We wrote to you hoping that we would hear positive news from the LTA – well, we have !!! A new player guide can also be found at https://www.lta.org.uk/globalassets/news/2020/lta-guidance-for-tennis-players---covid-19.pdf
Effective from 09:00 Wednesday June 4th we are able to open the Courts for Doubles. We are not yet going back to a completely full and normal pattern, but we are trying to open up as much access as possible. We are also not yet in a position to look at tournaments and social events, but we want to get people back playing doubles as much as we can.
To avoid making this too complicated, we are also choosing to re-open for doubles in advance of piloting ClubSpark for online booking as we want to try to make this as simple as we can – our ability to do this is dependent on members continuing to comply with social distancing and government guidelines.
We will be opening up (1) Club tennis (2) Ladies’ morning tennis and (3) Junior coaching. We will not at this stage be reinstating Rusty Racquets, Ladies’ Team practice or Men’s team practice – this is to give as much court availability as we can for members. We will wait to hear in due course from the Aylesbury, Bucks and Oxford leagues in due course as to what this means for match/team tennis.
We will also be re-opening Court 2 over the next couple of days to maximise court availability – this needs players on all courts to be very careful about avoiding running across courts, and very careful about returning balls carefully please.
Although we are not using ClubSpark for online booking – we are using it to mark out the court allocation for these events so that members know when the main events are happening.
The Clubhouse will remain locked with no access to the toilets – however, as promised, we have installed an external drinking water tap on the clubhouse wall.
The same social distancing rules as before apply to the general club area – no spectating please, and if you are waiting please stay in your car or at a good distance from the courts, and please try to avoid congregating when not playing. The nets remain at preset height and we ask members not to adjust these please.
Club Tennis: Commencing Thursday 4th June
Club tennis will run on Tuesday evenings 19:00 onwards, Thursday evenings 19:00 onwards and Saturday afternoons 14:00 onwards. Club tennis has priority use of all four courts for these times.
We have asked Peter Messenger to carefully manage this for us – people MUST let us know if they are attending so that we can control numbers. Peter will be capping participants at 16 per session. The first eight arrivals should use the main clubhouse gate to play on courts 1 and 2, the remaining players should use the football club car park gate and play on courts 3 and 4.
We will be providing a limited number of balls for sessions and will be replacing these very frequently to minimise risk.
We know there will be a lot of demand from people to want to play – so please be considerate to other members – think about how to gradually ease back in and spread your tennis (Tuesday night has long been the busiest club tennis session – so spread out your attendance across the sessions – I am sure Peter will give you good advice on this).
Ladies’ Morning Tennis: Commencing Thursday 4th June
Ladies’ tennis will run on Monday from 10:00 – 13:00 and Thursday from 10:00 – 13:00 with 3 courts reserved for this.
We have asked Karen Williams to carefully manage this for us – people MUST let us know if they are attending so that we can control numbers. Karen will be capping participants at 12 per session. The first eight arrivals should use the main clubhouse gate to play on courts 1 and 2, the remaining players should use the football club car park gate and play on court 3. We have previously used paper bookings for Ladies’ tennis in the clubhouse, as this is not yet available, Karen will be putting in place an email (or alternative) way for people to confirm attendance.
We will be providing a limited number of balls for sessions and will be replacing these very frequently to minimise risk.
Junior Coaching
We are in the process of agreeing the restart of junior coaching with Dan and this will be posted on the website in due course – Dan will be in touch with his regular coaching attendees – but for all of our other family groups and juniors, please get in touch with Dan at <Dan details>
Dan will also continue to have court availability ring fenced – and visible in the court calendar on ClubSpark for 1-2-1 coaching.
We hope you agree that this is a big step forward – it’s a great moment to be back playing doubles. Having said that, it does introduce a new set of risks as we are likely to have more people at the club than we have had at any point since lockdown commenced – so please remember your hand hygiene, your own hand sanitiser, your own water and most of all remember to be very careful with your social distancing.
The LTA guidance also reminds of us the new Government Track and Trace system – and we must remind all members of this - https://www.gov.uk/guidance/nhs-test-and-trace-how-it-works - if anyone experiences symptoms please make sure you contact the NHS.
Finally, the weather is great, the courts are open for doubles – so its all good – but can we please ask members to be considerate in their use of the courts, think about when they are likely to be busy and recognise that there will be a lot of players looking to play. Play in the mornings if you can, through the day, recognise that evenings and weekends will be busy and be kind and considerate to people waiting – lets all enjoy our tennis.