The Works League fixtures have now been released – look on the Fixtures page for full details of matches for this summer. S& D LTA fixtures for the Mixed and Men’s leagues will be added as soon as they are released.

Our coaching sessions will resume on Monday the 12th April 2021. A Junior session will run from 6 – 7 pm and an Adult (Members only) session from 7 – 8 pm. Fees will be £3:00 for Juniors and £4:00 for adults. The sessions will be arranged in blocks of four weeks and fees will be paid by bank transfer to the club’s bank account. Full details of how to pay will be provided at the first session.

The coach will once again be Alister Jackson-Wright who has been helping us for some years now and is a very popular coach with both juniors and adults.

The All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC) have issued an update on the current plans for attendance at the 2021 Wimbledon championships.  There will be no ticket ballot.  The update on the LTA website is as follows:

The AELTC have said that, given the current guidance from the UK Government and public health authorities, the most likely outcome is a reduced capacity tournament, and they are doing all they can to remain as flexible as possible in their ticket distribution for this year’s Championships. This will allow them to react to a potential increase or decrease in ticket capacity ahead of and during the Wimbledon fortnight.

For the same reasons and because we are unsure of the ultimate spectator capacity of The Championships and therefore the number of tickets that will be available to the LTA and whether the event capacity will vary closer to the event, we have decided not to hold an LTA Advantage Wimbledon Ballot this year.

However, we continue to work closely with the AELTC to ensure an allocation of tickets will be available to eligible LTA Advantage Members. We anticipate these tickets will be made available online in June and we will be in touch with more information as soon as we are able to. Our approach is to retain maximum flexibility in order to react quickly to any change in circumstances.

We are also continuing to work on plans for our own LTA events this summer and will ensure Advantage members are kept informed of ticket details for these as soon as they become available.

We thank you for your continued understanding and patience, in a year that presents unique and challenging circumstances for the staging of sporting events.

It is coming to the time for membership renewals.  Tennis re-starts on the 29th March and the new membership year will start then rather than the 1st April.  For ful details of the fees please go the the Membership page.  You will see that fees have been raised from last year but will be just two thirds of the full fee that we would usually charge.  Weare hoping that much more tennis in the next year than this last one and the new fees still represent really good value for money.

We hope that last year’s new members re-join and that we can enjoy an uninterrupted year of tennis.  Keep an eye out for updates on the restrictions that may be in force at the start of the season and the club will endeavour to update members on any changes as soon as we have them.

A Safeguarding policy and a Diversity and Inclusion policy are key requirements for the club in order to meet the LTA status of a Registered Venue.

The club aims to ensure that regardless of age, ability or disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation, socio-economic background, all adults and children have a positive and enjoyable experience of tennis at Ridgeway Tennis Club in a safe and inclusive environment.

The Club’s new Welfare Officer is Bernie Highfeld who has reviewed the Club’s existing policies and has produced new versions of each which have been accepted and approved by the Club’s Management Committee.   They can be found by going to the Safeguarding and Diversity and Inclusion policies page where there is a link to the policies and the Welfare Officer poster.    All members should familiarise themselves with them.   Copies will be posted on the noticeboard in the club pavilion.

Good news yesterday from the Governement is that tennis courts can re-open as from Monday the 29th March 2021.  This date is virtually the start of our membership year which begins on the 1st April and it looks like many normal activities will be able to go ahead during the course of the year.  The LTA have already produced a simple Summary Grid and click on the link here to see what will and won’t be allowed.  Summary grid – 29th March

The club’s committee will be discussing the implications as soon as possible to plan how the club’s court usage schedule may look this summer.  There are no details of matches until the Leagues get in touch.

In a move similar to that of the S & D LTA, the Works League Committee have decided to postpone the arrangments of fixtures until it is clearer what is and isn’t going to be allowed once the Covid 19 restrictions on lockdwon are eased.

One fact arising from the consultation about team entries is that the majoriy view was that the four man format used in 2020 was preferred to the 6 man format of earlier years.  It was indicated that there may be more matches too.

Mmebers will be informed when the club gets further information.

The General Secretary for the S & D LTA Managment Committee has notified all member clubs as follows:

‘I hope you are all well at this difficult time.

Following our committee meeting held yesterday, it was decided that with the current situation and the uncertainty around the lockdown and vaccine rollout it is not possible to move forward with the proposed Summer Leagues again this year unfortunately

We are committed to providing league tennis and, when the restrictions allow, we intend to run temporary leagues similar to the leagues that took place last year.  We would again prioritise Ladies, Men’s and Mixed leagues in a 2 couple format and look to be able to organise these at short notice.

With this in mind we will be delaying the AGM until April when hopefully we will have a clearer picture of how we can get the leagues going.’

It is disappointing but hardly surprising.  As soon as the S & D LTA get in touch again with proposals we will be in contact with members.

As a result of the request sent to members before Christmas about their interest in playing in matches this coming summer, the Committe has decided to enter one team in the Mens League (6 men), one mixed team (2 men and 2 ladies) in the Midweek Mixed league, and one team in the Men’s Late Summer League (4 man) in the 2021 S & D LTA summer season.  There will also be one team in the Works League which plays on a Wednesday night.  Although a men’s league, ladies are allowed to play in Works League matches.  The format is not clear whether it will be 4 or 6 player team.

It is obviously too early to say what Covid restrictions may be in force by then which of course may impact on things.

Bernie Highfield has become the club’s new Welfare Officer and will replace Julie Rudge.  The position is an important one and one that the club has to fill to meet the LTA requirements for registration as an LTA approved venue.  Bernie has the appropriate safeguarding qualifications and certificates and a new DBS check.  Bernie will be reviewing the current Safeguarding Policy that was introduced in 2018 and reporting to the Committee as to what changes, if any, may need to be made.

Our thanks go to Julie who has been the Welfare Officer since the policy was introduced in 2018 but she had indicated she no longer wanted to continue in the role.