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BRAND NEW LED LIGHTS - FEBRUARY 2023

We are excited to announce that the club has had new efficient LED floodlights on all 4 courts. This is energy saving, better for the environment and will light up immediately.

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CORONAVIRUS UPDATE!! (29th March 2021)

Halesowen Tennis Club is Now Open Again!

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CORONAVIRUS UPDATE!! (17th March 2021)

Halesowen Tennis Club Re-Opens on Monday 29th March 2021 at 8am!!!!

We are excited to announce that the club can reopen, per the Prime Ministers announcement of lockdown easing made on 22nd February 2021. The reopening is subject to no amendments being made to the lockdown easing plan.

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CORONAVIRUS UPDATE!! (2nd June 2020)

Halesowen Tennis Club Doubles & Group Coaching!!!!

The committee had a few concerns about the rush to play doubles, but after a consensus vote, the committee thought that Saturday June 13th was an appropriate date for Halesowen Tennis to return to doubles play.
Bookings will continue to be made on Skedda.
Coaching will begin a week later from June 20th. There is a bit more logistics involved in arranging the coaching groups and the groups will only be groups of five students for now (the coach plus 5 students meets the 6 person limit as set out by the government).
Ball hygiene will continue as of now. Use your own balls (just 2 is sufficient) when serving and you should not touch another players tennis balls with your hands. NO sharing of other equipment. During coaching, only the coach will be permitted to touch the balls.
Clubhouse/toilet availability will remain as it is now. We would need to get Main Club Management agreement in any case to agree a change as this policy was agreed by Management of HACC. The portaloo remains the option if caught short and it can be found by the Weight Gym, over the bridge.
All members are reminded to recognise the buffering between slots. Members should set an alarm on their phone if they are struggling to keep to time. There is no mandate for any matches to complete. If you are at match point and your time is up, then don't consider trying to carry on. You have a time window to play in, and we all need to be considerate to the next booking. Remember that this includes time to sweep the courts and clean the lines. You should be vacating the court a few minutes before the next booking to ensure you minimise the potential to cross-over with the next people on court.
When we go to playing doubles, then slots should be 1 hour and 30 minutes during peak time. Evenings, this means 6pm - 7.30pm and then 7.30pm - 9pm. On Saturdays, this means 12 noon - 1.30pm, 1.30pm - 3pm and 3pm - 4.30pm. At non-peak times, members may book their slot to suit.
Members may socialise after their tennis fours, but only with the fours they have just played. The four must keep 2 metres apart and any other group that comes off court that wish to socialise, should keep several metres away from any other four. Otherwise, it will just be a group of 8, which is not the guidelines. Please use your common sense and keep clear groupings. No groups larger than 6 persons to gather in close proximity to any other group.
Members are ADVISED to bring their own chairs if they wish to lounge around after tennis. Sitting on benches is not prohibited, but please avoid doing so if it is at all possible. Sitting on the grass is preferable.
All new members should acknowledge the revised guidelines by emailing the Chairman, Nigel Sadler. Those who have already acknowledged shouldn't feel obliged to make any further, formal acknowledgement.
The guidelines that are laminated and on the courts gates have been updated (see attached)

We hope this gives everyone the information they need to understand the next phase in our continued return to playing tennis at HTC.

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CORONAVIRUS UPDATE!! (15th May 2020)

Halesowen Tennis Club Re-Opens on Saturday 16th May 2020 at 9am!!!!

The club will reopen at 9am on Saturday 16th May, 2020. Please read all 3 important documents regarding returning to play tennis at the club, where there will be strict guidelines and procedures that you will be required and expected to follow. These can be found on the club website home page and in your email inboxes.

The picture board will be printed and laminated and displayed on each court gate, as well as on the outside of the clubhouse, as a reminder for all players of procedures that are expected to be followed.

The LTA Guidance document is taken directly from the LTA's COVID-19 update section of their website and we encourage members to keep an eye on the LTA website for regular updates for players - as a club we will be ensuring we stay in step with their guidance for venues.

We will do our best to pass on the guidance for players as well, but it is in your own interests to keep yourselves updated on this information.

Please read the HTC Guidelines document carefully and completely. This explains everything, but also outlines what you need to do to ensure you can use the courts in the restricted conditions we need to operate to. You will not be able to play until the steps explained in this document are completed.

If you have any questions that are not covered here, please either reply to me directly, or to Nigel Sadler (Chair of the tennis committee) at nigsadler@yahoo.co.uk

We look forward to welcoming you back to the club for some long-awaited tennis.

The Committee

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CORONAVIRUS UPDATE!! (23rd March 2020)

Halesowen Tennis Club CLOSED until further notice!!!!

