You will all no doubt have seen the latest government announcements surrounding the initial easing of some restrictions and we are seeking to implement the following for the tennis club based on the government and the Lawn Tennis Association’s (LTA) guidance.
- From Wednesday 13 May the courts will be open for singles play only other than where players are all from the same household in which case they can play doubles. For clarity doubles cannot be played by players from different households (even if they are on opposing sides).
- Players should practice social distancing and remain 2 metres away from anyone outside of their household.
- We are only opening Courts 1 and 3 to ensure that social distancing can be maintained. Members should book courts in advance using the booking system and Court 2 will not be available to book
- Members should not be using the courts if they or a member of their household is showing symptoms of Covid 19 or if they are in a vulnerable group as defined by government guidelines.
- The club will not be organising any activities (such as club nights, group coaching, league matches or tournaments) until further easing of restrictions. One to one coaching will be available through Katie Rowley.
The above approach is based on LTA guidance and members should also still follow social distancing guidelines from Government. In particular members should be aware that the court infrastructure (gates/padlock/nets/benches/etc) will not be regularly cleaned and members should bring hand sanitiser to clean their hands after touching any of these areas. We are currently seeking to source hand sanitiser and wipes to be available on the courts.
Members are also advised that the benches should not be used and have been taped up to avoid use.
The LTA have also advised players to bring their own tennis balls clearly marked with their initials and only handle their own tennis balls.
The attached document provides the LTA’s guidance for players on returning to play and all members should follow this guidance.
For information the current LTA guidelines are shown here with advice for players, venues and coaches: https://www.lta.org.uk/about-us/tennis-news/news-and-opinion/general-news/2020/march/coronavirus-covid-19—latest-advice/
We ask that members follow these guidelines as if they aren’t followed then we will be required to close the courts once again.
Thank you for your consideration during this time and we will continue to monitor the situation and hope to get us all back on court playing more social tennis as we are allowed to do so.
Hope you are all keeping well and stay safe.