
Individual sports, including tennis and golf, were first out of the blocks and back playing under Alert Level 3 restrictions.
Whangaparaoa Tennis Club president Alf Sayer says the closure of the club in Manly for 33 days of lockdown had a number of impacts, including the premature end of senior interclub matches. Coaching sessions also had to cease, which affected coaches’ income.
Alf says that members could get back on court under Level 3, in ‘bubble’ groups, because a robust electronic contact tracing system was in place along with a safety plan.
Although competitive tennis is normally over by May, members play social tennis throughout the year and the club will keep abreast of how changes in Alert Level may affect how it operates.
As with many sports clubs, a lack of income is being felt.
“With the clubhouse remaining closed, we lost the socialising element of belonging to a sports club,” Alf says. “We had to defer or cancel a number of events that help bring club members together. This in turn means a drop in income through bar takings and casual play fees from the public.”
He says it remains to be seen how Covid-19 affects the tennis club going forward. “Livelihoods and employment levels may be adversely impacted, and that could affect membership levels in all types of sports clubs. Fortunately, our loyal band of club members gives us confidence we can retain our membership level. The national tennis recruitment weekend of ‘Love Tennis’ currently scheduled for early September, becomes a very important event.”
Bowls cautious about return to play
While in theory bowlers could return to the greens under Level 3 restrictions, it was up to individual clubs to make that call. Bowls Orewa was one of the ones that decided to remain closed. President Tony Rickerby says this was Bowls NZ’s advice, and is because a large number of the club’s members are in the over 70s age bracket. He says he hopes the club can reopen for singles and pairs only under Level 2 but that all sports with older age demographics will be very cautious about this.