COVID-19 UPDATE 17 Sept | TNSW

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Dear NSW tennis community

Firstly, we hope that you are all keeping well and safe during these challenging times. We thank you for your patience as we have been examining the current Public Health Order and the impacts on tennis activity throughout NSW.

Tennis NSW has been overwhelmed with requests from the community around the varying levels of restrictions now in place throughout NSW. We are working to present our guidance on tennis activities across NSW in a format that is easy to understand and to update our FAQs, we anticipate this will be available Monday 20 September.

During this week several LGAs across NSW have come in and out of lockdown as local COVID-19 cases emerge. Tennis NSW reminds its community to use the NSW Government’s webpage search that allows you to identify your current rules and restrictions by postcode. Tennis NSW staff will not undertake these searches for you.

In regards to doubles play and double vaccination, Tennis NSW is able to provide the following guidance:

DOUBLE VACCINATION – DOUBLES PLAY

Tennis NSW has received numerous enquiries in relation to whether doubles play is permitted given the partial lifting of restrictions for individuals who have been double vaccinated.

We have engaged NSW Health and NSW Office of Sport to get clarity and confirmation on whether it is the responsibility of the individual or the club/venue to ensure that they are fully vaccinated. Without receiving clarity on ultimately who is liable, then our advice is as follows:

Doubles play at a venue in a Stay-At-Home Area is NOT permitted unless the Club/Venue Operator has means by which they can verify the vaccination status of anyone wishing to play doubles at their venue. Alongside of this, the Club should be implementing all relevant COVID protocols including having a COVID-19 Safety plan, COVID-19 check-in stations and all other necessary protocols to effectively implement the 1 person per 4sqm rule (outdoor courts only) can be adhered to. All play at the venue should be on a ‘Play and Go’ basis and the Club/Venue should not permit any gatherings pre or post play.

We believe that the large majority of our venues across the State are unable to meet the requirements above however, any Club/Venue wishing to implement appropriate processes should conduct their own risk analysis and make a decision based on their own circumstances and resources.

Clubs should also note that we are aware that the NSW Police have interpreted the current Public Health Order differently in different parts of the State and should therefore be prepared to provide evidence of how they are effectively implementing and monitoring the vaccination status of those using their venue should they be asked to.

We believe that in the spirit of the Public Health Order then it is reasonable for a Club/Venue Operator to ask for evidence of a person’s vaccination status prior to play commencing.

DOUBLE VACCINATION – LONGER TERM VIEW

We have also been asked what our position will be longer term in regards to double vaccination and how it will relate to participating in tennis whether it be coaching, court hire or competition.

At this stage, it is too early to provide a definitive position on this matter until we have received further guidance from the NSW Government and the Office of Sport in regards to a roadmap back for Community Sport. There is also the broader matter of whether it will be legally permissible to require all users of a tennis venue or entrants into a tennis competition/tournament to be double vaccinated. We will continue to liaise with Tennis Australia, our other Member Associations and the other State Sporting Organisations in NSW to provide a consistent position across our sport and the wider sports community.

While Tennis NSW can provide guidance, it is the responsibility of the club, coach or venue to undertake its own independent enquiries as to whether that guidance is appropriate to be implemented. We appreciate that many of you are seeking answers for individualised questions that unfortunately we are not in a position to answer. Tennis NSW provides general advice only, and specific advice regarding the circumstances of a particular venue will need to be sought independently.

We are in the process of setting up a dedicated COVID-19 enquiry email address and this will be notified to you when our updated guidance is released next week. In the meantime, if you have any questions regarding COVID-19 restrictions and tennis, please contact us at [email protected]. We have a team addressing the large volume of enquiries coming through and we will endeavour to get back to all COVID-19 related enquiries within two business days.

Thank you and stay safe
Tennis NSW

Doubles Play is BACK!

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Northern Beaches have confirmed we can resume doubles play under the following conditions.

  • Players must be double vaccinated.
  • Players must have with them at the time of playing proof of their double vaccination.
  • ALL players must show their proof of vaccination to MTC staff before playing.
  • Playtime for double should be 1 1/2 hours for members during member time.

After your game you must leave the courts immediately.

MLTC Secretary
www.manlylawn.com.au

Club Newsletter 13 Sept 2021 – No Doubles Play Presently

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Doubles Play

Just an update to let you know the Committee understands many members are keen to play doubles.

We have been in contact with Northern Beaches Council and Tennis NSW and Service NSW as to whether we can play doubles. Once we get confirmation we let members know.

