Sidford Tennis Club has announced a reduction in it membership rates to attract newcomers who want a healthy lifestyle.

Sidford Tennis Club reopened their courts last week, albeit with strict rules in place as per government instruction in light of the Coronavirus pandemic.

The club has issued a press release that reads:

‘ Tennis is one of the healthiest sports around and for those who are thinking of giving it a go, or perhaps unable to play your usual rugby, football, cricket, netball or hockey team games at the moment, we would like to welcome you to Sidford. To encourage this we have reduced our annual membership rates from now until April 2, 2021 and are fees are now as follows:

ADULT membership fee - £60

FAMILY membership fee - £100 (two adults plus children under 18yrs)

STUDENT RATE - £25

JUNIOR RATE - £15

MINI TENNIS - £5 We are also giving families, and member pairs playing singles, a new set of balls for them to keep and bring with them next time.

This is to minimise any hand contact and spreading of the virus.

Throughout the Covid-19 period we have been following LTA guidelines and, for this first stage of us getting back to normal, this is no exception.

To summarise what this means:

* Family members can play on one court, singles or doubles

* Two members from different households can play singles

* No social groups

* No coaching groups - only individual coaching

We recognise that there are a lot of you keen to get back out on court and that there are also some of you who will still have some concerns.

To address this we have introduced a supervisory system to help members with maintaining social distancing, cleaning and generally helping everyone get used to the arrangements. This is from 10am-4pm and run on a voluntary basis.

We only anticipate this being needed for a week or two to give time for people to get used to the changes and would welcome some additional volunteers.

Outside of these hours we expect members to continue to follow the social distancing guide that we have all been used to these past weeks.

All three courts will be open, but the clubhouse will remain closed.

The toilet will be open to allow for regular hand washing.

To help maintain the safety of all our members we do rely on you, individually, helping us with this by:

* Bringing your own court towel and hand sanitizer

* Bringing your own drinks

* Washing your hands on arrival and departure using the toilet

* Respecting social distancing

* Minimising the touching of surfaces and objects

* Using your own set of balls (more on this in the next section)

* Leaving the net up (no need to touch the net winder then)

Hopefully these measures and restrictions strike the balance of enjoying tennis again and helping everyone keep safe and alert.

If you would like more information about the club then please contact (daryl.bass@harmonic.co.uk) or Will Boyd (willpmboyd@hotmail.com)