First Minister Nicola Sturgeon paves way for a safe return to sporting action after Covid-19 shutdown
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TENNIS, golf and bowls clubs will celebrate a return to sporting action tomorrow.
Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon today announced the first phase of the country's road map towards easing Covid-19 lockdown regulations.
Part of the phase allows certain sports to resume, and local clubs have been taking bookings in advance, in anticipation for huge demand from members.
Elgin Tennis Club will be in full swing this weekend, and are offering half price deals to all existing and new members in celebration of the return to sport.
Club president Blair Nairn says every possible safety measure will be in place, and revealed how a sports grant has enabled Elgin to offer an affordable deal to anyone looking to swing a racquet.
“We’ve got a set of guidelines from Tennis Scotland and to some extent that pays heed to what the LTA (Lawn Tennis Association) have issued and got English clubs up and running with since they got up to the next phase,” he said.
“All of our practical elements of preparing for our new season are in place, but also we’ve got risk assessments to address as well to ensure that we can deliver safe tennis with a view to adhering to the personal restrictions in place with the Scottish Government and the Covid-19 requirements.
"It is important to stress that these full risk assessments are in place and full details of the controls and measures and the rules and guidances are available and we will be updating these on to the booking sites.
"People will need to understand the safety measures that are going to be in place before you visit any of our venues, and that will all become clear following the reopening.
"It’s about managing a safe return to tennis and that includes restrictions that our first steps towards returning to play are going to be limited to singles play only. That's unless of course you can make up a doubles match within those who are in your own family."
Mr Nairn said the club had held discussions with Moray MP Douglas Ross and MSP Richard Lochhead, highlighting the positive mental and physical health benefits for people being able to take part in sporting activities once again.
He revealed that the club's all-weather Cooper Park courts are available for anyone to book via the club's website.
"Being one of the first sports to return we are very mindful that we would like to use this opportunity to reiterate to the public that our courts in the Cooper Park will be open to the public as well as members.
"There is an online booking system with which members of the public will be able to book courts if they want to take up the game."
He added that equipment cannot be shared at this stage and players would need to bring their own racquets and balls.
"We have also taken the decision to offer all of our membership packages at a 50 per cent reduction for this year. We try to keep them affordable every year but we think that we’ve got some very affordable packages now available."
Golf is set to swing back into action after almost three months of empty fairways.
Bookings are being taken at all local clubs with a view to fulfilling tee times tomorrow – reservations are being made, members only, three days in advance.
Elgin Golf Club will resume play with new club manager John Duguid ready to herald in a fresh chapter in their long history.
The Hardhillock club went through troubled financial times but Duguid revealed how members offered great support over the past months.
“Like many clubs, EGC have found the last couple months tough but the membership rallied round and through various fundraising activities raised more than £70k,” he said.
“When we opened our booking system on Saturday morning (for today and tomorrow) 240 tee times got taken up by the membership in less than 10 minutes – unheard of in golf.”
Even the remaining tee times for the rest of the week were snapped up in minutes, and the story is the same for all clubs catering for golfers desperate to return to playing.
Moray Golf Club’s booking system via their website goes live at 8am each day, and secretary Stevie Grant has been working day and night to get all aspects ready for the expected return.
“The time sheet for both courses have been set up at 10 minute intervals and booking is required from 8am until 8pm. The club encourages two ball bookings at all times to allow maximum usage however understand that there may be some who wish to golf on their own,” he said.
The story is the same at Forres, Hopeman, Maverston, Spey Bay, Strathlene, Buckpool, Cullen, Keith, Rothes and Dufftown, with huge demand for tee times.
Bowling greens are also opening up across the area.
Moray Bowling Club in Elgin are taking bookings tomorrow morning with a view to play beginning on Saturday afternoon.
The club is allowing a maximum of four players to a rink from no more than two different households, with the usual two metre social distancing required between players from different households.
Just three rinks on the south green only will be in play to start with, and one hour slots are being booked between 2pm and 7.10pm.
Contact your local sports club directly for advice on safety guidelines and how to reserve playing time.
For all sports, the government guidelines state that anyone displaying Covid-19 symptoms or considered to be in the vulnerable category will not be allowed to play.
