Hi All,

We have been working hard on a “Return to Tennis” strategy for resumption of play at RATC on 29 March 2021.

It’s been a long time without any play, and we are really looking forward to seeing you all and re-opening the courts in a safe environment following LTA and government guidelines.

LTA Guidelines

The latest LTA guidelines were updated on 2 March, see link below:

https://www.lta.org.uk/globalassets/news/2021/summary-grid---permitted-tennis-activity.pdf

Please take the opportunity to familiarise yourself with these guidelines, as we will be strictly following LTA guidelines in our Return to Tennis.

Return to Tennis

We will adopt a phased approach to return to tennis, in accordance with the LTA guidelines.

Phase 1: 29 March – 18 April

From 29 March, outdoor venues may re-open, and we will be offering:

• Pre-booked member organised sessions, with a strict no rotation policy in place
• One-to-one and private coaching from Mihály and team
• Social singles and doubles play, pre-booked on ClubSpark
• Pay and Play

For more information on the groups running, please contact the organisers of the respective groups. Contact details for all groups, leagues and sessions are included in the Appendix.

In Phase 1 we will operate only with pre-booking, a strict no rotation policy, a one-way system and optional use of face masks around the hut to ensure appropriate safety measures are in place.

Please come to the club ready to play, adhering at all times to the social distancing and government guidelines.

Member Organised Sessions

We are very pleased to be re-starting Member Organised Sessions from 29 March.

Further information with specific details on these sessions will be provided in a later email, but we intend to re-start the following events. It is likely we’ll be oversubscribed initially – please bear with us.  Please send an email to mos@ratc.org.uk to find out more.

• Wednesday 9am–11am Mixed Doubles
• Wednesday 7pm–9pm Mixed Doubles
• Thursday 9am–11am Ladies Doubles
• Friday 8am–10am Mixed Doubles Vets
• Sunday 5pm–7pm Mixed Doubles

Pay and Play

We are also pleased that we will be re-starting Pay and Play from 29 March.

We anticipate that there will be strong demand for courts, and we will use the booking policy to ensure that all who want to play have an equal opportunity to do so.

Tennis Camps

Over the Easter holidays, we will be offering tennis camps for mini and adult players. Please contact Mihály or Veronica for more details.

Ladders and Box Leagues

Following the success of the singles ladders before lockdown, we will resume singles Box Leagues from 29 March. In addition, we will start a Doubles Box League. We will be looking to expand the number of players in these internal leagues to give more opportunities to play. We're especially trying to make these leagues more inviting to beginners and intermediate players within the club.

We will be using a phone app called Scala. The app will significantly improve the administration and transparency of the matches as well as linking to the RATC website. More details about how to download, sign up and find the competitions will be issued in the next few weeks before 29 March through email.

Phase 2: From 19 April onwards

In addition to the above activities in Phase 1, after the Easter holidays we hope to enter Phase 2, where we anticipate adult and junior group coaching will resume.

Please ask the coaching team for more information about what will be offered.

Competitive Opportunities

In response to feedback from the Working Group on Court Utilisation, the Committee have been working hard to enhance competitive opportunities at the club.

The Apsley competitive league is expected to resume on the weekend of 1 May and we have entered two mixed doubles teams into the league.

We will hopefully be running a “Meet the Captain” event, if COVID guidelines allow; however, please also register your interest for joining these teams by contacting Kate (matchsec@ratc.org.uk).

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We are very much looking forward to seeing you all back at RATC from 29 March, and we thank you for your continued support as we re-start tennis at the club.

Kind regards

RATC Committee

Appendix: Contact Details

Coaching                              Mihály / Veronica            tennis@ratc.org.uk / clubdev@ratc.org.uk

Match Secretary               Kate                                       matchsec@ratc.org.uk 

Club Secretary                   Nick                                       secretary@ratc.org.uk

Member Organised Sessions       Christine              mos@ratc.org.uk