Hi All,
I’m delighted to have played tennis a few times over the last two weeks and I hope you have too.

From tomorrow (Thursday) at 9pm we will open the court booking system for 7 days in advance.

Your committee have also asked me to let you know that they have decided to turn on the court lights from 7pm to 10pm free of charge Mondays to Thursdays until December 23rd. This will start today. Yippee! They must be helping Santa!

Two weeks ago I wrote to you and expressed my and your committee’s desire to maintain and encourage good tennis, good friendships and good health over the next while.

Well, the good tennis is easy – practice, practice, practice. ( and maybe a bit of coaching ! )

The good friends and health might be a bit trickier.

Our friends mean a lot to us. I have really enjoyed the company of my friends on the court over the last two weeks.

Sometimes some of us have enjoyed their company for a bit too long after tennis. We have congregated around the courts and at the gate. Have we been unfair to them, what if we send even one of them home with just a bit of the virus? They are all looking forward to a great Christmas with their families, young and old. Will we ruin that for them? Will we still call them great friends if they unwittingly ruin our family’s Christmas by giving us just a bit of the virus? We know what we have to do, sanitise, keep our distance, name everyone on our booking, go home promptly and don’t play if we feel unwell.

Gosh, that’s easy, we can all mind our friends if we want to, and of course, they can mind us.

I hope they and you have a happy and healthy Christmas.

While I was writing this I thought I’d remind myself of the guidance in case I’m not doing something I should, so I checked with our Covid committee and this is what they said;

Make sure I use the sanitiser at the gate on arrival and use the ones at the courts before and after my game.

I have to book my court and name everyone playing with me on the booking for contact tracing. Really important. I can cancel or amend the names right up to the booking time.

If I bring any of my children under 16 years of age I must supervise them.

I have to walk up the avenue on the right hand side and down again on my right.

I really do have to finish my game at 5 minutes to the hour to reduce my contacts for the next few weeks.

I must leave the club promptly after my game and manage my social distance from others on the club grounds.

When using the toilets I can only go in when no one else is in the toilets.

I must also remember not to go to the club if;

I have any Covid 19 symptoms,

I have been out of the country in the last 14 days,

I have been in contact with someone who has Covid 19 symptoms in the last 14 days,

If I or any close contact of mine is waiting for a Covid 19 test result.

I’m feeling any way unwell.

So enjoy this special season with your loved ones and help others to do the same.

I’m looking forward to hearing all the stories of love, warmth and togetherness when we chat over the Christmas.

Remember, Please, please, mind your friends and they’ll mind you.

Happy Christmas,

Barry Totterdell
President

By the way we had two great entries to our Christmas Market, both with lovely gifts for Christmas so contact them quickly ;
Brenda Biggar. Unique and original brooches and other gifts hand-painted on porcelain. Give them something you won’t find anywhere else! Visit my website www.bbporcelain.ie and/or call me at 087 2219238.

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