Letter to adult members 120920

I am sorry to trouble you with yet another email, but there is a clear need for the committee to convey some messages to all members.
The club sessions have restarted but there are a number of concerns. Members are not always making a booking and are simply arriving at the club. Each session needs to have a designated leader or ‘owner’ who ensures certain things happen (details later) – yet we have had almost no volunteers to take up this responsibility at any session.

The committee are currently working very hard to ensure the club follows LTA and Government guidelines, and that club sessions can take place, but we can only do so much – and we are volunteers, not paid staff.

In order to try and help members, you will see below specific links for every club session. By using the link in your browser, you should be able to get more speedily and directly to the session you wish to book. We will continue to provide support for those few members who do not use email or clubspark. However, we cannot continue to run club sessions without there being a designated owner or leader for each one. This involves collecting/distributing balls from the clubhouse, encouraging members to use the sanitiser available, noting any members who attend and have not booked beforehand, and setting limits on the number of games played if members are waiting to play.

Unless we have some people prepared to take this minor but critical responsibility at each club session, there is a very real danger that we will have to suspend club sessions. The committee – already depleted by two missing heads – can do no more, we are already working hard and need others to get involved.

Many thanks

The Committee

The individual links to the sessions are here.

HOW TO BOOK YOUR CLUB SESSION

1. In your browser go to copy and paste link below for the session you wish to book for and follow items 2-12

For Monday 10-12 a.m. green session, 3 courts, 14 places
https://clubspark.lta.org.uk/SouthbourneTennisClub/Coaching/Summary/9aa90a23-8e9e-42cc-9ff8-09fe6e0c2bb1

For Monday 7-9 p.m. team members only, 3 courts, 14 places
https://clubspark.lta.org.uk/SouthbourneTennisClub/Coaching/Summary/904b2668-f35e-49fb-86a3-ddd3b5afa850

For Tuesday 9-11a.m. red session, 4 courts, 18 places
https://clubspark.lta.org.uk/SouthbourneTennisClub/Coaching/Summary/6db24962-1573-46b0-afac-f478db1b07c1

For Wednesday 6-8 p.m. green session, 4 courts, 18 places
https://clubspark.lta.org.uk/SouthbourneTennisClub/Coaching/Summary/7849d196-4906-47c1-b8cb-950892a8291d

For Thursday 6-8 p.m. red session,3 courts, 14 places
https://clubspark.lta.org.uk/SouthbourneTennisClub/Coaching/Summary/9fd6235c-b174-467e-80f7-b08daf775fe6

For Friday 8.30-10.15 a.m. green and red session,4 courts, 18 places
https://clubspark.lta.org.uk/SouthbourneTennisClub/Coaching/Summary/bbcdd8e4-ead8-4e27-b2a7-05f97b2aa8af

For Friday 10.30-12.15 a.m. green and red session,4 courts, 18 places
https://clubspark.lta.org.uk/SouthbourneTennisClub/Coaching/Summary/f4c2a82c-93ac-4543-9371-6c1876d926e2

For Sunday 10-12 a.m. green and red session ,3 courts,14 places
https://clubspark.lta.org.uk/SouthbourneTennisClub/Coaching/Summary/313d58e4-18b9-40ca-99a5-54894d149d2c

2. Southbourne Tennis club club session booking page will come up
3. Tick the box of the date you wish to book
4. Click on book now
5. Sign in as usual on Clubspark
6. Click on your name so that you are recognised as a member, make sure it says member if not click change
7. Tick the box to agree to the terms and conditions
8. Press ‘check out’
9. Please note that the system will only allow you to book for one week in advance.
10. No bookings can be done on the day of the session
11. You will receive an email to confirm your booking
12. If you make an error with booking or need to cancel please contact Colin.

Following guidance published by the Government for the phased return of sport and recreation, the LTA has developed an updated set of practical guidelines for venues, coaches, players and officials/competitions. Key additions and updates to the guidelines have been clearly marked below.

This version of the guidance has been updated to provide clarity on group activity after the Government confirmed that organised group tennis activity that is currently permitted in line with LTA COVID-19 Secure guidelines, can continue to take place, both indoors and oudoors. For clarity, from Monday 14 September:

FOR INFORMAL SOCIAL PLAY, GROUP SIZE IS LIMITED TO A MAXIMUM OF SIX PEOPLE BY LAW
Organised tennis activity for larger groups, including coached sessions, club nights and competitions is permitted by the Government as an exception to the limit of six, and so can continue, provided that venues, coaching providers and event organisers follow LTA COVID-19 secure guidelines

These guidelines apply to tennis, and outline adaptations and considerations so that tennis and associated activity can be enjoyed in a way that is in line with Government advice and helps to prevent the spread of COVID-19. They include measures to maintain hygiene and minimise unnecessary interactions with others.

