May 5, 2020
Dear Newfield Member,
We hope you and your families are healthy, well and excited to play some tennis at your favorite Newfield Swim & Tennis Club.
Despite the unprecedented pandemic circumstances, your Board, together Peter Martin, our new Club Manager, have been busy at work preparing the Club and the courts for the upcoming summer season.
The courts have been rolled and resurfaced, lines are in, nets are up. Weather permitting, we plan on opening the courts to members for pre-season play this Thursday, May 7.
Based on guidance from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the City of Stamford guidelines, we will be asking players to adhere to the following procedures to protect members’ health and safety, including:
* Review and adhere to USTA safety tips and recommendations prior to coming to the courts (https://www.usta.com/
* Only paid-up members will be allowed on courts – no guests
* Court hours are Monday through Sunday 9am – 7pm
* Players will use exclusively online courts reservation system to book courts (sign up details at the bottom) – no walk-ins
* Regular rules re: court time limits (60 minutes for singles and 90 minutes for doubles) and max. 48-hour advance booking apply
* Face masks are mandatory to use coming from/to your car to/from the court (not on tennis court)
* A Newfield employee/attendant will be at hand at entrance to courts to verify players and answer any questions
* No children 14 years or younger are allowed on the court without an adult/parent supervision
* Maintain at least six feet apart from other players, do not make physical contact with other players
* Consider not playing doubles; certainly, no more than four players are allowed on court – no group lessons
* Avoid touching your face after handling a ball, racquet, or other equipment
* If a ball from another court comes to you, do not touch it. Players can return the ball with a kick or hitting it with a racquet.
* Viewing furniture, benches and water coolers have been removed for safety purposes
* No social activity should take place on tennis courts
* Play and go – all players should leave the facility immediately after play – there is no access to the club/locker rooms/bathroom facilities
Note that these rules, procedures and protocols are in effect for a pre-season play for now and we will communicate any updates as necessary.
Most imporantly, while we believe that by following these and other procedures players can minimize the risk of contracting Covid-19 at Newfield, it is sole responsibility of each player to decide whether to engage in tennis activities at the Club. We strongly urge everyone to strictly follow CDC and City of Stamford guidelines in making their decisions. (By accepting a court reservation, you agree to abide by applicable procedures and understand that any use of the Newfield Club tennis courts and facilities is at your own risk.)
Separately, Keith Bliska, our Head Tennis Pro, will be available for private lessons starting next weekend and will follow up with scheduled hours/availability and other info shortly.
Additionally, the Board continues to meet regarding opening other parts of the Club and we will communicate to all members any updates as we receive additional guidance from the state and local authorities.
In the meantime, if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact our Club Manager Peter Martin at clubmanager@newfieldclub.
We hope to see you all, safely distancing of course, on the courts. These are unprecedented times so let’s be smart about it and let’s do all we can do not spread this terrible virus while playing this wonderful sport.
Serve’em Up!
Carol Donnelly, President and Petr Marousek, Tennis Chair
Online Court Reservation System Registration
After some deliberations, we have selected Skedda as our online court reservation software. And while we have tested it and believe it provides the players as well as the Club Manager/Administrators all the necessary tools to book/cancel/communicate (in case of inclement weather, etc) in a user-friendly manner, it is a software we all need to learn to use. So, let us know if you have any questions.
The registration link is available here and also on the home page as well as on the tennis subsection of our club website: https://
IMPORTANT: While booking a court, please insert names of your playing partners/members into the “Notes” field so that the club attendant can verify all players at check-in, keep record and source contact tracing info should the health department require the information. Thank you!
