Racquet Director’s Diary
I hope everyone has enjoyed their tennis at Roehampton Club this year. I know it’s been one of our most successful years on court and feel that off court there have been lots of fun social events throughout the year. It was great to see a real mix of teams at the team tennis success party last month and it’s been great to see so much festive cheer around the Club, throughout all the sections. Saturday’s Parent and Child tournament saw fifteen pairs battle it out in their Christmas jumpers. On Monday night the 18 – 35’s also donned their festive outfits for a mixed round robin tournament followed by dinner and drinks in the bar. On Thursday it’s Christmas ladies’ morning with mulled wine and mince pies, and in the afternoon it’s the Vets time to compete in their Christmas event. Paul Lindsay and I will round off the week hosting an ‘introduction to Padel’ over at Bishop’s Park on Friday afternoon.
Now we are in the heart of winter its clear from many conversations with various Members that indoor courts are still in huge demand. The tennis committee have therefore reviewed the current booking structure and will be making the following amendments to the indoor court booking procedures in the new year:
ITC Court Bookings 2020
To give Members more opportunities to book courts in the Indoor Tennis Centre (ITC) the Tennis Committee has decided to change the maximum booking time in the ITC to 60 minutes per Member instead of the current 90 minutes. The Club will trial this for a few months effective from 15th January and review in April 2020. The Airhall court bookings will remain for up to 90 minutes per Member so Members still have the option of booking a longer slot if desired.
Tennis Leagues Scoring
In order to link with the 60-minute booking time the scoring of the singles league matches will also change slightly in the new year. Instead of playing 15 games with a tie break at 7-7, the matches will be 13 games with a tie break at 6-6. The games will also include sudden death Deuce. This is to ensure Members can play a match within the hour booking time. We have noticed that a lot of league matches are finishing after 70 – 75 mins leaving 15-20 minutes of wasted court time. The Tennis Committee hopes that this will result in a higher indoor courts utilization. The Doubles league scoring system will remain the same.
Cancelled Court Alerts
Members can now set up cancelled court alerts for specific courts e.g. if you wanted to book Court 1 at 6pm on Monday. Members now have the option to receive an email if that court gets cancelled. You can see this option on the MyCourts section of the Members’ website at www.roehamptonclub.co.uk
New Indoor Court Booking Rules
Over the last two months I have seen a lot of booked courts cancelled just hours before the intended start time. This does not help the current situation where we have a huge demand for indoor courts. Therefore, the Committee has decided to implement the following rules and procedures from 1st January 2020.
Indoor Tennis Centre and Airhall Booking Rules – from 1st January 2020
Late Cancellation Policy
o When unable to play, Members must cancel as soon as possible so that others may use the court.
o The system automatically logs a ‘late-cancellation’ when the booking is cancelled within 12 hours prior to start time.
o On the first occasion, there is no penalty for the late-cancellation, just a warning.
o On subsequent occasions, the system will automatically suspend the Member’s booking rights for 7 days.
No-Show Policy
o Members are required to check-in within 3.5 hours prior to playing to confirm court usage.
o The check-in must be done on-site at the Club, either with one of the touch screen ‘kiosk’ booking system or in person at Reception
o The system automatically assumes a ‘no-show’ when the court remains booked without having been checked-in.
o On the first occasion, there is no penalty for the ‘no-show’
o On subsequent occasions, the system will automatically suspend the member’s booking rights for 7 days.
o If a Member checks-in for a court and does not use it, the booking rights will also be suspended for 7 days.
Please contact me if you have any queries – dan.lott@roehamptonclub.co.uk