Committee update - March 2023
Posted on 25th Mar 2023, 12:00am
Committee update - March 2023
It’s been a busy few months at ASRC with our own Club Championships, the Exhibition Match, the Scottish National Masters event and the culmination of the Grampian Squash Leagues. The committee have been busy keeping the club facilities ticking over as well as working with the new energy and various other suppliers. As we enter the spring / summer months we hope the heating bills will reduce and the club facilities are a little warmer.
January 20th – 21st Club Championships were held at ASRC for the first time in a few years. We had great participation from the membership and congratulations to all the winners. Keith Simpson won the Mens, Andrew Spiers won the Vets and Danny Selway won the Racketball. We look to learn from the event and plan to improve on certain areas for the next event in January 2024.
February 4th - Greg Lobban v Daryl Selby exhibition match. Many thanks are due to the Grampian squash committee for bringing this together and using ASRC facilities for the match. The club was very well attended and the event was well received by all those who attended.
March 3rd – 5th ASRC hosted the Scottish National Masters Championship with around 100 players competing at the club from all over Scotland. ASRC members Andrew Spiers and Blair McKenzie won and came runner-up in the over 45 catergory - congratulations to them both! The feedback has been very positive and we plan to bid for future Scottish Squash calendar for the 2023/24 season.
The club mini-leagues are starting to grow with more members who want to get their games played and challenge themselves against other members. Donald and other members / staff are doing a great job in promoting the leagues and their administration. Get in touch with Donald if would like to join the mini-leagues at ASRC using the [email protected] email address.
The junior Coaching sessions are still continuing on a Friday afternoon for the International School and Saturday morning for the Alhikmah Foundation. We look to try and grow the coaching and would welcome any suggestions or thoughts on how we can build on what is already taking place. This Easter Joe Ewen has put together a program for a Junior Easter Squash Camp for children aged between 10-19 year. The camp is planned to take place at the club from April 10th - 14th. Please get in touch with Joe if you have children or friends who would want to join in - [email protected]
Membership of the club has also started to grow, with a number of old members returning and new members joining. Club membership numbers are up 20% from the end of October last year.
The general appearance of the club continues to improve due to the hard work of the bar team and Kate. However we must thank a number of members who have gone above and beyond in the assistance they have provided to the club over the last couple of months:-
Stuart Clow – Removal of rubbish built up under car park.
Craig Thomson – Provision of food and cooking services for a number of the events we have hosted.
Paul Duncan, Danny Selway & Duncan Fraser for various maintenance / odd jobs around the club.
George Stewart for a donation of funds to assist with the running costs of the Exhibition Match.
You will also notice that we have two new sponsors at the club:-
Hall Morrice Chartered Accountants - a local award winning independent firm of chartered accountants and business advisers.
DF Communications - A local independent telecoms provider. Who have been keeping businesses connected with the latest technology, since the 1980s.
We continue to promote and take a number of bookings for the function room, which is vital in helping the finances of the club. If you are planning a function or work event please consider using ASRC.
There is still a lot to do to move the club forward. There are a number of projects we need to take on to enhance the facility and ensure the future of the club.
As you will see the car park needs some attention, to repair a lot of the damage caused by the frost and cold winter. We’ll need to wait until the weather becomes a little warmer and more stable before embarking on this project.
The function room toilets need to be upgraded to promote the function room as a venue of choice for those looking to host a function.
In time we also need to look to maintain the courts, cleaning the walls, repairing some of the holes that have appeared and ensuring that the courts are fit for purpose. This will be a job for when the weather improves to ensure any work that is done is effective. We hope to arrange to have the court heaters serviced this month.
As a club we also need to promote squash amongst the younger generations. It is great to see kids using the facility and being coached. They are the future of ASRC so we need to embrace the coaching and the promotion of squash / racketball throughout Aberdeen and the surrounding areas.
The club finances are starting to stabilise with the committee getting to grips with the actual costs of running the club and seeing where we reduce the cost base but maintain and improve the standards of the club where possible. Promotion of the club for functions or for court sponsorship will help improve the clubs finances – many thanks to those doing this.
Anyone able to support the club with the above projects, your help and any suggestions will be much appreciated. Please feel free to talk to any of the committee about any ideas or help you can offer.
Staff safe and enjoy the facilities of ASRC.
Thanks and regards,
ASRC committee
Mark as Read
