Club notice

Things are starting to look a bit more normal for the SCTTC! Starting next week, April 22, the club will be open on Thursdays again. This is extra exciting for those of us that might have gained some weight over the pandemic year.

Another bit of normality returns… doubles! Starting next week, doubles is OK for those who are fully-vaccinated only. We won’t be checking, so this is a honor system sort of thing. For those who aren’t vaccinated yet*, get to it and be patient. Doubles players should still stick to physical distancing (when possible) and avoid contact. Until everyone is vaccinated, please read the info board at the entrance to the club and follow the rules.

* My suggestion is go through CVS and look for appointments to show up after midnight (the actual appointments will be during the day).

Exciting news that we’ve all been waiting for… thanks to Santa Cruz County moving to Orange Level on the COVID-19 ratings, we can now open once a week (Tuesdays). Usual hours 6-11pm. Please read the list of rules below and on the new sign when you arrive at the club. The club could use donations of wipes and hand sanitizer, so please bring extra if you can. There is a limit to the occupancy of the room based on County guidelines, but hopefully we won’t need to prevent anyone from playing.

Requirements

Playing rules

• No side switching during matches
• No hand shaking after matches
• Know that you are handling the ball – keep it away from your face
• Mask optional when playing

Still not much to tell. County gyms were given the OK to open at limited capacity, but there is also a new spike in cases. Stay tuned….

Still no immediate plans for reopening the club. Sorry folks, hopefully some better news in September.

Just a quick update to point out the obvious… there is no sign that things are improving. Not looking good for opening the club any day soon.

Discussion has happened (thanks Debbie!) with the folks at the Portuguese Hall. They support the idea of the SCTTC getting back in, but as expected, there are numerous issues to resolve before we can be safe and approved to play in our usual space. There will be more information to come, but the exciting news is that we should be able to get back to playing in mid-July. There will almost certainly be an online sign-up sheet for the near future to keep the number of players to a minimum. Watch this space for further updates.

Until the club reopens, please consider donating some $ that you might have spent on playing at the club to the Santa Cruz Portuguese Hall. See the SCPH site for contact information and address.

Some good news… Santa Cruz County is allowing gyms to reopen. SCTTC is considered a gym. But… and that’s a big but… there are many restrictions and protocols that would need to be enacted before we can open safely.

So… we do not have a timeline yet. More info to come over the next week. Stay tuned. Stay safe.

The SCTTC remains closed until further notice. I heard from Debbie who let me know that the club is considered a “gym” and would be allowed to reopen at some point in Phase 3 of the State/County rules.

I did see that in Europe, the first small competition (since the international lockdown) is happening now in Germany. Interesting to see without any crowd noise or contact:

Unfortunately, the SCTTC will need to remain closed. We are keeping an ear out for notice from either the Governor or County, but so far, it isn’t looking good. Yesterday’s announcement regarding lifting a few restrictions, should give us all some hope that restrictions will slowly be lifted over the next weeks and months. We will post further news when we have it.

Until then, I hope you’re all finding other ways to exercise. There’s nothing stopping you from practicing your serves! My pendulum serve is improving…

Stay safe.

No way to avoid the inevitable… we need to keep the keep closed, at least through April. Check back at the end of April for updates.

If you have ideas for a celebration when we do reopen, please send me a message. If you have any fun photos of practicing at home, please send them and I’ll post.