It’s been a long winter without tennis but the change in government guidelines (coming into effect on 29 March) means we are able to open the Club again.

The LTA guidelines have now been updated and essentially we are returning the Club to the same level as we were before lockdown:

• Both doubles and singles are allowed from mixed households
• Coaching can restart, both individuals and groups.
• Social tennis returns for up to 24 players (first come, first serve)
  • Every Wednesday from 7pm
  • Every Saturday from 3pm 
  • Veterans groups: every Tuesday and Thursday from 10am to 12pm
• Easter American tournament is scheduled for 5 April (Easter Monday)
• Strict protocols to be followed when in the Club​

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Following the Prime Minister's announcement of another lockdown and guidance from the LTA, we have to close the club with immediate effect.

​As always, we will reopen as soon as is permissible and you will see from the LTA comments that they are also keen to get people back on court.

In the meantime, stay safe and look after yourselves.

HWLTC Committee

As our Club is in Tier 4, the LTA guidelines have been updated as follows:

• Outdoor tennis courts can remain open for individual exercise, and for people to use with others within your household, support bubble, or with one person from another household. One-to-one coaching outdoors is therefore also permitted.

​Therefore it is singles only (unless you are lucky enough to have a 'doubles' household!) and don't forget to book courts through the booking system.

The LTA's Summary Grid has also been updated and is a good reminder of all the current restrictions that we are operating under.

Coaching
Unfortunately due to Government and LTA restrictions, neither junior nor adult group coaching can take place at the moment. However, both Darren (07960 071478)  and Roy (07802 969698) will continue with one to one coaching. They will update you as soon as they can with a start date for the groups.

Thanks for your continued cooperation and, as always, if you have any questions, please ask a member of the committee.

We’re pleased to announce that the club will reopen on Wednesday 2 December in line with LTA and Government guidelines for Tier 2.
 
As before, the clubhouse will be closed apart from access to the toilets, first aid kit and switches for the floodlights, and the same rules apply:

• Stay away from the club if you have any symptoms of coronavirus and let a member of the committee know as soon as possible if you test positive and have been at the club.
• Sanitise your hands frequently.
• Maintain a safe social distance, both on and off court.
• Use the anti-bac wipes to clean surfaces if you go into the clubhouse.
• Do not socialise off court before or after a game.
• For informal social play, group size is limited to a maximum of six people by law. This means you can play tennis providing people only meet up with no more than 5 other people from different households and observe social distancing guidelines.

Club activities will proceed as follows:

• Wednesday and Saturday social play will restart in the same format as before, from Wednesday 2 December.
• Adult coaching sessions will recommence from Wednesday with R&D Coaching - the usual WhatsApp groups will no doubt spring back into life!
• A 2-week Junior coaching programme will start on Monday 7 December - details on the junior coaching page.

 
It’ll be great to see everyone again and fingers crossed the weather stays fine. If you have any questions do not hesitate to contact a member of the committee.

From Thursday 5 November, we have to close the club again due to the second national lockdown coming into effect. This affects both the clubhouse and the courts, in line with government and LTA guidelines. 
 
Therefore, please do not go to the club for any reason, but rest assured that we will be keeping a keen eye on the LTA guidance and will reopen as soon as we are allowed.

Key notices: 

• Clubhouse and courts are closed until further notice.
• The winter club championships will continue after the lockdown, so don’t worry, those who have entered will still have the chance to shine.
• Roy and Darren (R&D Coaching) will recommence coaching as soon as they can.

 
In the meantime, please stay safe and don’t hesitate to contact the committee should you have any questions.

It’s been great to see so many members at the club since we reopened in May and we know that lots of our members have really enjoyed participating in the summer tournament, for which we owe a big thank you to Darren Plank and Stuart McTiernan who organised a great event. More updates are as below.

Wednesday night social trial
We are now moving into the next phase of trying to return to normal and will soon be trialling a club mix-in on a Wednesday evening, starting on 2 September.

