RESTRICTION UPDATE:

Following a further easing of government restrictions, and new advice from the LTA, we are now able to play both singles and doubles tennis with others from different households.  Coaching restrictions have also eased, and small groups of up to 5 can now be coached (Total of 6 on court including the coach)

The full LTA guidance for tennis players can be found here: 

https://www.lta.org.uk/globalassets/news/2020/lta-guidance-for-tennis-players---covid-19.pdf

The many of the previous conditions still remain, the main new points to take note of are:

* Doubles play is allowed, but people from different households still need to remain at least 2 metres apart.  Care will have to be taken, and it is suggested that players agree, in advance, which player will take a shot if a ball travels to the centre of the court.

* Hand hygiene is imperative - use alcohol gel to clean hands after touching any shared surface.

* Avoid touching your face.

* Players do NOT need to use their own clearly marked tennis balls - but if you share balls, then you must ensure you don't touch your face during play.  We suggest it is better to continue using your own marked balls where possible.

COURT BOOKING SYSTEM:

While we've been pleased with players managing their court times via the various WhatsApp groups, the LTA suggests that we should use a court booking system where possible.  We are now introducing court bookings online via our website

The various group sessions have been blocked out, and they can continue to be managed directly from the WhatsApp groups.

We are going to continue limiting bookings to being one hour blocks starting on the hour for the time being.

You will need to log in to use the booking system, and we'd suggest you use your LTA log in (if you have one), or create one.

We hope that you will find the court booking system easy to use, and will help avoid turning up unnecessarily when the courts are sometimes busy with coaching and play. It is still important during these times to minimise contact with others, and reducing time waiting for courts does help.

Please use the system, even when you expect the courts to be free, as we are also going to use the statistics we gather to assess court usage which may help us with some recent problems with the neighbours complaining about the increased levels of noise.  Also give some consideration to keeping unnecessary noise levels down for the neighbours that have their properties backing directly onto the courts.

MEMBERSHIP RENEWAL:

While we've been in lockdown, and the club facilities have been closed, we have delayed membership renewals.  With our recent return to tennis, we are now requesting members to renew and pay for their memberships before the end of June.  While the Victoria Club remains closed, we will be taking renewals (and new memberships) online via our website

Like the court booking system, you will need to log in to renew your membership, and using your LTA log in (if you have one) is the easiest.

The fees will be for the period of 1st June 2020 to 31st March 2021.  We have reduced the fees for all adult and family memberships to compensate for the time in lockdown. Also note that the additional membership of the Victoria Field Social Club is a requirement for members of every sporting section, and will also be due when the social club reopens.