The status quo continues for amateur play. There are rays of hopeful light shining on our game. Georgian Court University remains closed, and Newport and Boston have suffered regional restrictions and closures. But, at the other courts the amount of intraclub play is generally high, averaging 80% or more of normal court usage.
At our clubs, there is no meaningful change to rules or attitudes about hosting guests: friendly and wishful but erring on the side of caution. Similarly, while there is hopeful interest in traveling to play, the general feeling is one of patient understanding that this won’t happen for a while. There is an overriding respect for and compliance with government guidelines applicable to playing indoor sports outside of small bubbles. So for the time being, we cannot schedule any amateur events and the vast majority of our play will be local.
We do however want to plan ahead and look for any reasonable opportunities to compete. A portion of the committee is favorable about relaxing the criteria for event legitimacy and participation, which were established in the early days of the pandemic before clubs opened to intraclub play. This is primarily based on the notion that most of our membership has had the opportunity to play, and it’s reasonable to presume a fair playing field could be established sooner than sixty days.
More widespread and accurate testing and vaccinations beginning to spread through our ranks are engendering hopeful attitudes about inter-club competition and hosting guests. However, these glimmers of hope are stifled by surging national infection rates, new contagious strains, travel restrictions, low comfort level for traveling and variable quarantine requirements for interstate travel.
Factors that we might want to consider as the year unfolds:
—Treating events on an individual basis, instead of a blanket policy, and weighing logistical issues and the readiness of the likely participants.
—Reducing the sixty-day requirement.
We will be asking clubs to regularly update us as to their in house Covid Standards and Practices when deciding to host tournaments at their clubs.
Our professionals are hoping to play the National League in Boston in March. Despite their eagerness to compete, they are unified in their prioritization of safety. There is an understanding that given foreseeable conditions a further postponement is possible. On the bright side, there is hope the National Open and Below Zero can be played later this spring or summer.
This committee will issue another report on 15 March.
We miss you, wish you all well, and look forward to seeing you on court and in the dedans soon!
For the committee,
Dan Laukitis
For a complete chronology of COVID-19 Updates since March 2020, along with the “Current COVID-19 Suggested USCTA Playing Guidelines, CLICK HERE
