RATC's 2025-26 membership year started on 1st April 2025 and will end on 31st March 2026.

NEW MEMBERS

As the club approaches the end of its Membership year anyone wishing to join the club before 1st April 2026 can contact membership@ratc.org.uk for details of the most appropriate membership package for them to join, if there is insufficient information within this article.

There is a listed  low cost New Year 2026 Adult package available @ £25 from 1.1.26 for any over 18 person wishing to start playing at the club prior to the start of our 2026-27 membership year on 1st April 2026.

The costs of annual 2026-27 membership packages are to be:-

Adults £145

Juniors (11-17 years) £27

Student/ Concessionary £56

Single Adult Family £148

 2 Adult Family £ 290

Distance Students £28 ( over 18's in  6th form/Year 13  or tertiary education more than 25 miles from Romsey) 

Distance Adults £72.50 ( resident more than 25 miles from Romsey ) 

FREE OF CHARGE RATC MEMBERSHIP 2026-27  is available for all children under the age of 11 years on 1.2.26 who regularly attend individual, or group coached session,s with RATC's coaching team, led by Mihaly Bukur.

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RENEWING MEMBERS.

Renewal notices and requests for payment will be sent out at the end of March .

Please be aware that if you pay by BACS transfer, this has to be done outside of Clubspark  with your own bank or buiding soceity.

RATC has in the last few weeks moved its account to a Community account at the  National Westminster Bank sort code 60-18-46 . RATC's old Barclays Bank account is no longer in use.  

The club has made a 3-4% inflationary increase in membership fees for the coming year. ( see fees in above section for New Members) 

Annual fees over £50 can now be paid by 10  monthly installments via Clubspark's Stripe facility ( credit and  debit cards )  or  via Clubspark's Go Cardless facility (direct debits).

Please inform membership@ratc.org.uk if you do not wish to receive a membership renewal notice or need to make changes to your, or your family's membership package. 

Please notify membership@ratc.org.uk if there have been any changes to your contact details/ address etc. since last year. 

It is important that any member who is now over 18 and thus no longer entitled to inclusion in a Family or Junior package ,but who wishes to remain a club member,  notifies membership@ratc.org.uk of their own personal  email address, so that they can be invited to continue as a RATC club member in their own right, on a membership  package appropriate  to their circumstances. This is usually a low cost student or Distance Student package. It is perfectly acceptable for the fee to still be paid by a parent, but the young adult needs to confirm their own agreement to adhere to the terms and conditions of membership. 

Any member now aged over 25 ,will not be sent a renewal notice for a Student/Concessionary or Distance Student  package, until their ongoing entitlement to a reduced cost package been confirmed to the club by email to membership@ratc.org.uk. 

Please will parents of any free of charge, Child (under 11) member,  who no longer attends coached sessions with RATC's coaching team, and is not included in a Family package, notify membership@ratc.org.uk so that the Child membership can be cancelled.

General Membership package information.

The date on which the age related packages( e.g Juniors, both as an individual and also within a Family package) change, is the 1st February that precedes the start of the membership year on April 1st.

e.g. a child born on the 18th March 2015 will be is entitled to free of charge Child membership for RATC's 2026-27 year as they were under 11 years old on 1st February 2026

A  6th form college student that has their 18th birthday before the  1st February preceeding the start of  RATC's membership year on 1 st April can apply for Distance Student membership  for that membership year, (Distance Student membership will be priced at £28 for 2026-27 cf. Junior @ £27).

If a Junior member became 18 after 1st February 2025, they were still entitled to Junior membership, or to be included in a Family package, until the end of RATC's membership year on 31.3.26.

Distance Student membership  is aimed at  full time students  enrolled in  a college/university at least 25 miles from Romsey and for year 13 school students whose 18th birthday preceeded 1.2.26 

Student/Concessionary membership  is appropriate for full time students, apprentices, those on low waged training posts  etc. who are  under 23 years old and still living within 25miles of Romsey. Older individuals with financial restraints can apply to the membership secretary via membership@ratc.org.uk to be considered for this concessionary package.

