In the anniversary week of Andy Murray’s astonishing 2012 gold and silver medal wins, Nottingham Tennis Centre is reminding players – from beginners to professionals that the centre is once again open for all kinds of tennis, at any level you like, for anybody who would like to play; and staff is ready to deliver a safe and fun way back into playing.
After closing almost overnight, Nottingham Tennis Centre became a call centre during lockdown… set up to take orders and connect people with volunteer organisations. While managing this, the site also had to work towards reopening, responding to both government and sports governing body guidelines.
Play Tennis adult and junior coaching sessions have now been underway at Nottingham Tennis Centre for just over a week with players also loving their safe return to social tennis and indoor/outdoor tennis courts. Phase two will see disability tennis restart in a weeks’ time from Monday 10 August and the highly successful Tots Tennis will restart in Phase 3.
Before lockdown, Nottingham Tennis Centre was working with 60 schools with over nine thousand young people taking part in free sessions. From this, over 350 pupils joined the Play Tennis coaching programme. 1200 people were taking part in weekly coaching using the world-class facilities at Nottingham Tennis Centre.
Home to the prestigious Nature Valley Open pre-Wimbledon event and the British Open for Paralympic-level disability players; Nottingham Tennis Centre is experiencing a great deal of interest from new players. They were able to experience the international-standard facilities following the early opening up of courts in May, as outdoor tennis became one of the first exercise options available as lockdown measures were gradually relaxed. The 16 outdoor courts were in huge demand with families looking go get some exercise in the open air and sunshine. Many are now looking to carry on enjoying tennis as indoor facilities and coaching have become available.
Alongside tennis, the centre can also offer gym, fitness
classes, group cycling, and SPIVI on-demand group cycling which have been
running since 27 July.
Aside from pre-booked coaching sessions, bookings for courts or fitness
sessions must be made in advance. This
applies to Active Nottingham members or pay-as-you-go clients.
The best way to book is on the App – which also shows availability. Other booking options are online or by telephone Visit www.activenottingham.com/pre-booking for details.
In order to play tennis safely, the centre has worked closely with the LTA and follows their guidance for returning to the sport. These include smaller group sizes, limits on amounts of spectators, and regular cleaning of equipment. Coaches have been fully briefed on the new guidelines and these are constantly under review. The full set of guidelines can be found at: https://www.activenottingham.com/safety/tennis/
Safety measures across all centres at all centres include:
A professional deep clean in all centres, in readiness for the public. Alongside this, creative use of spaces will provide the best customer experience with adapted and re-purposed studio spaces, sports halls and outdoor spaces, to serve larger groups of exercisers safely. Harvey Hadden’s squash court, for example; is now a brand-new, spacious group cycling studio!
Teams have undertaken with comprehensive Health and Safety training prior to opening, and been provided PPE where necessary, with protective reception screens installed for everyone’s safety. Cleaning regimes at the start and end of each day have been increased as well as in between each session. Some equipment and touch points have been removed to ensure our cleaning and sanitising regimes are as safe as possible.
Confidence is key:
Alongside these measures; the Sport and Leisure team which manages the city’s seven leisure centres is currently holder of a prestigious award in recognition of its practices and achievements in ensuring customer safety. The team recently learned it has won the RoSPA the Leisure Safety Trophy for this year.These accolades are part of the internationally-renowned Royal
Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) Health and Safety Awards, which
are the longest-running industry awards scheme in the UK. The RoSPA Awards
scheme, which receives entries from organisations around the world, recognises
achievement in health and safety management systems, including practices such
as leadership and workforce involvement.
Cllr Dave Trimble, portfolio holder for leisure and culture said: “It’s great to see people of all abilities able to enjoy Nottingham Tennis Centre once again. While we weren’t able to bring the tournaments to the city this year, we may be able to do our bit to bring on some potential new players. Having a phased approach to opening our leisure centres has meant that we can offer a really safe, organised and fun environment to all our users. As well as welcoming back our Play Tennis coaching members, I hope all those players that tried tennis following lockdown will continue to enjoy their play at the centre.”
Find out more about Nottingham City Council’s Leisure Centres at the Active Nottingham website: www.activenottingham.com