We hope that you are all keeping well and staying safe in these uncertain times. As a committee we are acutely aware of the impact on peoples lives at this current time and the courts remain closed for the foreseeable future. We are hopeful that tennis will be one of the first things that is allowed once we start to see some relief from the lockdown and to this end please find an update on a few things below including membership fee deferrals, Wimbledon ballot, tournaments and the new website.
Membership Fee Deferrals
The club have considered its membership fees for the current year and thank the majority of members who have renewed their membership for the year. We recognise that we are in uncertain times and the club is hopeful that we can get back to playing tennis in the not too distant future. Equally we recognise that some of you may not be renewing due to the current uncertainty of when the courts will be available. We as a club are reliant on membership fees and are reluctant to offer any refunds on membership at this stage but recognise that depending on the length of closure may need to consider it. In the interim we are not chasing up any renewals and will enable anyone who still wishes to be a member to defer their fees until it is more certain of the timescales. If you have already paid and would like to defer your fees then we can offer a refund, however we would ask members that if you can afford to pay the fees then the club would welcome this so that we can remain financially sustainable. Once we are through this the club will consider whether any refund on membership fees will be made, depending on how much of the season we lose.
Wimbledon Ballot 2021
Following on from the note about Wimbledon Ballot tickets, for clarification it is only the public ballot that is allowing people to buy the same tickets for next years championship. We have been informed by the LTA that the club ballot process has been halted and any tickets will be refunded. Their current stance is that those successful in the ballot this year will not automatically be considered for the ballot next year. We as a club recognise the disappointment this is for those successful in the ballot this year and once we are in a position to be clearer as to where we are in terms of tickets being awarded will need to consider whether we are able to address this in any way. It is unlikely we will be making any decision on this until at least the autumn.
New Website
Over the last few months we have been working on a new website for the club and are delighted that we are now in a position to launch!
The clubs website is now https://RowlandsCastleTennisClub.org the old website https://rctc.hitstennis.co.uk is still available but will be shortly redirected to the new website.
Some of the features of the new site include:
- A members area
We have taken a some of the existing information and put it into a members area which is accessed via a password. When you access this page please enter RCTC (All caps) when prompted. From the members area you can access
- The tournament draws/results
- Court booking (can also be accessed from website header)
- Club diary which contains details of summer tournaments etc
- Club team information including links to how our teams are performing in the local leagues
- Photo galleries (which for now contains the one from last season’s finals)
- Booking system
There is a link to the court booking system on the home page and the members area. This links you to the same system as we currently use (we are potentially looking at other systems but for now we will stick with the existing one)
- Coaching information
As you may know Katie Rowley is running the coaching at the club and all the details (including how to contact Katie) are on the coaching page
- News
On this page we will try and keep you up to date with the latest news etc from the club (this will also be mailed to those of you who have signed up for the mailing list).
As with any new website there may be a few teething issues so please let us know if you spot anything and any feedback you have.
Club Tournaments
Well by now we would have published our tournament draws and everyone would be busily arranging matches (or leaving it till the day before the end date!). We are still hopeful that we can run tournaments once we are allowed to play again and to this end if you are interested in playing in the club tournaments please e mail Matt Bennett or Roger Castle on sec@rctc.co.uk by end of April with your entry.