It is with regret that we have to notify you that, following the Prime Ministers address to the nation at 8.30pm this evening, we are required to close our courts until further notice. The PM stated this would be initially for a period of three weeks, starting this evening.

We will review the position as the government updates us all.

In the meantime, do your best to stay as fit & healthy as possible, try to get out and do some exercise once a day, as allowed, and look forward to playing on our beautiful new courts when we are allowed back to do so.

For now all access to the club is forbidden. The courts do not count as a place that is open for you to get your daily exercise.

We thank you all for your support and please take note of the previous message about how we will handle this period as it relates to subscriptions. Please can we ask that you do seriously consider paying your renewal fees, even though the club will be closed for a while. Without your money, we will struggle to continue, so we ask for the community spirit that so embodies our club to come forward in these difficult times and ensure we can still open when the time comes again.

We will update you all, as and when there is anything new to tell you.

Thank you

The Committee

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CORONAVIRUS UPDATE!! (21st March 2020)

The HTC COVID-19 Committee task force met this evening by conference call to discuss latest guidance and how the club should move forward.

With immediate effect, the clubhouse is now completely out of bounds to everyone without exception and will be locked down until further notice. The code on the door will be changed and only a handful of committee members will be provided with the code for use in emergencies to access the first aid kit or defibrillator. This is the only way we feel we can properly comply with the government and LTA guidelines.

As a result of this, we have had to take some additional difficult decisions:

Seniors over the age of 70 must now stay away from the club. This is for your own benefit and in line with government guidance.
All social and "mix-in" sessions are suspended until further notice. This is to minimise the chance of people grouping whilst waiting off court.
To replace those sessions, the courts will be available for people to organise their own fixed fours, which will be done via email with Nigel Sadler. This may be subject to available ambient light - see point 4.
Without access to the clubhouse, the floodlight controls are no longer accessible. This means that for the forthcoming week, later sessions of winter lights and fixed fours will be cancelled. The clocks are due to go forward next weekend, so that will help us, but it is unlikely that we will get good light to 9pm for another 6 weeks, so later sessions will continue to be affected as long as the current status is maintained
The closure of the clubhouse also means there are no longer any on-site toilet facilities available. Please plan ahead, especially parents of juniors. This is the situation for the whole site, there are no toilet facilities at the main club either.
Restricted court usage during Junior Coaching sessions. As communicated yesterday, this remains a priority. Please see the attached updated court schedule so you know what times are affected. As stated yesterday, no adult members may use the courts under any circumstances during junior coaching sessions. Please do not request any exceptions to this rule. This court schedule applies to this week only and will be revised next week after the clocks change.
Fixed fours that are organised for Men, Ladies, and Mixed - the organisers will now allocate the four a court. This is not something that players are to change on arrival. This is to ensure appropriate safe distance procedures.
All sessions and playing times will be reduced by 5 minutes. All players should be completely clear of the courts by the new end time, including all court sweeping and line cleaning. This is to allow safe distance protocols to be followed so no members cross as they join/leave the courts.
To avoid risk of contact transfer, latex gloves should be worn when sweeping the courts and lines. These will be provided by the club and stored in the "dog box" next to the lights fuse box.
People are requested to remain in your cars upon arrival if you are early. Please proceed directly to your court only once it is clear to do so.
We need to restrict contact transfer on balls. All players in a four should bring their own tube of balls to the court. See below
There should be no "knock up/warm up" prior to starting your games. This avoids touching each others balls.
Each server uses their own balls. You only need to use two to reduce usage. The other three players must not handle the balls. They should be passed back to the server by racket contact only. The balls not in use are kept by, or in, the bag of each person.
It is recommended that you do not change ends during your game. However, if you do decide you need to do this due to the sun in your eyes at one end, change at opposite ends of the net and ensure you keep a safe distance between each other as you pass. Keep your water bottles at the back of the court, rather than the side and take with you if you change. THE GUIDANCE IS TO AVOID CHANGING ENDS AS FAR AS POSSIBLE.

There are a number of additional steps that everyone should be taking into account, as recommended by the LTA, these are detailed in their COVID-19 update page. The link below will take you to that. It is being updated daily and we are monitoring this closely and will issue additional guidance if this does change.

https://www.lta.org.uk/about-us/tennis-news/news-and-opinion/general-news/2020/march/coronavirus-covid-19-advice-for-venues/?utm_campaign=11413060_coronavirus%20update_venue&utm_medium=email&utm_source=LTA&utm_content=Covid-19%20update%20CTA%20button&utm_term=1-T59P6V&src=ME_2020_ticket%20purchaser&dm_i=1TV8,6SMDG,BA1OV0,R6X8F,1

Your club secretary, Darren Cleary is one of our vital frontline NHS staff and as such needs to stand back from his club responsibilities for the foreseeable future. Until further notice, please contact me with any questions about ongoing club activities. All communications, not just about COVID-19, will come from me until Darren is able to come back to his role.

