| Housekeeping Notes from Sport Fit! |
Tennis Etiquette and Reminders
Court Cleaning At the wee hours of the morning, we are cleaning the courts, tidy-court trash cans and other areas of the club. Please allow the staff to clean the courts in the morning as we give access to the courts prior to 7am as a courtesy and do not want to restrict your ability to play early in the morning as a result of member complaints about cleaning. Naturally, we have to clean the courts sometime, so please be aware that it takes awhile to clean them and we get started very early. We will attempt to move around you, but cannot reduce the distraction of movement or noise. Thank you.
Awaiting Court Time
Please wait until the time of your reservation prior to entering the court structure. We have added clocks to the expected waiting areas just outside of courts 1-3 in the hallway and near the snack machines and stairs to the aerobics area for courts 4-6. Please do not enter the building early as this requires members to wait behind the courts and it can be distracting to the players. Do not enter the playing area prior to your reserved time. It would be polite to let someone finish their point prior to entering. It is NOT required or expected that players be allowed to complete a game. Players should be ready to exit the court area when their time has expired. Please do not linger and have conversations while getting on 3 layers of clothing, changing your shoes, checking your emails, etc.
Departing at Night
Sport Fit Bowie closes at 11pm Mon-Fri and 9pm Sat-Sun. This is the time that the building closes. The members in the workout areas are alerted when there is 30 and 15 minutes left prior to closing so that they can be out the doors by closing time. Since we allow the tennis courts to be booked all the way to closing time, the tennis players are expected to promptly depart at closing time. We understand that you may need to get a sip of water or take a quick bathroom break. But, there should be no expectation of having time to shower since our staff is responsible for the members until they leave. Unfortunately, the only other option is to reduce the amount of bookable time by closing off court reservations in advance of closing time (the pool closes one hour earlier than the building for this purpose).
Booking a Half-Hour
It is currently not possible to book a half-hour slot with our online system. Therefore, we have decided to take care of the booking of half-hour slots the old fashioned way, on paper. From now on, we will write down members interest in booking their day-of reservations on half-hour or combination of half-hour openings. When a player uses our manual system of recording bookings (hopefully to be booked officially at another time that day) they still have used their day-of reservation and may not book an additional free hour, even if the system will allow it. Any time above and beyond the allowed free day-of reservations will be charged to the players. Another good feature of this approach is that you will be able to book (and pay $10 for) an additional half-hour of time tacked onto your hour of singles play. We will be able to book you for combination of half hours as well. For example, if court 2 is open from 2:30-3 and court 3 is open from 3-3:30, we will be able to book those slots for you. You would, naturally, have to switch courts on the half hour.
Playing Over
Members may play over their reserved time if no one books the time slot after them. The front desk may send players down to the court to play if these new players have not already used their free day-of reservations. Currently, Sport Fit does not charge for the amount of court time used beyond that which was reserved. Please respect every members right to try and get some court time. We try to take care of as many members as possible in a day. The only time we are interested in charging for court time is when you are booking in advance or when booking more time than the allowed hour for singles and hour and a half for doubles. Please keep in mind that the changes in the half-hour booking process may affect your ability to play over as more of the previously "trapped" half hours will now be booked.
Shifting Court Reservations
Again, our goal is to accommodate as many members on the courts as possible. In our attempt to bring half-hour slots together to make them available for booking online, we may move your court reservation from one court to another. You may get emails confirming cancellation and booking of your courts in this case (that's how we move them in some cases). We will not shift you from the front courts to the back or back courts to the front.
Returning Tennis Balls
Leagues are given new tennis balls for each match. These balls are to be returned to the front desk after playing. These are the program balls for the tennis staff. Dead balls are then given to schools, hospitals and dog rescue programs when requested.
Ball Carts and Baskets
The ball carts are for the use of the tennis pros and tennis private lessons and programs only. They are not for the general use of our membership. Please refrain from using the balls in the carts and baskets for your personal use.
Using the Ball Machine
An ultimate housekeeping reminder... When you rent the ball machine, please honor the rest of the membership by picking up balls behind the curtains as well as those on the court. Push the machine up against the back wall as far as it will go. Insure that the extension cord stays with the machine. Be sure that the remote switch is turned to the off position as a first attempt to get the machine carousel moving if it is not turning (this is usually the problem).
We'd like to have everyone pitch in to keep the courts free of extra balls, free of disruption, and a fun place to be. See you at the club.
Sincerely,
Kevin McClure
Director of Tennis
Sport Fit Bowie
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