Until then it is singles only. Once we get the go ahead you must produce your vaccination certificate every time you play doubles to the MTC staff.  Please click on the link this will explain how to get your certificate https://www.nsw.gov.au/covid-19/health-and-wellbeing/covid-19-vaccination-nsw/proof-of-vaccination

Best wishes,
Virginia
MLTC Secretary

www.manlylawn.com.au

Club Newsletter 7 Sept 2021

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Doubles Play – We are hopeful doubles will be allowed for fully vaccinated from the 13th September but we will have to wait for official advice from our government. When it becomes official I will be notifying our members.

Fee Reminder – Your tennis membership fees are due today, if you haven’t received your renewal or are not planning on renewing, or if you have any questions about payment email [email protected]

Tennis Playing times for Members

Monday Nil
Tuesday 2 courts from 1.30pm to 7.00pm
Wednesday 2 courts from 7 am to 9 am
Thursday ALL YEAR

4 courts from 1pm to 4pm

3 courts from 4pm to 6pm

4 courts from 6pm to 8pm

2 courts from 8pm to 10pm
Friday 4 courts 6.30 pm to 8.30pm
Saturday 6 courts from 11.30 am to 6 pm (social 12-4)
Sunday 2 courts 8am to 7pm

1 court 8am to 2pm
Public Holidays 3 courts 7 am to 6 pm

Best wishes,
Virginia
MLTC Secretary

www.manlylawn.com.au

Club Membership Fees 2021

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Club memberships fees are now due.

Membership renewals have been sent by email to each member. Fees have increased slightly.

Click here for revised fee schedule.

Cheers
Secretary MLTC

 

 

Covid Cases- Northern Beaches

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919 locally acquired cases of COVID-19 were announced in NSW to 8.00pm last night (Tuesday, 24 August). 178 of these are currently linked to a known case or cluster and 106 were in isolation throughout their infectious period.

The Northern Beaches has 42 active cases, with two new cases recorded.

  • 2104 (Bayview) 1 new case, linked to a known case
  • 2094 (Fairlight) 1 new case, linked to a known case

Since our last report three cases have been removed from the active case list by NSW Health.

  • 2095 (Manly) 1 case no longer active
  • 2085 (Belrose/Davidson) 2 cases no longer active

Two people in NSW died from COVID-19 in the 24 hours to 8.00pm last night, neither was from the Northern Beaches. 132 people in NSW have died from COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic.

149,252 people were tested for COVID-19 in NSW yesterday. 2,702 of these tests were conducted on the Northern Beaches.

NSW administered 45,073 vaccines in the 24 hours to 8.00pm last night. 33,576 of these were first doses and 11,497 were second doses. A total of 6,143,824 vaccinations have now been administered in NSW.

www.northernbeachesadvocate.com.au/2021/08/25/where-are-the-cases-33/

 

Covid-19 Recovery in Athletes | AskThePro

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What kind of post-viral symptoms can athletes expect following a Covid-19 infection and what are the implications for a return to sport?

As our understanding of Covid-19 has evolved, it has become abundantly apparent that this is a virus that primarily affects the elderly (over 60-70 years of age), and particularly those with underlying serious health conditions, which have been shown to increase the risk of mortality by around 2.5 to 12-fold regardless of age.

By contrast, fit and healthy individuals under the age of 60 years are largely only mildly affected or may not affected at all. For example, the US Center for Disease Control data shows that in the 18-30 age group, the risks associated with Covid-19 are 100 times less than in the 65-75 age group and 600 times less than in the over 85s age group.

POST VIRAL RISKS

Despite the very low risk of serious illness in Covid-19, younger and fitter individuals can of course still contract the illness mildly, and like all viral infections, there exists the risk that post viral effects (‘Long Covid’) may be experienced.

Covid-19Recovery

Source: Sports Performance Bulletin August 2021

Sydney’s COVID-19 restrictions: What you can and cannot do from Monday

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Sydneysiders must do their shopping, exercise and outdoor recreation in their local government area or within five kilometres of their home, under new rules to slow the spread of coronavirus coming into effect on Monday.

NSW entered a snap statewide lockdown at 5pm on Saturday after recording 466 new cases of COVID-19, which continues to spread throughout regional areas. There were 415 new cases of COVID-19 reported on Sunday.

From Monday, residents of Greater Sydney (including the Blue Mountains, Central Coast, Wollongong and Shellharbour) are restricted to their local government area for shopping, exercise and outdoor recreation. Those who need to cross into neighbouring local government areas to carry out those essential activities must not travel further than 5km from their home to do so.

