Outdoor Tennis Courts Reopening from 31st March

We look forward to welcoming our racquets members back to our outdoor tennis courts on Wednesday 31^st March!
As usual in this COVID time, there are a number of things to be aware of, so please do take a little time to read the below items carefully.

Opening Times

The courts will be open between the following times:

Weekdays: 9am to 8pm

Weekends: 9am to 5pm

Note: this applies to the period from 31^st March to 11^th April and these hours will be extended when the Club reopens on 12^th April.  

Court Booking

Racquets members can book courts through our existing App. Bookings will go “Live” on the morning of Saturday 27^th March – hopefully around 10am. The usual rules will apply, so you can book up to 7 days in advance, and no more than 2 hours per day please, per household.

We realise that there is great enthusiasm about the restart of tennis after so many months of not being able to play. However, we kindly ask you to please be sensible with your bookings, and only book courts that you intend to use, so that everyone has a fair chance to book and use the courts. We will monitor the bookings in the first few days and will call members if we think the system is being abused.  

For all court bookings from 12^th April (the date we officially open) bookings will be via a new system (and a new App), and details will be announced shortly before we reopen.

Court Charges & Cancellations

We have taken the decision not to charge extra for the courts between 31^st March and 11^th April inclusive. As long as you are still on your £12 freeze, and are a racquets member, you can book and play at no additional cost.

We obviously want to ensure that the court space is well used by members, so please try to cancel a court well in advance if you know you cannot make it. There will be a “no show” charge of £5 for courts that are booked and not used (or cancelled at least 6 hours in advance), so please only book those courts you know you can use. Any £5 “no show/late cancellation” charges levied will go to the Club’s two chosen charities for this year.

We know our tennis players are a hardy bunch but if the weather is very poor we may choose to waive this “no show” charge; however, this does not include moderate wind or light drizzle!  

Arriving & Leaving

Please arrive and leave through the main entrance of the Club. Bring your membership card and swipe in as you would normally. Reception will be manned during the court opening hours.

COVID Rules

The COVID rules allow doubles or singles play, and social play is allowed in a group of up to six people. The key rule is that social distancing must be maintained at all times both before, during and after play, and there is no spectating allowed, with the exception of a parent / guardian supervising their playing children. The LTA guidance can be found here.

Other Club Facilities

Note that under lockdown rules, the Club must remain officially closed, including the Club Lounge. Please come ready changed, bring water with you, and leave without showering. The toilets will be available if required and tap water for refilling bottles. Sadly, the outdoor seating area is not for use during this period under COVID rules (even if the weather is nice!), so please depart immediately after finishing your game. This is scheduled to change from 12^th April, when we should be able to reopen our outdoor seating.  

Coaching Sessions

Our coaches are available for 1-2-1 lessons. Their profiles are available on our web-site here. To book please contact them directly and schedule your session(s).

We will not be running our adult group sessions during the period from 31^st March to 11^th April, nor our junior term-time sessions (as it is the Easter holidays). All of the group activities will restart once the Club is reopen on 12^th April and we will communicate to you about these separately.

Guests

We kindly ask you not to invite guests. If the courts turn out not to be too busy, we may review this again.

That’s about it from us, but please let us know if you have any questions via the usual email channels.

Let’s hope for some glorious weather!!

Steve, Nick and the Racquets Team