These guidelines apply to England only, and have been produced to help venues, coaches, players and officials operate in line with the Government guidance. The full guidelines can be downloaded by copy and pasting this link https://www.lta.org.uk/about-us/tennis-news/news-and-opinion/general-news/2020/march/coronavirus-covid-19—latest-advice/ – please ensure you read the relevant guidelines in full.

Many thanks for your patience and cooperation during this time.

Southbourne Tennis Club

A few days ago you should have received an email advising you that our club sessions are due to restart on 7th September, and that all sessions would need to be booked online via the Clubspark system.

This is a follow up email containing the details of how to complete a booking. Please read this carefully before starting the process.

HOW TO BOOK YOUR CLUB SESSION

1. In your browser go to ‘auth.clubspark.uk‘ and follow items 2-13 below or copy and paste this link this link into your browser

https://clubspark.lta.org.uk/SouthbourneTennisClub/Coaching

2. Southbourne Tennis club page will come up
3. Sign in as usual on Clubspark
4. Your name will come up
5. Press ‘Coaching’
6. Underneath this will be Coaching sessions. This is how you book onto club sessions
7. Search for your session(s)
8. Click on the one you wish to book
9. Tick the box
10. Click on book now
11. Click on your name so that you are recognised as a member
12. Tick the box to agree to the terms and conditions
13. Press ‘check out’
14. Please note that the system will only allow you to book for one week in advance.
15. No bookings can be done on the day of the session
16. You will receive an email to confirm your booking
17. If you make an error with booking or need to cancel please contact Colin

Hi tennis players,

On October 5th, we are launching a new internal box league competition at Southbourne Tennis Club.

This new league will be available and managed by a new mobile app called ‘Scala Sports’. This will allow members to easily contact opponents and record results via their phones. The league is open to members of all levels and is a perfect way to meet other members of a similar standard to play friendly competitive matches.

How does it work?
The round runs October 5th- November 29th (8 WEEKS)
You are organised into a group with 4 opponents of a similar standard
You play 1 match against each opponent in your group
You determine when matches are played (in consultation with your opponents)
How do I join?
Download the free Scala Sports app (iOS or Android)
Go to Leagues
Search and join the league: Southbourne – Mixed Singles
On the start date of the round (October 5th), you will receive a notification/email and your opponents will be visible in the app. Let us know if you have any questions/concerns, for specific questions related to the Scala app please reach out to service@scalasports.com.

After very careful consideration and a great deal of head scratching, accompanied by the lack of guidance from the LTA, the Committee are pleased to advise you that we now feel able to reopen our ‘club’ sessions. However, in doing so we will need your help to ensure we continue to take full account of the current government advice to prevent any further Covid 19 outbreaks. PLEASE therefore take time to read the information below before you attend your first ‘club’ session.

When: from 7th September 2020

How: by booking your preferred slot on Clubspark. This will come in a 2nd email in the next few days.

You will have to prebook for every session. At the current time we are unable to let anyone play unless they have booked in advance.
This enables us to have the details of who has attended in case we need to use the track and trace system to advise you, should anyone display any symptoms for the session that you attended.
We are hoping to make arrangements for members who do not have access to the Clubspark system. Please be patient with regard to using the system as we know that from time to time it is not as effective as it needs to be.

Which days are sessions available, at what time and how many places are there, please continue at sessions you were previously attending

Monday 10-12 a.m. green session, 3 courts, 14 places

Monday 7-9 p.m. team members only, 3 courts, 14 places

Tuesday 9-11a.m. red session, 4 courts, 18 places

Wednesday 6-8 p.m. green session, 4 courts, 18 places

Thursday 6-8 p.m. red session,3 courts, 14 places

Friday 8.30-10.15 a.m. green and red session,4 courts, 18 places
10.30-12.15 a.m. green and red session,4 courts, 18 places

Sunday 10-12 a.m. green and red session ,3 courts,14 places

Who will be managing each session
Some of you have very kindly volunteered already to help each session to operate smoothly. For example, the giving out and collection of balls, organising the order of play, length of games and ensuring that everyone present gets to play with other people there etc. Matches should be max of 7 games. However, we still need some more of you to volunteer. If you are willing to help with the running of these club sessions, please contact Celia 07772723207 for further details. We envisage that after the first few weeks everyone will have settled down into the new way of playing so hopefully you will not find this task too arduous.

What else do I need to know
The clubhouse remains closed and will do so until further notice, please therefore ensure that you bring your own water. You should not be congregating around the patio/grounds area and should still take full account of the social distancing guidelines. ENURE THAT YOU SANITISE YOUR HANDS AS ADVISED BOTH BEFORE AND AFTER YOUR GAMES.

Finally
Thank you to all of you who responded to our email requesting ideas and help to enable us to start to re-establish the ‘club’ sessions. Please ensure you arrive only 5 minutes before the session is due to start and leave promptly.

Southbourne Tennis Club