Residents in Sydney’s 12 local government areas of concern must still only shop or exercise within five kilometres of home. People in these areas must also wear a mask when they leave home.

Outdoor recreation is no longer an excuse to leave home for residents in those areas, however, they can supervise a child under 12 who is playing or exercising.

The local government areas of concern are Bayside, Blacktown, Burwood, Campbelltown, Canterbury-Bankstown, Cumberland, Fairfield, Georges River, Liverpool, Parramatta, Strathfield, and some suburbs of Penrith.

Sydneysiders who live outside these local government areas can enter those areas if they have a reasonable excuse, such as caring for a vulnerable person or for a co-parenting arrangement.

They cannot enter those local government areas to shop.

People who live outside the areas of concern can still enter those areas for exercise, so long as they are no further than five kilometres from their home.

 
 https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/sydney-s-covid-19-restrictions-what-you-can-and-cannot-do-from-monday-20210815-p58iwf.html

 

Sydney Badge – Term 4 Makeup Competition

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Dear Players,

Thank you for your patience in this challenging time. Due to the current lockdown restrictions imposed by the NSW government we have had to make the unfortunate decision to cancel the remainder of the 2021 season.

However, with this decision we are also bringing good news. Tennis NSW will be running an 8 week Badge Competition across Term 4 to make up for the lost weeks. Please see the competition details below. This competition will be free of charge for all 2021 Sydney Badge Teams. This competition is also subject to change pending the public health advice.

Competition details:
Start – Thursday 7th Oct & Sat 9th Oct
Finish – Thursday 25th Nov & Sat 27th Nov
Times remain the same
8 week competition – 7 weeks of play with 1v2 GF
2nd and 4th December to be spare week for washout.

All teams will need to opt into this competition if they wish to play.

[Please advise your MLTC Team Captain or Denis ASAP if you/your team wishes to participate in this Term 4 competition.]

There will be no significant changes in the grading of this new competition. If teams choose not to play and we need to move teams to make even divisions, they will be moved according to current ladder positions from the 2021 season.

Majority of Tennis NSW costs of running the Sydney Badge competition have already been incurred which is why no refunds will be given for the 2021 Badge season and why we a running this Term 4 competition free of charge for the clubs and associations.

Please reach out if you have any questions otherwise we look forward to seeing you all back on the courts after this lockdown!
Kind Regards,
Tennis NSW Competitions

MLTC Newsletter 6Aug21

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MLTC Newsletter 6 Aug 2021

Our beloved barman Kev sadly passed away yesterday, please see our tribute to him in a separate post with the information on his funeral.

Membership Database. As our President Craig mentioned, we are updating our membership database. On Monday I will be emailing you from our new platform where you will be invited to create a log in to update your details directly., If you don’t receive this email on Monday please contact me on [email protected].

Member’s Court Times

Monday Nil
Tuesday 2 courts from 1.30pm to 7.00pm
Wednesday 2 courts from 7 am to 9 am
Thursday ALL YEAR

4 courts from 1pm to 4pm

3 courts from 4pm to 6pm

4 courts from 6pm to 8pm

2 courts from 8pm to 10pm
Friday 4 courts 6.30 pm to 8.30pm
Saturday 6 courts from 11.30 am to 6 pm (social 12-4)
Sunday 3 courts 8am to 1pm

2 courts 1pm to 6pm
Public Holidays 3 courts 7 am to 6 pm

Virginia
Secretary MLTC

Vale Kevin Edwards

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Kevin Edwards or Kev as he was fondly known passed away peacefully yesterday surrounded by family.

As most of you will know Kev has been part of the Club for around 20 years. He started off helping with the Seaside tournament, then was asked to work as our barman. Kev was more than a barman he was an integral part of Manly Lawn Tennis Club. He knew everyone by name and their drink. He was someone you could talk to and I personally enjoyed his stories about life before retirement as well as his informed tips on the weekends rugby and rugby league results.

On Saturday, he always made sure we had cheese and crackers on the bar when our players had finished their matches. If he wasn’t in the bar he out the back chopping up cheese squares. He always arrived early and didn’t leave until everyone was finished, Kev was part of some big nights at the bar.

Kev was an exceptional person, friendly, reliable and honest and will be sadly missed by all that have known him. We pass on our condolences to Alison his wife and his daughter’s Leone and Vicki, son in laws and four grandchildren.

Due to COVID only family will be able to attend the funeral that will he held next Thursday 12 August 2021 at 11am through Maurer Family Funerals. There will be a video link that I will pass on closer to the date.

