The State President has, on Sunday evening, announced that South Africa will move to an adjusted level 4 lockdown from today (Monday), as the country struggles against the rising third wave of COVID-19 infections.
The government restrictions will remain in place for 14 days and will be assessed thereafter. They take effect immediately, and will run up to and including Sunday, 11th July. Please note that these are adjusted level 4 regulations, and so differ from the previous level 4 regulations, published in 2020.
Revised COVID-19 restrictions and their impact on tennis:
Coaching:
- Tennis coaching may continue under strict protocols and restrictions – A maximum of 4 players, plus a coach, is allowed per court.
- Coaches still require a valid temporary COVID-19 license to coach. Please note under current lockdown regulations, coaching without the compulsory COVID-19 license remains a criminal offense.
- Coaching registers must be submitted to Tennis SA monthly and must be emailed to this email address - [email protected].
Clubs and facilities:
- Clubs and tennis facilities will remain open for the time being, but no gatherings are permitted.
- Club compliance officers must be on site and attendance registers must be kept.
- Only organized club tennis will be permitted through a booking system and must adhere to a maximum of 4 players per court.
- Club tennis participation should operate on the basis of ‘book, arrive, play and depart’.
- Clubhouses, tuck-shops, and bars must be closed. Furthermore, the sale of alcohol is prohibited.
- All club leagues are suspended up to and including Sunday 11th July 2021.
- New curfew hours are from 21:00 - 04:00, meaning all tennis facilities must close by 20:00.
Tournaments:
- Please note that travel in and out of Gauteng is currently prohibited for leisure purposes.
- All sanctioned tournaments - national, regional, and local junior, seniors and wheelchair tennis events – across the country, are suspended with immediate effect.
- A key factor in making this decision relates to the fact that all gatherings are prohibited under the new regulations.
- If government regulations allow, tournaments will be permitted to return from Friday 16th July 2021 onwards.
- However, please note - all three Growthpoint Super 8 tournaments scheduled to take place in July, will be postponed until later this year. New dates will be announced in due course. The decision to suspend these events is because they are national tournaments, with a high degree of travel required, to and from Gauteng, across all three events. For example - players travelling from Gauteng to the KZN leg and then players travelling to (or returning to) Gauteng for the two events in that Province.
Inter-School Events:
- All inter-school (school A versus school B) tennis events remain suspended.
Tennis SA urges the tennis community to continue to be careful, to always wear masks, except while playing, and to practice physical distancing.