We understand these changes may be a significant inconvenience for many of you, but we also hope you recognise that this is the right thing to do to ensure we are as safe as possible. These are exceptional times and we are doing our utmost to continue to keep the club operational whilst we are still able to and your continuing cooperation helps us to do this.

Thank you

The Committee

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CORONAVIRUS UPDATE!! (20th March 2020)

Following the additional controls the government announced this evening, we are implementing additional measures at Halesowen Tennis Club to continue to do our best to keep all members and families as safe as possible when on site.

With immediate effect, the clubhouse is completely out of bounds to everyone, except for using the toilet facilities or accessing the floodlight controls. During junior sessions, parents will not be permitted to go inside the clubhouse at all. Juniors needing to go to the toilets may do so, but must ask the on-court coach for permission. It is important that hands are washed thoroughly and the clubhouse door is to be closed as soon as you have finished using the toilet.

This applies to all members of all categories.

In addition to all of the above, we have decided to also take the difficult decision to restrict court usage during Junior Coaching sessions. The on-court coaches now have a significant amount of additional things to focus on that actually have nothing to do with tennis, but are all about keeping the children safe on court and cannot afford to be distracted by anything else happening at the club at that time.

With immediate effect, no adult members may use the courts under any circumstances during junior coaching sessions. Please do not request any exceptions to this rule.

Thank you

The Committee

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CORONAVIRUS UPDATE!! (17th March 2020)

Players, Parents and Guardians,

Following on from our e-mail of last week and this evenings update from the Prime Minister, all lessons are currently scheduled to go ahead this week as planned.

We continue to monitor the situation regarding coronavirus closely. The LTA is in regular dialogue with the Government, and Halesowen Tennis Club are adhering to the LTA and Public Health England. The latest advice from the LTA is that there is presently no reason people should stop doing their daily sport and physical activities as they normally would, and so tennis activities can continue as normal. This is updated daily, and if anything changes we will let you know.

I have spoken with all of the coaches today and have agreed on the following precautions will be in operation moving forwards:-

Coaches to wash hands before and after coaching

We ask parents to send children with their hands washed ,and having used the toilet before attending lessons

We will minimise the use of clubhouses and other common areas – we have not banned this but have asked for people to support not using these areas

We will initiate a racket loan policy so any player needing a racket will be issued with their own (new grip or disinfected grip) racket to use during this period. This will stop the sharing of rackets.

We will ensure that players do not come in to close contact on court or share equipment

On court practices such as shaking hands, high 5 or the human net exercise, will not be used.

MOST IMPORTANTLY – Any player, parent or coach, that has a new or continuous cough or fever, or has a household member showing these symptoms must not attend the venue. Note: anyone with Asthma is advised to self isolate and not attend sessions during this period of time. See link below for medical conditions that should actively create social distancing.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-guidance-on-social-distancing-and-for-vulnerable-people/guidance-on-social-distancing-for-everyone-in-the-uk-and-protecting-older-people-and-vulnerable-adults

####Please Note####

We ask that all children (Under 18) attending sessions require a parent to stay onsite during their child's lesson. Please do not leave your child no matter what age or medical background.

We believe that at the moment there are no reasons why sessions should not continue with the above procedures in place.

As always, if you have any concerns, please get in touch.

Geoff

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CORONAVIRUS UPDATE!! (13th March 2020)

Players, Parents and Guardians

Coronavirus is dominating the news, and we are monitoring the situation closely. The LTA is in regular dialogue with the Government, and Halesowen Tennis Club are adhering to both the LTA, and Public Health England guidance. The latest advice is that there is presently no reason people should stop doing their daily sport and physical activities as they normally would, and so tennis activities can continue as normal.

We are planning on continuing with the coaching sessions next week. With our sessions being outdoors and low numbers the advice is that the risk is low. If anything changes we will be in touch.

For the protection of other players and the coaches, please don’t send poorly children to the sessions.

Further current advice and information can be found here; https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-information-for-the-public

Our coaches will be kept informed, and will be adhering to the hygiene guidelines above. We will inform you if and when we need to make any changes to sessions or procedures. As always, if you have any concerns, please get in touch.

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COURT RESURFACING!!

We have a big project coming up which starts 2nd March 2020. We are upgrading 3 of our 4 courts from macadam to artificial clay. We had two grants towards the cost of this project and we are paying the balance ourselves.

When this is complete, we will have a big Open Day on Saturday 25th April. We are looking to get someone to officially open the new courts. This is likely to be in the early afternoon after the morning coaching, which is for our juniors.