Virginia
Secretary MLTC

Angels & Demons on Court | AskThePro

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Sam Stosur and Nick Kyrgios have some new friends in Naomi Osaka (French Open) and gymnast Simone Biles (Olympics).  Athletes who think that they have failed to live up to expectations—whether it be parents, peer group, coach or media.

Regrettably media these days have jumped on the band wagon wanting to label it as “mental illness”.  It’s not, it never was.

Competitive sports put athletes under pressure to perform. And any major championship increases the pressure exponentially.

My good Scottish friend, Johnson Brown, put it succinctly: “you’ve got to ask the question”.  What Johnson meant was to give your opposition a chance to miss. Equally,  you are often asking the same question of yourself.

On a personal note I well remember scouting an opponent with my coach before a major championship final. Says the well meaning coach — “The guy can’t play, you’ll have no problem…”.  Fast forward to next day’s final. There’s a big crowd. It’s 5 all in the third set! Enter my demon: “the guy can’t play” — not a subtle message demon —clearly I can’t play either!!  And I, and the crowd, know it!  Or that’s what my demon wants me to believe.

Choking, jitters, twisties and baulks in major competitions are part of the game. It happens to all athletes from time to time.  We all succumb at some point, under pressure — and particularly when the competition is beyond our level of experience.  It’s very difficult to win a Grand Slam and particularly at your first go. Closer to home recall Bosko playing Rimmo in the club singles final.  Bosko confided he knew what to do but couldn’t execute on the day against a more experienced player.

Quoting Olympic gold medal-winning rower Kim Brennan:  “Everyone has their angel and demon sitting on their shoulder,” she says. “The demon is always going to be there. You train yourself to accept that everyone’s got them. I bet Ariarne Titmus has her demons. But you get comfortable with it. You say, “Hi old friend, I knew you were coming. That’s nice. But I’m going to keep doing what I’ve trained myself to do’.”

Therein lies part of the answer (training/process) about how to handle competitive pressure.

Research shows us that our minds contain two systems. The first acts instinctively and requires little effort — it’s based on our evolutionary fight or flight tendencies—and easily fueled by our demon.  The second (our angel) is more deliberate and requires much more of our attention.

Our thoughts and actions vary depending on which of the two systems is in control of our brain at the time.  The key question then is how to ‘reset’ Mildred to Angel mode when competing. By the way, part of the solution is to ‘name’ your fears and move the goal posts. Mildred is the name I give to my mind, really the first brain that ‘runs the system’.

Another personal note: “I’ve never beaten Jimmy Parker” says my dubs partner before we have to play a USTA dubs championship final.  Parker has just won the World singles championship for the age group.  You mean ‘Jimmy Buffet’ says Pam, using humour to diminish the power of his name before we take to the court.  It was a hard match but we managed a win.

You’re more creative and intuitive when you’re in a better mood. When you’re in a better mood (Angel), the part of the mind that is alert and analytical tends to relax. That cedes control of Mildred to her more intuitive and quicker thinking capacity — key to competitive tennis!

So how do you reset Mildred under pressure. You’ve got 25 seconds between points, 90 seconds when changing ends.

Rhythm is the key here. Normal sinus rhythm is 60 beats a minute. This is the rate when your breathing and heart rate are in sync.  Under stress, this can change dramatically — eg shortness of breath in panic mode.

Most players have a natural playing rhythm. Agassi played very fast, Djokovic and Nadal much slower than Federer. Barty plays fast.

Serving is the one time you actually have control of the point — witness Djokovic’s 12 plus ball bounces during a tie breaker.  He is trying to sync his rhythm. So apart from ‘buying time’ by bouncing the ball, what are some other ways to reset Mildred.

Several years ago, we had the ‘Russian Ritual’. Recall Sharapova turning her back to the court/opponent and adjusting her strings for a few seconds. Or more recently Nadal’s approach which is to adjust his gear and brush his ear before serving.

A better way is to monitor/relax your breathing.  Recall from above that you’re trying to keep your heart and head (no pun intended) in sync.

I teach a basic 4/7/8 breath schedule to calm Mildred down when players feel under pressure. Breathe in to a long count of 4, hold for 7 and breath out, stretching your diaphragm for a count of 8.  Repeat as often as necessary.

Lastly, you have to learn to ‘play’ rather than to ‘hit strokes’.  Recall our Olympic rower Kim Brennan’s comment above about ‘training yourself’.  Perfection is to learn to ‘play on the other side of the net’ which few achieve.

Too often we are so focused on our own game (and particularly strokes) that we forget that we are competing against other players.  Hence the old adage: ‘a good player will always beat a good hitter’. But that’s a much bigger topic for another day.