COVID-19 and other matters

I hope you are all well in these difficult times. Whilst the court is still open for use, the club has been monitoring the advice from the LTA and I will summarise the current situation.

As you may know the LTA and the professional tennis bodies have cancelled all professional tournaments until at least 7th June, further the LTA has cancelled all national, county and local events until further notice, and given notice that clubhouses should be closed immediately. The situation at club level is more variable as the facilities offered by club's differ significantly. We are for once in the fortunate position of only having 1 court and therefore our position is slightly easier to manage.

In terms of playing, the key issue is maintaining the recommended social distancing. Further the club would recommend:-
* that a maximum of 4 people are on court at a time and that others who may be playing in the session are sitting off court next to the allotments.
* at the end of a session, all players should leave the court before the members for the next session enter the court.
* the wearing of a fabric or disposable glove should be used on your non-racket hand if you want to avoid direct contact with the ball.
* individual coaching sessions via Nick can continue but please check directly with him and that the planned programme is acceptable to all parties.

Also follow the standard procedure of washing your hands before leaving home and then again after playing. Obviously, if you have any concerns about your own health or the above information, then don't play!

If the LTA guidelines change or the court is to close, then I will send an update and also put a notice in the shed and/or on the gate however, it is your responsibility to keep yourself safe!

Other club issues

The AGM was scheduled to be held on Tuesday 21April, this is now cancelled and given the current uncertainty, there seems little point in scheduling a new date. In the next week or so I will therefore circulate the Financial Report for 2019, details of our budget for 2020 and my Chairman's Report, and will welcome any comments or points of clarification that you may have. Further, as the custom has been to make our Wimbledon draw at the AGM, this will now be done in 'isolation' by Mark Wallace, another committee member and myself. Details of the 'winning' members will be circulated to all members once our allocation of 13 pairs of tickets have been assigned.

The early summer social event 'Pimms on the Green' and our free junior coaching sessions for village children are 'on hold', with their proposed dates cancelled - so watch this space once the virus situation improves.

Best wishes, play safe and stay safe,
Phil Hughes