Clubhouse
We are still unable to open the bar as having reviewed the current LTA and government guidelines, the committee has agreed that the work required to make the bar Covid-19 secure far outweighs the benefits of opening it. The kitchen is also still closed.
 
Floodlights
We can now confirm that the floodlights can be used, but please clean the clubhouse door handles and sanitise your hands after entering and leaving. 
 
Court booking system
In addition, from 1 September, the court booking system will be changed to reflect our membership structure as follows:

• Peak and Intermediate: will be able to book courts anytime, 7 days in advance
• Off-Peak: will be able to book courts Monday to Friday before 5pm, 7 days in advance
• Coaching: will be able to book courts anytime, 1 day in advance
• Junior and Parent: will be able to book courts Monday to Friday before 5pm, and anytime at the weekend, 1 day in advance 

Presentation night
We're sorry to say that we have had to postpone our Presentation Night at the Apollonia on 10 October. It has been rescheduled for 23 October 2021, coinciding with the 120th Anniversary of the club, so we need to make sure that’s a good one!
 
Safety first
As always please continue to follow the LTA guidelines and make sure you don’t come to the club if you are suffering from any coronavirus symptoms, so that we can all carry on enjoying ourselves on court.
 
Please contact the committee if you have any questions.

Following the change in Government guidance and in line with LTA guidelines, we’re pleased to let you know that some play for members can start at the Club, but the Clubhouse remains closed until further notice.

Members can:

1. play singles with any other member.
2. play doubles where everyone is from the same household.

Playing members must comply with the following: 

• ensure you stay at a safe distance (2 metres) from anyone outside of your household, both on and off court.
• use your own balls (preferably personalised) - club balls cannot be used and are not available.
• book a court to ensure that we don’t have too many people at the club. The court booking system has been changed to only allow 1-hour booking slots so that as many people as possible have the opportunity to play.
• the clubhouse remains closed and must not be used for any reason, other than access to the First Aid Box (in the kitchen) in the event of an emergency. Please note that the CCTV is active and will be monitored for any transgressions.
• it is your personal responsibility to keep yourself safe and we therefore suggest that you take hand sanitiser and wipes with you to the Club, to clean your hands and also wipe down the handles and surfaces that you touch.
• we expect all players to have read and understood the LTA player guidelines before playing.

 
This situation will be kept under review in line with any published advice - any changes will be advised to our members.

Following Government and LTA advice, the clubhouse and courts are closed until further notice.

We hope to see you all again when restrictions are lifted. Stay healthy!

HWLTC Committee

In light of the Government’s advice regarding the current Coronavirus problem, we have decided to suspend all club organised events with immediate effect, this means that there will be no Social Play on a Tuesday or Thursday morning, Wednesday evening or Saturday afternoon and we will not be opening the bar at any time. 
 
All R&D group coaching sessions are also suspended with immediate effect, if you have any questions about this please call Darren (07960 071478).
 
The courts will remain open for you to play on, if you wish to, but you will need to bring your own tennis balls (to ensure no transfer of virus on the balls). Please continue to follow government advice whilst at the club by washing your hands and not shaking hands at the end of a match, as is our normal etiquette, elbow bumps or hands in prayer position are good alternatives.
 
We will continue to follow the government and LTA advice and will update you if things change, in the meantime stay healthy and safe.
​
- HWLTC Committee

There are a few important dates that we wanted to make our members are aware of:

1. The AGM will be held on Wednesday 11/03/20 in the clubhouse at 8pm. All members are invited and it would be great to see you there so that we can share our updates with you. I'll be sending out all the relevant information prior to the meeting as usual.
2. Finals Day will be held on Saturday 18/07/20. Hopefully, the sun will shine and we'll all enjoy a good day watching our finalists fight it out!
3. Finally, and very excitingly, our Presentation Night will be held on Saturday 10/10/20  at the Apollonia in Stanmore.  The details and tickets will be available very soon.