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Summer 2019 Team Tennis Review

Men's

Men's A team secured another season in division 3, finishing 7th but comfortable away from relegation. The B team had de ja vu, finishing 6th in division 2 for the second year running, escaping relegation by 1 point. The C team narrowly missed out on promotion by 1 point and the D team finished mid table in division 8.

Men’s A - 7th in Div 3 (B'ham)

Men’s B - 6th in Div 2 (Staffs)

Men’s C - 3rd in Div 6 (B'ham)

Men's D - 5th in Div 8 (H&W)

Ladies

The Ladies A team bounced straight back from their relegation last season, finishing 2nd in division 3 with gains promotion straight back to division 2. The B team had de ja vu, finishing 7th in division 3 for the second year running. The C team finished 3rd after promotion last year, missing out on the top 2 by a couple of points.

Ladies A - 2nd in Div 3 (B'ham)

Ladies B - 7th in Div 3 (H&W)

Ladies C - 3rd in Div 4 (Staffs)

Mixed

The Mixed A team achieved their highest ever finish, 3rd place in Division 1, level on points with 2nd place, some incredible performances and a great achievement for the club. The B team narrowly missed out on promotion to division 2, finishing 3rd in division 3. The C team had a tremendous season, winning the division 5 league title.

Mixed A - 3rd in Div 1 (Met)

Mixed B - 3rd in Div 3 (Met)

Mixed C - 1st in Div 5 (H&W)

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OPEN DAYS TO CELEBRATE EARLY LEAGUE SUCCESSES

Tennis club celebrates success with special Open Day Weekend

Halesowen Tennis Club will have a special double Open Day Weekend to celebrate their recent success in local tennis leagues.

The Open Days will take place on Saturday 6thand Sunday 7thJuly from 11.00-2.00. All are welcome at either or both events, with free coaching available and rackets and balls provided.

Nigel Sadler, chair of the Club, said: ‘We want to provide something special following the success of our teams in local leagues. This Open Day weekend will allow all those interested in playing tennis, including beginners, to get a taste for the game and learn more about our Club’.

Jim Randle, the Club’s membership secretary, said: ‘We look forward to welcoming adults and children to these Open Days. Halesowen is a thriving and very friendly Club and everyone will get a very warm welcome’.

Halesowen Tennis Club is situated off the A456 Manor Way near to J3 of the M5. It has 150 members of all ages and runs 10 teams which compete in Birmingham, Staffordshire, and Hereford and Worcester leagues.

For more information, go to https://www.halesowentennisclub.com or contact Jim Randle

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ADULT BEGINNERS COACHING - STARTING MAY 11th

We have the next course of adult beginners coaching starting on May 11th. Sessions run every Saturday for 8 weeks between 12pm-2pm. For more details please go to the Adult Coaching section of the website.

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MATTERS FOR THE COMMITTEE - NEW PROCESS FROM APRIL 2019

If you have any suggestions, complaints, concerns, or just general feedback for the committee, we have implemented a new process to try and ensure messages are delivered consistently and correctly to the committee.

Anne Turley, one of our Committee Members, is the person you should direct all feedback to. Her email address is anneturley21@gmail.com . Anne will bring your communication to the committee's attention at the next available committee meeting. Any urgent issues may be dealt with sooner.

Committee Meetings are held the 4th Wednesday of every month.

Please be patient with the committee. Whilst you may feel your issue is urgent, the committee have many issues month to month to deal with and may not regard your issue with the same degree of urgency in context of other issues, so if you need to wait until a committee meeting has taken place, they ask that you understand this prioritisation. They are a team of volunteers and only have so much time available to address everything.

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Winter 2018/19 Team Tennis Review

Men's

Strong winter for the Men’s A team, they comfortably secured the league title winning all their matches, bar a losing draw. The B team fought hard but succumbed to relegation from Division 5 and our C team finished mid table ensuring another year in Division 9.

Men’s A - 1st in Div 4

Men’s B - 8th in Div 5

Men’s C - 6th in Div 9

Ladies

The Ladies A team had promotion cruelly stole away from them, finishing 2nd in Division 3 does not mean promotion. The A finished level on points with 1st place. Despite having better sets difference and better games difference, a losing draw in the head to head match unfortunately meant 2nd place. The B team stormed Division 6, taking the league title ensuring a higher division next winter. The C team finished 3rd after promotion last year, missing out on the top 2 by a couple of points and a great first season achieved by the D team.

Ladies A - 2nd in Div 3

Ladies B - 1st in Div 6

Ladies C - 3rd in Div 10

Ladies D - 8th in Div 11

Mixed

The Mixed A team continued their steamrolling performances, with a fourth league title and fifth promotion in the last 5 years. The B team also secured back to back promotions, finishing 2nd in Division 6 and the C team finished mid table in Division 8.

Mixed A - 1st in Div 4

Mixed B - 2nd in Div 6

Mixed C - 4th in Div 8