Following guidance from the government and the LTA with regards to a return to playing tennis, Beauchief Tennis Club will be opening courts for playing members only from mid-Wednesday afternoon, 13th May.
The guidance from the LTA for venues, coaches and players can be found on the following link.
https://www.lta.org.uk/about-us/tennis-news/news-and-opinion/general-news/2020/march/coronavirus-covid-19---latest-advice/
We urge every player to read this in detail, as it is essential, for the health and safety of all members, that everyone follows the rules explicitly.
For our club in particular, the Committee have met this evening and worked through how these can be implemented and what measures we are now going to put in place.
This email is lengthy as we've tried to think of every eventuality that is specific to our club, so please read through these instructions carefully and if you have any questions, please send them through to chrismuscroftbtc@outlook.com
We are asking for a common sense approach and the committee will be monitoring and policing this as best we can with the local access we all have.
So here are the rules for BTC:
Courts - We are opening courts 2, 5, 6 and 7. No play will be possible on courts 1,3 & 4. This is to limit "walk throughs" of other courts and for us to be able to keep gates open at all times.
Booking system - No member will be permitted to play unless they have booked a slot, this is really important in following the LTA guidelines.
Time slots will be limited to 90 minutes each. We have allowed a 30 minute "change over" period where courts will not be available to book.
It is imperative that players arrive ready to play on time and leave as soon as there slot is over.
The time slots that we have made available are as follows:
8:30-10:00, 10:30-12:00, 12:30-14:00, 14:30-16:00, 16:30-18:00 & 18:30-20:00.
You will be able to book a slot from tomorrow afternoon.
If you have any problems booking a court via the website or Clubspark booking app, please email chrismuscroftbtc@outlook.com
Gates - Gates are to be left open at all times. We're looking at tying them back or removing them where we can. Please don't attempt to close them.
Nets - The nets will be set to the correct level at all times. Please do not let them down at the end of play or adjust them at all.
Who can play? - Firstly, all playing members that were registered with us as of 31st March this year. No guests will be permitted to play under any circumstances.
In line with LTA guidance, only members of the same household can play doubles together.
Singles is possible with one member outside your household. For change in ends, please place your bags at either ends of the net and change only on your allotted side.
All members under 13 that wish to play singles with another player from outside the household, must have an adult supervising from a safe distance.
Balls - the recommended use for balls for singles matches is each player should take 2 initialled balls (min). You should only handle your own balls. i.e. The server serves only with their initialled balls.
To return your opponents balls, please kick or flick them with your racket across court. This might sound a bit over the top, but we're trying to make sure we follow the guidelines!
Do not handle balls from other courts and please make sure they go back in your bag at the end of each game.
Social Areas & Spectators - All social areas will remain closed and no spectators will be possible, with the exception of parent supervision as mentioned above.
Sanitizers - this needs to be a joint approach. All players should bring their own hand sanitizers and use them before entering and on leaving the court.
The club will be providing sanitizers and placing them at the entrances to the courts - these are currently on order and will be put in place as soon as they arrive.
Rubbish - please take all rubbish with you and don't leave anything on court or in the bins, including tissues, tubes or any overgrips.
Toilets - this has been a really tough one to decide on. However, we have decided NOT to open the toilets at this time. The LTA guidelines do allow for opening of toilets within the clubhouse, however, as we have no permanent staff to police this and the fact that the entrance to the club is tight and doesn't allow for social distancing, along with the additional cleaning responsibilities involved, we feel it is not possible to open them safely.
Coaching - the club will be providing access for coaches to do 1-2-1 sessions. They will be booking slots using the booking system and they have been issued with separate guidance on how they are now to operate. Please contact the coaching team to discuss booking 1-2-1 sessions.
Memberships - we are not asking members to renew their memberships at this time. There will be a further discussion at the next committee meeting and we'll update you further when we are a bit further down the line. Our focus at the moment is to get our members playing again.
So, if you've got this far.... Congratulations! From tomorrow afternoon you're now free to book your slot and return to play.
It's fair to say that this has taken a huge amount of work for the committee to put this together, so please help us and your fellow members to stick to these rules for everyone's health and well being.
Finally, it might only be a partial opening and the bar being in action is still in the distant future but..... welcome back all the same!
Best wishes,
Beauchief Tennis Club Committee