Tennis is Back! But there are still limitations…

Hurray – tennis is back from 29th March! 

The news that we were all waiting for has arrived so our courts will be open from 29th March. While this fantastic there are still some limitations which are outlined in the LTA guidelines that can be found by clicking this link

From this you will see that there remain some areas where the guidelines are still awaited. That said the LTA has summarised that the rule of six will apply for outdoor social play. Whilst ‘Organised Group Activity’ will be permitted (maximum group size TBD), the LTA has advised that these need to be “Formally Organised Group Sessions”.  Under this definition, the Committee on behalf of the club has to take responsibility for these activities and ensure that sufficient Covid-19 secure protections measures are put in place.  Unfortunately, the Committee cannot take responsibility for private member bookings, therefore and with regret at this time we have taken the difficult decision to cancel all private block bookings and we will be in touch with those who have such bookings to discuss. All private single court bookings are not impacted.

We will be working with team captains and others who organise social tennis in the coming days and weeks to make sure that safe group activities can take place. We do ask for your understanding as these are difficult decisions and we are all looking forward to a time when we can play without restrictions. At all times the safety of our members is uppermost on the minds of the Committee.

Dependent on the Government’s confirmation, the rule of six is due to be relaxed to 30 by the government on 17th May.  Once this has been confirmed, the Committee will review what this means for Organised Group Activity.

Please do read the latest guidance from the LTA which outlines the rules that will apply from 29th March. There are two useful pages: updated guidance and summary grid

Camps and Coaching

Any of our juniors interested in tennis camps with our coaches? Craig is planning some camps with dates, times and numbers depending on numbers allowed. If you are interested please email Craig  directly at Craig.tennis@outlook.comto express interest so that he can plan accordingly.

Assuming no change in dates and subject to LTA confirmation, the Saturday Junior sessions will start again on Saturday, 3rd April. More details will follow nearer the time. 

Similarly, any questions on coaching matters just email Craig who will be happy to help.

Membership Renewals

As you know, our membership year runs from 1st April to 31st March so we are approaching the time when renewal notices will be distributed. We are very conscious that the last membership year has been severely disrupted by the pandemic. It is very much hoped that this year we will see a full year of tennis, and subs, at the reduced rate as agreed at our AGM, can be found here.

Renewal notices will be sent out towards the end of the month, as opposed to in the next week, so that we know tennis is back. We hope that you will all re-join and look forward to seeing you on court again. 

If you don’t intend to renew (so want to avoid unwanted emails) or have questions about your membership please let the Membership Secretary, Jax Brabazon know. Her email is jax.brabazon@gmail.com

Keeping Up with Each Other

February’s social event was a fabulous murder mystery evening attended by over 20 people who dressed up in fantastic outfits to act out ‘Murder in the Alps’. By all accounts the club has some very talented actors / actresses! A full report, together with a host of wonderful photographs can be found on the Social Events page of the website, here. Once again thanks go to Tim who conceived and executed the idea with help from Ania and Rebecca.

Next up on 13th March is the opportunity to taste gin! We have provisionally booked an expert Gin supplier to do a zoom gin evening. The team has been highly recommended  and will provide six craft gins from their selection of over two hundred UK distilled gins, representing a good cross section of currently available gin styles. The tasting kits contain everything required for two people to join comprising six 50ml gin tasters, paired tonics and mixers, savoury nibbles and some chocolate treats. All are typically premium products in their category.

Guests will taste their gins throughout the evening and as they do so the WSET accredited gin expert will inform and educate, including some funny and entertaining stories from gin’s dark and chequered past. The two person guest kit is £49 (i.e.£25 per head). A single kit can be done at a cost of £34. There is an additional £4.95 for p+p. However, if we have over 15 couples we will get a 10% discount. You will be asked to buy your gin starter kit through the website that we will provide, entering you preferred delivery address. We will give a list to the supplier of those that have registered for the event.

If you are interested please register HERE by this Friday, 5th March.

LTA Advantage

The LTA (Lawn Tennis Association) is the National Governing Body for tennis in Great Britain.  It is there to govern and grow tennis in Britain, from grassroots participation to the professional game.  Advantage is the LTA's new membership scheme and you can join as a player or just as a fan.  

There are different Advantage Options: most are free and for the majority of you (as players), the Advantage Play + option is what you need as a member of Bovingdon Tennis Club.  This will let you play in external matches and also enter the Wimbledon Ballot.  

You will need to affiliate with our club (player option only), which you can do using this link:  Register for Advantage

Do not register if you are already affiliated as this will create two accounts which can cause issues going forward.  

To compare the different Advantage Options, please click here:  Compare.  

You will have been automatically moved over to the new Advantage if you are already a member so you don't need to do anything.  You can check your membership status here by signing into your account.  https://www2.lta.org.uk/account-details/ or alternatively email Jax Brabazon Membership Secretary at jax.brabazon@gmail.com 

Please note that the minimum age to be eligible for the LTA Wimbledon ballot is 11 years old.

Wimbledon Ballot

There is still no news on the LTA Membership Wimbledon Ballot for this year (there is no public ballot), however once you are affiliated, the LTA will be sending out emails with more information.  

Survey

Thank you to all who have completed the survey to date. Some excellent feedback and comments have been received, all of which will be really useful when we come to write the strategy and decide on the updated Committee structure. There is still time to have your say and you are all encouraged to do so as this is our collective club. 

The survey remains open until Sunday, 7th March at 10pm. 

To complete please click this link.

Who Does What?

In the meantime, on roles here is some clarification of who is doing what until the full Committee structure is considered in light of the survey results.

Current Committee Positions

Martin Allen - Chair 

Jo Alden - Facilities

Craig Blythe - Coaching

Colin Chamberlain  - Welfare

Dermot Kirk- Finance

Current Non-Committee Positions. 

The people below have volunteered to help until the strategy is ratified and new positions can be advertised to Club members:

Jacqui Brabazon - Membership, Website, Club News

Ali Lyons - Team Captain (approved position), Bookings and Tennis (together with Craig and Steve)

Steve Spikings - Bookings and Tennis (together with Craig and Ali)

Contact details can be found on the website for specific questions or, for generic questions, suggestions or to volunteer to help run the Club, please email the Committee at commiteebftc@btinternet.com

Are You Tennis Ready?

Finally, one of our members, Bradley Goodyear has a generous offer to help us get tennis ready! A qualified personal trainer, Bradley is offering all members of the Club 20% either online or in-person sessions during the month of March. Interested? Visit his website at http://www.fitness-4you.co.uk/   or email Bradley directly at fitness-4you@hotmail.com