Family packages permit the inclusion of all under 18 children living in the household of the adult applicant, however it is only the adult contact for a Family package that has the court booking rights.

It is recommenced that couples without under 18's in their household take out individual adult memberships.

The annual membership fees can now be paid within ClubSpark by card on " Stripe", or by Direct Debit mandate with  " Go Cardless." 

Fees can also be paid by BACS transfer outside of Clubspark.

RATC is no longer routinely accepting cash or cheque payments, if this a problem for anyone please contact treasurer@ratc.org.uk

Annual membership fees that exceed £50, can be paid in 10 monthly instalments New members joining after June, starting a monthly payment method for the annual charge, will pay a higher monthly fee for less than 10 months ,so as to pay the full annual charge before the end of the membership year.

Stripe and Go Cardless make administration deductions from membership fees.There are no deductions made for payments outside of Clubspark when made by BACS  transfer.

The total fee paid for membership if payments are made monthly, is slightly more than if payment is made in a one off transaction.

It is expected that members opting to pay by monthly  Direct Debits or card payments will continue for the full number of payments necessary to meet the cost of an annual membership.

If a member moves away, falls ill or sustains significant injury and is unable to participate in tennis, any such circumstances need to be reported to membership@ratc.org.uk in order to suspend membership during a membership year. 

Members who become ill or injured for a significant period (circa 6weeks or more ), but who hope to get back to playing tennis, are generally invited to transfer to a Social/Contact membership.

Social/Contact (S/C) membership is a by invitation only, category of membership; it allows the full membership to be reinstated on recovery, or a refund made if full payment has been made for membership early in the membership year.

S/C membership is limited to a maximum of 10% of the toatal over 18 club membership and with the exception of the Walking Tennis MOS, is a non playing membership without court booking rights or access to Member Organised Sessions ( MOS )  

The  Walking Tennis MOS session is available to anyone on the otherwise, non playing Social/Contact membership. 

The club only offers shorter duration packages at reduced cost for new members joining during the winter season (October to March).

There are no joining fees charged at RATC 

Please note membership the fee for a Single Adult Family is very slightly more than for a single  Adult package,  but it does include children in the same household under the age of 18.

An Adult couple with no children in the household wishing to join us, are advised to purchase 2 seperate  Adult packages rather than a 2 Adult family package.There is sometimes a need to place limitations on the number of  court bookings permitted  per registered adult member, only the adult registering a 2 Adult family membership can book courts 

Benefits of membership at the club include:

• Free court booking rights within the club's court booking policy (excluded for Social/Contact Members).
• Free LTA Advantage Play + Membership ( previously known as British Tennis Membership).
• A free introductory session with one of the coaching team for new over 18 members.
• Access to FREE Member Organised Sessions (MOS) for Adult and Student Members.
• Reduced coaching fees.
• Reduced fees for coach-led club social tournaments.
• Ability to represent the club in local competitive leagues (Adults and Juniors).
• Ability to enter our Internal Box Leagues and annual Club Championships (additional charges may apply).
• Access to Club Social Events.

By applying for membership at Romsey & Abbey Tennis Club, members must accept and agree to abide by the following:

Safeguarding Policy
Diversity and Inclusion Policy
Code of Conduct
Court Booking Policy

• A limited number of Social/Contact memberships are available for adults unable to play tennis due to significant lasting injury, illness,or infirmity;  Social/Contact membership is also for non-playing adults who have been involved with the club for social contact and volunteering.  Please contact the Membership Secretary, at membership@ratc.org.uk for more details and to apply.
• All membership packages other than Social/Contact membership, include court booking rights.
• Floodlight use is an additional charge.
• Court bookings for members under 18 years old need to be made by the member's named adult contact.
• Only the lead adult contact on a Family package automatically has court booking rights.
• BACS is the club's preferred method of payment, as it does not incur any charges.

If you have any further questions about membership at the club, please contact the current "Retiring and Acting "Membership Secretary, Sue Tippett, by email  membership@ratc.org.uk.