Fwd: Tennis BC Player & Club Recommendations for Safe Play

Begin forwarded message:
 

From: Tennis BC <tbc@tennisbc.org>
Date: April 27, 2020 at 12:53:12 PM PDT
To: organized_play@nwtennis.com
Subject: Tennis BC Player & Club Recommendations for Safe Play
Reply-To: Tennis BC <tbc@tennisbc.org>
 



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To our Club Administrators, Coaches, Organizers, Facilitators and Players;
 
We are all familiar with the many benefits offered by our sport. Tennis helps to keep us physically fit, challenged and engaged. It also gives our mental health a boost, is a great stress reliever and for many of us is a large part of our social scene. Over the past few months however, due to Covid-19, our world has been forever changed. With sports and recreation venues being closed, restaurants and coffee shops limited to take out only and physical distancing the new norm, it is almost hard to imagine how things used to be not so very long ago.
 
Thankfully, with continued effort and some adjustments to our protocols and procedures, we feel it is now possible for us to start getting back on the courts.
 
Please find attached guidelines and recommendations for returning back to tennis, as disseminated by Tennis Canada.  As your provincial organization, Tennis BC fully endorses what is set out in these pages and as such, have adopted them as our own. 
 
Even within our province, we recognize that different cities and municipalities will be re-opening their courts at different stages.  Please ensure that your city or municipality is allowing tennis to be played and that the courts have been opened.  
 
While the main focus of these documents is safety due to Covid-19, let’s face it, it’s been a while since any of us have been on the court.  Remember to incorporate a good warmup & cool down procedure into your game if you don’t have one already.  Your body will thank you for it.

• Be accountable for your actions
• Be safe

Tips & Recommendations for Players

TIPS AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR PLAYERS If you wish to play tennis, make sure that you follow the below recommendations: BEFORE YOU PLAY • Make sure that your city or region allows tennis play based on the government authorities’ criteria for the progressive lifting of confinement measures and that your municipality permits the use of tennis courts. • Play only with family members, persons living in your household or individuals considered to be low risk. • Do not play if you or your playing partner: o Exhibit any coronavirus symptoms, such as a fever, cough, difficulty breathing, or other symptoms identified by health experts. o Have been in contact with someone with COVID-19 in the last 14 days. o Are considered vulnerable or at risk (elderly individuals, immunosuppressed persons, individuals suffering from serious health problems, notably high blood pressure, pulmonary diseases, diabetes, obesity and asthma). PREPARING TO PLAY • Protect yourself against infections: o Wash your hands with disinfectant soap and water for at least 20 seconds before going to a tennis court. o Bring hand sanitizer. o Clean your equipment, including your racquets and water bottles. o Do not share equipment with your playing partner. o Make sure you have enough water before leaving the house to avoid having to touch a tap or water fountain handle. o Consider wearing a mask or gloves while playing. o If you cough or sneeze, do so in a tissue or in your sleeve. o Avoid touching door handles, gates, benches and all other objects where the virus could survive. If you touch something, make sure to wash your hands and disinfect the surface you have touched. WHILE PLAYING • As much as possible, keep a 2-metre distance with other players. To respect this measure, we strongly suggest only playing singles. • Avoid all physical contact, for example shaking hands, with other players. • Avoid touching your face after manipulating a ball, racquet or when you hit the ball to another player. • Stay on your side of the court. • Because it is still unknown if the virus can live on a tennis ball, use two cans of balls with distinct numbers or identify your balls with a marker in order to be able to differentiate them and only handle the balls that are yours. AFTER PLAYING • Wash your hands carefully with water and disinfectant soap or with hand sanitizer. • Do not use locker rooms or changing areas. • Leave the court immediately after you finish playing.

Tips & Recommendations for Club Administrators, Organizers & Coaches

TIPS AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR CLUB ADMINISTRATORS, COACHES AND ANYONE ORGANIZING TENNIS ACTIVITIES In light of a gradual return to playing tennis across the country, Tennis Canada is issuing its recommendations for club administrators, coaches and anyone organizing tennis-related activities. With a situation that evolves each day and differs in different provinces, regions and municipalities, Tennis Canada believes that it is the responsibility of the people organizing tennis-related activities to evaluate the possibility of providing a safe environment for players. Here are a few measures and precautions to take before organizing a tennis activity. ORGANIZING A TENNIS ACTIVITY IN YOUR FACILITY • The activity must always comply with the social distancing measures and recommendations issued by federal and provincial government authorities, including the arrival and departure of players. • Limit your activities to court rentals, private lessons or lessons with small groups. • Make sure to stagger booking times between different court rentals to create a buffer between sessions and avoid an overlap of players on the court. • When possible, online reservations and payments are recommended. Otherwise, payments using a card are strongly recommended. • Limit all occasions for gatherings by making all communal or public areas in your facility inaccessible. • Limit yourself to the minimum number of employees required to operate. • Communicate all hygiene measures in advance to all your clients. • Provide your employees with masks, gloves and all other protective items and ensure that each member of your staff washes their hands regularly. • Keep a record of all clients who come in, so that you can contact them if needed, for example, if an infected person should use your facility. • Ask players under the age of 18 for a written consent from a parent/guardian authorizing them to participate in their tennis session. PROVIDE A CLEAN AND SAFE ENVIRONMENT Clubs and sporting facilities must have operational security procedures in place during the crisis related to COVID-19. These procedures must also be well displayed and communicated to all users. • Delimit closed areas or the ones where a maximum number of people is required. • Use markings on the ground to indicate proper distancing from employees, for example at the reception. • Frequently clean all surfaces, including counters, door handles, benches, toilets, etc. • All chairs and tables in communal areas must be inaccessible or removed to avoid all gatherings. • All doors accessible to the public must remain open to avoid contact with door handles. • All score cards must be removed. • Soap or hand sanitizer must be made available to all clients in various locations throughout the facility. • Regularly remind and encourage clients to wash their hands and adopt proper hygiene practices. • Limit access to the locker rooms as much as possible. • Only accept payments by card. • Close all water fountains and ask that all players bring their own refreshments. ENCOURAGE SOCIAL DISTANCING • Encourage clients to respect social distancing of 2 metres, recommended by government authorities. • If possible, use only every second court. • Ask players to remain on the same side of the court and avoid changing ends. • Put in place measures to limit contact between clients and employees. • Recommend that only one parent/guardian accompany a junior player. COACHING • Group lessons should not be permitted to ensure proper social distancing, with the exception of family members or persons residing in the same household. • As much as possible, coaches must try to remain on the same court and adjust their schedules in order to stay on-site for the minimum amount of time required. • Position players in designated and well spaced-out stations. • Exercises that require continuous play are recommended, as opposed to ones that require the use of an entire basket of balls. • Limit the use of equipment such as cones and targets. • Do not let players manipulate the practice equipment. Coaches should take charge of picking up the balls. • Encourage players to use their racquet or their foot to push balls back. TENNIS BALLS • Exercise caution with tennis balls and ask players to avoid touching them. While there is still no evidence as to whether the virus can live on a tennis ball, we do know that contamination through respiratory droplets from one infected person to another can potentially survive on surfaces for up to three days. • Try to restrict balls to one particular group, court or even day of the week. We invite you to identify them with a marker. • Immediately replace all balls if a player is suspected to have been infected by COVID-19. • Consider spraying tennis balls with a disinfectant spray after a session. The use of new balls on a regular basis is strongly recommended.

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