The lockdown restrictions tennis players just can’t understand

Recreational tennis is currently under lockdown yet again. Picture: Chris Moorhouse

There was a collective groan from Portsmouth’s many tennis players when the latest lockdown pronouncement decreed that all tennis facilities, outdoor as well as indoors, would have to shut down indefinitely.

Having had their winter league season curtailed, and the summer season abandoned completely, the area’s estimated 500+ league players, together with many more casual social players, had hoped that they would be allowed to continue to play outdoors with one other person, as they had been when Portsmouth was moved into tier 4.

So as the region’s players and clubs move back to square one, it is worth asking: How has everyone coped so far, and what happens next?

There are, of course, many different types of club. Some are large, with professional and paid management teams, and there is just about every variation from that down to small village clubs run by a few volunteers.

One thing that a lot have in common is they charge an annual membership fee, often payable on April 1.

There were significant fears that the original enforced mid-March closure of all facilities would result in members not paying their fees, either temporarily or, depending on the length of the lockdown, permanently.

On the whole, these fears were unfounded.

Long-standing club members proved to be very loyal and paid up regardless.

Many clubs were inventive and allowed members to delay payment until lockdown was lifted, while others offered refunds for the lockdown months, if requested.

As a result, for the majority the financial impacts were limited.

This was not the case, though, for the ‘pay and play’ centres. While such centres do have some membership schemes, they are significantly more reliant on people just turning up and playing, in organised groups or as individuals.

During the initial lockdown, some clubs went to great lengths to keep in contact with their members.

Regular newsletters, with contributions from members, quizzes and the use of Facebook groups were just some of the methods used.

Eventually, an online petition and significant lobbying from the LTA led to the realisation that tennis was in fact a sport ready made for social distancing.

Common sense measures, such as the use of sanitizers at court gates and no handshakes during or after, were introduced and play resumed by late May, initially on a one-to-one basis, but eventually as doubles.