At Wards Island Tennis Club, we expect all our members and guests to follow basic tennis court etiquette to ensure a pleasant and safe experience for everyone. Please review and follow these guidelines:
- If it has rained, our Maintenance Manager, Yolanda, is the authority on whether the courts are playable. She updates the club on the members forum about court playability. In general, if you can see a footprint when you walk on the courts, they aren't playable.
- Courts work on a first come, first serve basis. If others are waiting to use the courts, please limit your total playtime to 45 minutes. That is, 45 minutes from the time you began (not when others arrived)! If new players join during your time on the court, that does not reset the clock. Please be respectful that we have 3 courts, and often have lessons on one of them. Sweeping your courts is included in the 45 minutes.
- Respect other players: Always treat other players with respect. Refrain from shouting or using foul language.
- Keep noise level to a minimum: Avoid loud noises or shouting during play, as this may disturb other players. If you need to ask the players on a court when they will be finishing, make sure to wait for their point to end, or for a chance in between games to do this.
- Respect the line calls: Adhere to the scoring and line calling procedures of the game. Call the lines fairly and accurately, and be honest about any mistakes made. Respect the line calls of your opponents.
- Send stray balls to the back of the court, between points: When sending a stray ball back to a neighbouring court, roll it over to the back of the court. Never send them back while play is in progress. If your ball flies into a neighbouring court during play such that it might reasonably affect someone's safety, loudly call “LET!” to let them know to stop the point. If the ball is not going to affect someone's safety, leave it to the playing court to decide whether to call a let or not.
- Wait for permission to walk behind or across a court: If there are a group of players on a court and you need to walk past to get to your court, then make sure you wait for them to finish their point and ask if you can go, rather than just walking behind their court without permission. This is incredibly annoying for players and is very distracting. The best bet here is to wait for the point to end and ask, it’s always better to be polite!
- Clean and sweep the courts: Leave the court clean and free of any debris, including tennis balls, water bottles, and any other equipment. Please dispose of trash in the appropriate bins. Sweep the courts at the end of each use.
- Dress code: Shirts and shoes required! Please wear clay-appropriate tennis shoes to keep our clay playing great.
- Cell phone use: Refrain from using your cell phone on the court during play. If you need to take a call, please step off the court and out of earshot of other players.
- Monitor young children: we want to encourage kids to play tennis! However, children under 10 should be supervised by an adult while using the courts.
