PLEASE NOTE - if there are any safeguarding concerns, please contact the Welfare Officer, Caroline Chipper, on 07816 661460.

1.   All members are to conduct their own Risk Assessment before any play, taking inclement weather conditions into account. This is especially important if you have invited a guest.

2.   Except for exceptional circumstances as directed by the Committee, no play can take place outside the advertised opening hours of:

• Monday to Saturday           08:00 - 22:00
• Sunday                                  09:00 - 21:00

3.   All courts must be pre-booked using either the portal on the Needingworth website or the mobile phone ClubSpark app. To achieve this, players must be an LTA Advantage member.

4.   Courts are bookable in 30-minute slots up to a maximum of 2 hours at any one time.

• Out of courtesy to the nearby residents, Court 2 (furthest from the pavilion) should be booked first.
• The member booking the court is responsible for the behaviour of their group of players.

5.   Players should be prepared to leave the court in a timely manner and may only over-run their booking if no-one has booked the court after them.

6.    Members are welcome to bring occasional guests. The cost for each guest is £2.00 per visit. Payment can be made by:

• Using the QR code on display at the club, or
• Depositing the guest fee(s) in the suggestion box, or
• BACs transfer to Needingworth Tennis Club:

             Lloyds Bank.

            Account No 30874860.

            Sort Code 309897.

This policy is for occasional visits - guests that play regularly at the club will be expected to become a member.

7.   Guests must be accompanied by a member at all times, or they will be treated as a Pay-and-Play guest, see below.

8.   Players are responsible for locking the court after use by scrambling the combination code, unless this task is handed over to new players replacing them on the same court.

9.   Club matches, coaching and club sessions will have priority and will be booked in advance.

10.   Access to the courts is via a combination padlock on each gate:

• The code will be supplied upon payment of membership fees. This code should not be revealed to any other person.
• The code will be changed annually at the start of each membership year and at regular intervals during the year. However, if deemed necessary, the Committee reserve the right to change the code at short notice.
• Any change of code will be emailed to all current members of Needingworth Tennis Club

11.   Players are requested to avoid making excessive noise and respect our immediate residential neighbours.

12.   Balls must not be retrieved from nearby gardens. The fenced off section at the back of the courts is accessible via the back gate by the pavilion.

13.   Tennis shoes must always be worn on the courts (no AstroTurf shoes or Cross Trainers).

14.   No bikes, and no ball games (other than tennis) to be played on the courts.

15.   A toilet is accessible on the end of the village hall via the back gate (coded door lock). The code for this can be found in the court booking confirmation email.

16.   Ball machine – this is available for members to use once they have had a short briefing session on its safe use. Please contact Mark Balaam to arrange this briefing.

17.   In the event of any injury, please let a member of the Committee know so that follow up action can be taken, as necessary. If you use up any items from the First Aid Kit (located in the light box), please notify Sue Pandey so that replacement items can be bought.

18. When leaving the court make sure the net has been returned to the correct height if it has been necessary to adjust this during play.

19.   Any change to the rules will be agreed by the committee.

Floodlight Usage

Lights are available to use until 10pm Monday to Saturday and up until 9pm on Sunday. The lights have been set to turn off automatically at these times.

In order to minimise noise for our neighbours, please play on court 2 (the one furthest from the houses) if only one court is to be used.

The lights are turned on by inserting a token into the meter control unit located in the light box at the edge of the courts on the village hall side. This is straightforward but if you need assistance, please contact any committee member. One token lasts 30 minutes. The Club makes no profit from the sale of tokens, so the cost of each token is dependent on the current cost of electricity from the current supplier.

Tokens can be purchased from:

• Mark Balaam – 5 The Maltings, Needingworth

A warning beacon next to the meter control unit flashes when the timed period is about to end.

For your safety, at the end of the period, one light stays on for an extra 5 minutes to allow you to exit the courts.

If using the override key and the lights turn off automatically by the ‘end of the day’ timer, make sure the override key is turned off, otherwise the lights will automatically switch back on in the morning.

If the lights are turned off, it will not be possible to switch them on again for 10 minutes (whilst the bulbs cool).

Pay and Play

Court 3 is open to non-members and may be booked on a Pay and Play basis at the advertised hourly rate.

Book using LTA Rally. No membership is required, players simply enter the postcode or location, pick a court, book, and play.

Updated on 12 July 2024