Burnham-On-Sea’s Avenue Tennis Club has reopened its courts for members in compliance with the latest Government, LTA and Committee guidelines for play during the Coronairus pandemic.
Only singles play and individual coaching are allowed unless all the players are part of the same household.
Coach Vinny Duddy, pictured with young Zoe Lloyd, set up individual, 45-minute coaching sessions and only had two of the individual 10 sessions coaching slots remaining. These sessions, priced at £50 for juniors and £75 for adults, were quickly booked up and restarted on Saturday 30th May.
Vinny says: “I wanted to ensure that the kids I had been coaching got the opportunity to get back on the courts after the 12 week lockdown so the sessions were priced at what they would have paid for their group sessions.”
On Sunday (31st May), the LTA revised and updated the rules and guidelines for play and coaching which means that individuals from different households are now allowed to play doubles, as well as singles and that coaching can now be undertaken in groups of up to 6 persons.
Vinny says this is great news for tennis players at the club as a lot of members prefer to play doubles, with almost all of the organised social play doubles oriented.
However, with regards to group coaching, Vinny says that he had already arranged his new individual coaching sessions so he is not going to be available to deliver or restart group coaching until August.
He added he hoped everyone understood that he believed that there would not be any further new relaxations for a while so is going to continue with the individuals he has organised.
He advised that anyone wanting group coaching should visit the club website to see what the other coaches at the club had set up.
The tennis club has a month’s free membership offer available for anyone who wants to give tennis a go and wants to get an insight into the club before joining – contact Barry Ramsden on 01278 782758 or 07749 878581.
Qualified coaches provide coaching throughout the week for all ages and abilities. See www.avenuetennis.com.
