Chair's Welcome (By Kath Temple)

Welcome to ARTC’s December newsletter. Although we have had 4 weeks of lockdown, it’s surprising how much there is to report. So, we hope this month finds you all safe and well and looking forward to the reopening of the courts on 2 December in the run up to Christmas. Luckily, we can now also run the Christmas Cracker Competition on 6 December. So, for those of you that have entered dig out your Christmas jumpers and head down to the courts by 10.45am for an 11am start. At the moment, the forecast looks promising. See you there.

Reopening Arrangements from Wednesday 2 December

As you will know the courts are now available for booking on ClubSpark. As we are in Tier 2 we are able to play singles and doubles providing we follow pre-lockdown Covid Secure Guidance. The clubhouse remains out of bounds, except at organised social events, such as Junior events, Ladies Saturday Social Tennis and the upcoming Christmas Cracker Competition.

Tennis News

Each year, in November, we are required to register the club with the LTA, this is to ensure we have fulfilled all the criteria in a series of Standards. This year the focus has been on:
* Safeguarding
* Diversity and Inclusion
* Risk Assessment
This is a useful exercise as it ensures that policies are regularly evaluated and updated. If you are interested in the details of this visit www.lta.org.uk.

As members of ARTC everyone is eligible for free LTA membership which gives you access to the Wimbledon Ballot, allows players to compete with a LTA rating and provides the latest news in British tennis. This is called ‘Lite Membership.’ Joining also gives access to online training through webinars. These provide information about current LTA programmes. A webinar last week was called #weatherthecourt and was encouraging clubs to promote playing tennis all year round rather than just the summer months. They are encouraging players to win prizes by sending photos of playing in more extreme weather conditions. So, if you find yourselves competing against the elements, why not take a snap and send it in!

Junior Coaching (By Chris Howat)

Junior club sessions don’t normally resume on a regular basis until after the Easter holidays, as they tend to be held on a weekday after school. However, if there are any junior members out there who would like to have a club session one weekend in January, please contact me. Please also let me know the age of the juniors involved, so we can work out a date and time to suit the majority. This could vary across the 3 groups of Mini red, orange and green, and Teen tennis. After the 2 lockdowns so far this year, I know some of you are itching to get back on court, so please don’t hesitate to contact me if you are interested. As you know, our area is currently in Tier 2, but LTA guidelines do allow these group sessions to go ahead, whilst also conforming to social distancing.

Men's Winter League (By Dave Luscombe)

Following the lockdown and with all being well, the league will resume on 14 January with a match against Fulford.

Ball Recycling (By Steve Temple)

We have a recycling arrangement with Recycaball, a company who donate decent used balls to charities including: NSPCC, Save the Children, Barnadoes and Guide Dogs for the Blind. They also repressurise balls and resell them as second hand. Proceeds from the sales go to charities like Cancer Research, British Heart Foundation, Parkinsons Disease Society and Alzheimers Society to name but a few. Minimal/small written ID on the balls helps to extend their life.

In a normal season, we would recycle 6 bags of 250 balls at a time which equates to around 1,500 balls a year. By the time they are sifted through by quality control we receive between £100-£150 a year. Since lockdown this has inevitably been much reduced but if you would still like to recycle your used balls to a good cause we would love you to store them until such a time that we can collect them. They really do have a worthwhile, extended life beyond ARTC.

Court Maintenance (By Kath Temple)

The courts remain in good order and have been dragged prior to re-opening. However, if you’re a fan of The Repair Shop and enjoy a bit of fettling in your garage/shed, we have 6 benches that would benefit from some varnishing and a lick of paint. All materials can be supplied and benches can be transported to your door. Contact info@artc.org if you might be interested in helping renovate them for the summer.

Health And Safety (By Gary Carpenter)

You will likely already have seen in Kath’s email the Grid by Tier the LTA have produced, summarising tennis activity from 2nd December which affects playing outdoors. The LTA will also be reviewing and updating guidelines for players, venues and coaches, which we will continue to monitor and implement, as necessary.

For us, in the meantime, the QR posters are in place and ‘live’ and the hand sanitising station is installed. This is sensor operated; there is no need to touch it – just place your hands under the station and it will deliver a measured dose of gel into your hands.

The Covid Process Document we have been developing is almost complete and it is hoped to be able to publish the flow-chart for members on the website in time for the next newsletter.

Membership

Good progress has been made by Pauline Belt and Sara Heron on evaluating new members’ ‘customer journey’ i.e. evaluating the possible playing opportunities after joining ARTC. It is based on providing new members with contacts and supporting them to make them feel welcome and integrated into the club. Watch this space for more details in the coming months.

AGM Summary

Thank you to all members who joined the AGM Zoom Meeting on 18 November. Reports were given by the Chair, Secretary and Treasurer and also a Maintenance Report from Richard Barwick. Normally, there would be reports from team captains but there was obviously nothing to report this year. The minutes will be available on the website shortly.

This was Richard’s last report to the committee, and he was presented with a bottle of his favourite red wine as a thank you for all his involvement in the club. Gifts were also given to Anna Dawkes and Amber Steele who stepped down from their roles on the committee and as Fixtures Secretary. The 2020-21 Officers and Committee were voted in and we are delighted to welcome Keith Hunter onto the committee. He has shown a keen interest in inclusion and ensuring the running of the club is accountable and transparent to the entire membership.

Part of purpose of the AGM is to set membership rates for the coming season. This requires a vote. We voted that the new committee would be given the discretion to determine the subscription rates in the New Year given the impact of Covid last year and the unpredictability of the coming year. However, the intention is that the fees shall be no more than at the start of the 2020-21 season. This flexibility allows us to create the best possible deal for members whilst at the same time maintaining the sustainability of court maintenance.

The 2020-21 committee comprises of:
Chair: Kath Temple
Secretary: Geoff Bullock
Treasurer: Steve Temple
Members: Chris Howat, Pauline Belt, Gary Carpenter, Suzanne Webb, Pat Watson, Sara Heron, Keith Hunter

In the meantime, there are still 2 unfilled places on the committee and we have the opportunity to co-opt members throughout the year. So, if you might like to join later it is still possible.

Covid-19 Update 27.11.20 (By Suzanne Webb)

The point below is the latest recommendation from the LTA since the November newsletter. It shows that the guidance wording is still being discussed. If there are significant changes that affect you directly we will email you as soon as possible.

Current Guidance Advice from LTA
We are still awaiting the publication of the Government's full, detailed guidance and legislation so that we can update our full guidance documents for tennis venues, coaches, players and officials, detailing all protocols, procedures and information needed to for tennis activity to take place safely and in line with Government guidelines. Therefore, while we had hoped to be in a position to publish these documents today (27 November), it is now unfortunately not likely to be possible until w/c 30 November - these will however be made available as soon as it is possible to do so.

Ladies Saturday Social Tennis (By Julia Campbell)

I am pleased to report that the Ladies Social Tennis will restart on Saturday, 5 December and will run for three weeks up to Christmas, weather and Covid permitting. I'm really looking forward to welcoming everyone back on court - having fun and enjoying their tennis. Any ladies not on the WhatsApp group, but who would like to be included please contact me.