for people to commit to regularly volunteering to cover one weekday evening shift (6-9ish) a month. Please message me for more details and let me know when you might be able to pull pints.
Thank you for your continued support in helping the club grow. If you have any suggestions, questions, observations (positive or negative!) please let a committee member know.
See you on court soon.
Kelly.
Northants Squash Rackets Association
Northamptonshire Sport
England Squash
