Courts Closed Until Further Notice
COVID-19 UPDATE: All play at MLTC ceased from Midnight 27 March until further notice.
All play at MLTC ceases from Midnight 27 March until further notice.
Dear Members
Given the ongoing and worsening situation with the COVID 19 virus, The Club has received the following advice from Tennis NSW
Tennis NSW strongly recommends that all tennis activities cease from midnight Friday 27 March 2020 across the state of NSW.
- All tennis clubs, venues, academies and centres cease operations until further notice.
- All tennis programmes and coaching be cancelled, including one-on-one coaching, until further notice.
- All club, association and social play be cancelled until further notice.
- All public court hire bookings cease until further notice.
As a result all play at the Club will cease from midnight 27 March tonight until further notice.
Click here for the full Tennis NSW announcement.
All the best
Craig Withell
President MLTC
Tennis NSW statement to temporarily cease all tennis activity across NSW
27 March 2020
To the Tennis NSW family
Tennis NSW strongly recommends that all tennis activities cease from midnight Friday 27 March 2020 across the state of NSW.
With the continued escalation of the COVID-19 crisis and in consultation with the tennis community and the NSW Government, the Board of Tennis NSW resolved today to recommend that all tennis activity cease from midnight Friday 27th March 2020. The recommendation is that:
- All tennis clubs, venues, academies and centres cease operations until further notice
- All tennis programmes and coaching be cancelled, including one-on-one coaching, until further notice
- All club, association and social play be cancelled until further notice
- All public court hire bookings cease until further notice
President of Tennis NSW, Kim Warwick said “The Board of Tennis NSW met this morning to consider the continued escalation of the COVID-19 crisis across Australia but most significantly across NSW. Our capital city, Sydney, is now at the epicentre of this pandemic in Australia and the Board feels that it is essential to put the wider community first and foremost in our decision making. The Premier has advised us today not to go outside unless we absolutely have to, that was at the forefront of our decision.
This was not an easy decision to make. We understand and feel the pain of our tennis operators and coaching community, a number of whom sit on our Board, however, we feel that it is a time to put lives before livelihoods. As a sport, we could not continue to guarantee the safety of all participants nor of our coaches or volunteers. Therefore, for the time being, we strongly recommend that all tennis activity cease in NSW.”
Tennis NSW staff are working remotely to limit contact but are all still available to support you through this challenge.
Please note:
- Support, advice, information and resources to support our clubs and coaches are available through our Club Development Officers and on the Tennis NSW website
- For our coaching operators, the following advice is available on the Tennis Australia website in relation to the relevant Government grants that your business may be able to access to assist you through these challenging times: https://www.tennis.com.au/play/covid-19/coaches/finance-and-insurance-faqs
- The NSW Treasury have today announced the second stage of its economic package aimed at keeping people in jobs and helping businesses. More details can be found here: https://www.tennis.com.au/nsw/files/2020/03/Treasurer-Media-Release.pdf
The Board intends to review this position formally on the 27th of April yet will continue to meet regularly to explore all appropriate options for resuming tennis when Government and/or health authorities deem it safe to do so. This pandemic and these exceptional circumstances will pass and we want to work with our partners to ensure tennis is back bigger and better than ever.
This is a challenging time for everyone, please stay home and stay safe.
Kind regards
Kim Warwick Lawrence Robertson
President, Tennis NSW CEO, Tennis NSW
MLTC – Play during the COVID 19 virus update 26 March 2020
Dear Members
Given the ongoing and worsening situation with the COVID 19 virus, and following advice from Tennis NSW and the directions from The NSW Government, the MLTC Committee has decided:
- To close the Clubhouse completely. Players will only be allowed to use the outside Toilet. No other access will be allowed.
- The MTC will continue to offer limited coaching and court hire only.
- The Pro shop will remain open
- Organised Social tennis at the Club – midweek and Saturday will be temporarily suspended.
- MLTC member courts will be available for play. Members will have to organise their own sets between themselves if they still want to play.
- All players will be requested to keep their visit to the Club confined to their playing time on court. It is not acceptable for players to sit next to each other on court seating while watching others play. Social gatherings are not permitted.
- Members will have to supply their own balls during this time.
- Members should not invite visitors to play until this crisis abates.
This is a difficult time for everyone. Members need to be mindful of the current environment and not be complacent. I think it is only a matter of time before stricter restrictions on our movement come into place and we may have to close the Club. Until then the MLTC is following closely advice from TNSW which in turn is in close contact with the Health authorities.
Can I again urge all Members to be mindful of the Hygiene guidelines and player numbers.
Good hygiene and distancing yourself from other people is still the best defence. Players should wash their hands before and after play.
All the best
Craig Withell
President MLTC
An Update From Tennis NSW
Further to the Prime Minister’s announcement last night, we wanted to inform you that our guidelines as at Monday 23 March remain in place and unchanged at this point in time. You can find them here.
Tennis Australia and Tennis NSW sought further clarity in relation to the PM’s announcement last night and as such we have received advice direct from the State Emergency Operation Centre (SEOC) who liaised with both Local Governments and the Office of Sport to conclude that tennis operations CAN CONTINUE under the current guidelines provided by Tennis Australia and Tennis NSW. SEOC have also briefed all LGA’s across NSW stating clearly that there is no requirement to close outdoor public recreation facilities e.g. tennis courts.
The Prime Minister’s statement last night also referenced the fact that we are not only facing a health crisis but an economic crisis and that anyone still in work is considered an essential worker. Our current guidelines therefore provide opportunities for our coaching workforce to continue to earn revenue albeit recognising the significant limitations now placed on them.
To that extent, we would encourage all Club & Association Committees to meet with their coach to discuss how the Club and Association can assist in providing lease relief, reduced court hire fees and other ways to provide support to our Coach workforce who rely on our sport for their livelihood. I remain confident that many of our Clubs and Associations will still exist in some shape or form following this crisis but our coaching workforce may not – we all have our role to play to ensure that we have the people in place to help our sport rebuild once we are through this and I would encourage you to have these conversations with your Coaching partners sooner rather than later. The team at Tennis NSW are on hand to assist any Coaches or Clubs to have these challenging conversations.
The future of our sport is now in our hands, we must band together as a tennis family to adhere to the guidelines that have been put in place to ensure we can keep our courts open for the wellbeing of the community and our sport. While following the Government guidelines we will look to continue to make decisions in the best interest of the health of our tennis community. We are in continued dialogue with Government on the financial impact this crisis is having on our sport and providing a range of options for Government to consider in regards to financial relief and support for our tennis family.
As we move in to this next phase of operating, we still need to remember to be extra vigilant and keep the safety of ourselves and those around us at the forefront of how we operate.
As always, please reach out to your local Tennis NSW representatives or please feel free to contact us directly at [email protected]
Stay safe and take care,
Lawrence Robertson
Chief Executive Officer
Tennis NSW