Long time no blog! I’m back this semester to talk more about my favorite sport. If you’re new here, that’s tennis. For this blog, I will be discussing specifically the COVID-19 regulations in place for tennis.
COVID-19 has affected every aspect of our lives, including sports.
Especially since restrictions on sports have been lifted in the area recently, safety procedures have been under the microscope recently. For tennis players though, we’ve been doing this for months.
As a school and recreational player, I have seen two different sets of regulations for tennis play during COVID-19. I will address both of them in this blog.
First up: high school tennis.
Tennis on its own is a very safe sport to practice during these times, which is why we were able to play in the heat of covid. However, to make sure we were being as safe as humanly possible, there were still rules in place that we had to follow.
For practice, we had to stay six feet apart at all times. Masks also had to be worn
on the way into practice, during warm-up, during water breaks, and during any group-drills. Basically, they had to be worn any time you weren’t playing alone.
Our temperatures were also taken before entering practice, and a questionnaire was to be submitted before we entered as well. Some of the questions on that questionnaire were:
Have you been sneezing, coughing, or had a runny nose in the past 14 days?
Have you had a sore throat, loss of smell, or headache in the past 14 days?
Have you been in contact with anyone who has tested positive for COVID-19 in the past 14 days?
What was your temperature today?
These forms were also required to be submitted before matches, and our temperatures were taken then as well.
Masks were required to be worn during changeovers in matches, as well as anytime off the court. Each player also had their own set of tennis balls, so players were never in contact with the other player, even though the tennis balls. If a ball had to be returned to another player, it was to be done by using your foot and your racket. Again, this was to ensure that players were never in contact with each other. At the end of the match, players “clicked rackets” instead of shaking hands.
The rules have been similar for recreational tennis.
Players are expected to wear masks entering the playing site, as well as exiting, but they are not required to on the court at all. It is expected, however, that players stay six feet apart at all times.
Players are also given two sets of balls to avoid contact, and players must arrive ten minutes before start time, no earlier. This is very different than the previous normal, where players would arrive at least thirty minutes early.
By following these rules, I am proud to say I never witnessed or heard of anyone getting COVID from tennis. They took a while to get used to, but it has been worth it to be able to play. Hopefully, these regulations help set the guidelines for other sports to stay safe while playing.