Dear Members,

We have made it to Phase 2! From Monday June 8, there will be a few small changes to our current regulations and guidelines. Please read and take note so we can all continue to enjoy our tennis and our wonderful club.

First and foremost, please make sure there is NO PARKING ON DOUBLE YELLOW LINES on Elton Park. Our neighbours have complained about illegal parking and not having space to access their driveways. Let’s continue to uphold the good name of our club by abiding by parking laws and being respectful of our neighbours.

The club will now be open until 10pm. With the brighter evenings, play can continue til 9.50 pm without lights. This will give much more playing time and hopefully the fine weather will continue for us to enjoy it.

Continuous supervision at the club gate will be relaxed but the Committee and volunteers will perform spot checks to ensure the players named on the booking are there, and following protocols. Members still need to book and name their opponents. You will need to set an alarm on your phone to alert you when your 50 minute playing slot has expired, as there will no longer be a bell. Please observe the playing times, otherwise we will have to reintroduce the supervision.

The clubhouse will remain closed for this phase. So there is still no access to toilets or to lights. Play remains limited to 50 minutes, so please remember to use the toilet at home before you come to play tennis.

All booking rules remain the same. So please only book to play once a day when booking opens. If a court is free two hours from its start time, members are free to avail of it and play twice. Courts are jam-packed at the moment and we want to give everyone a chance to play. Similarly, if you can’t play, please cancel your court, there is no cancellation time-limit at the moment, so there is little excuse for a no show.

Play is still limited to singles and doubles within your household. Tennis Ireland are seeking clarificaton on doubles after yesterday’s update to the Roadmap, but as it stands doubles is still limited to players from the same household.

Junior summer hours are now in operation. So juniors may book to play between 11am and 6pm Monday to Friday, or 12pm to 6pm Saturday and Sunday. Juniors may never play after 6.20pm. Juniors under the age of 16 need an adult to watch them on the premises or they will not be allowed to play. The adult can be playing their own game at the same time, but they must be able to see the juniors (ie you cannot supervise court 2 if you are on court 5).

We are delighted that our members who live more than 5k away can now play, welcome back! We’d like to reiterate the simple rules of playing tennis during Covid19 – if you don’t feel well, or have recently been with someone who is displaying symptoms, don’t come to the club. Likewise if you have recently been out of the country. Sanitise your hands on the way in and the way out, and use the proper ball etiquette.

If you have any queries on our Covid19 policies, you can email Fleur Muldowney, who is acting as our Covid Officer, on covid19@sandycovetsc.ie.

Finally we would like to say a massive “Thank You” to all our 100 fabulous volunteers, particularly those that have worked more than one shift. The club simply couldn’t have been opened without you. Sandycove has enjoyed far greater levels of volunteering than other clubs, and we think all members have appreciated seeing a friendly face to guide them on arrival into the new club environment. We are grateful that our club remains a friendly oasis of normality to us all.

Regards

The Committee